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Friday 25 July 2014

Female glow-worms, a snail invasion and RIP Snowy

Last night was stormy, loads of thunder rumbling all around and a fair bit of lightning, some rain (but never enough for my garden!) yet still the kind that wets you. The electricity kept flickering on and off too. For one reason or another (actually a very late dinner because I hadn't realised the savoury courgette cakes I was making needed to go in the oven for a whole hour; five more courgettes down which has not dented the mountain one bit, but I digress) my OH was late getting out to shut the hens in for the night. He then came in to tell me that poor Snowy, our Light Sussex, aged 7 1/2 and still laying occasional eggs this summer, was dead outside in the run, and the two young red hens were in a state of panic and were too scared to pass her to go into the shed. So out I went with him by torchlight and we put Snowy in the barn, sorted out the hens and I went back inside. He then came back and yelled at me a second time to tell me that Glow-worms were a-glowing over by the old septic tank! 

So of course out I went armed with a torch and camera, in the drizzle. A more serious photographer would have sensibly taken a tripod but I really wasn't in the mood, nor am I either serious or sensible late in the evening, just ready to put my feet up in front of the telly! I know I'd planned to go looking for them this week, just not during a thunderstorm! There were three of them all in that area and a walk around afterwards revealed one more. They seemed to like the rough grass mixed with ivy, nettles and goodness knows what around the old septic tank. Needless to say my photos are all handheld, despite some very slow shutter speeds, but I'm not trying to win any photo competition and I think they are reasonable enough that you'll get the picture!

Mrs Glow-worm (Lampyris noctiluca) glowing. I'd forgotten just how bright they glow!

Yes I know it's blurry but this was with just a little bit of torchlight.

Using flash, you can see her helmet like the male,
yet the rest of her is very similar to the nymph.

And I hadn't realised it was the inside of the lower abdomen that did the glowing.

Loved how she was just hanging off a blade of grass.

There's a little buggy imitating her.... not sure what it is,
maybe a moth as close up it doesn't look fly like.

As for the snails, all the time we were walking around I couldn't believe how many large snails were out in the damp - we had to shine our torches in front of us because they were everywhere, all over the gravel and the grass and then I noticed them all up the wall beside the potting shed door. I've never seen anything like it in our 10 years here - we have never had a slug or snail probem because we have very sandy soil.... but this year they seem to be living in my veg patch even when the weather is hot and dry.... and now I know they are living absolutely everywhere else! God knows how this happened but I hope they bugger off soon!

Ewwww! Surely that sandy lime mortar wouldn't feel nice to slither over!

Bleagh! Well, actually, it's less bleagh than a slug. But they still eat my seedlings.
Oh OK, they are not bad, but it's bleagh when you tread on one by mistake. Crunch!

Finally as a tribute to Snowy, here's a picture I took of her back in late winter when I needed some subjects to practice on during a photography course I took.

Snowy.

My previous post shows the male Glow-worms and larvae in case you missed it. Just scroll back or click the 'Older Posts' button.

12 comments:

  1. Great pictures- well done you :-) Lovely to see them. Of course, if you lose the snails you'll also lose the glow worms....
    Sorry to hear about Snowy. Our old girls have all popped off one by one and now only Ruby (also a Light Sussex) is left at mum's :-(

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    1. Hi CT and thank you - yes you're right about the snails and glow worms but I don't need quite this many snails...... :-) And sorry to hear about your girls, sadly that is how it goes. I have 4 hens left although none are laying well right now.

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  2. Love those glow worms! Well worth going out in the storm for those shots!
    I would have purposely squished some snails if I were you Mandy.Just to get the numbers down a little! ;)
    A kinder alternative is to collect them all in a bucket and relocate them to plants you don't mind sacrificing. At least you'd know where to find the glow worms! :)

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    1. Hi Kim - it was so cool to see them. I really ought to get out in my garden after dark a bit more often! I did tread on a snail by mistake and it was horrible...like treading on cockroach. I couldn't do it on purpose although I have relocated a few into the chicken run where they don't last long! :-)

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  3. Fantastic to see these glow worms and the photos are great given the difficulties. As somebody said they are there because there's a ready food supply in the snails and so please don't murder any! ;-) I have not see any locally (glow worms) for years now but really should look harder, I do go out after dark looking foe hawk-moth larvae. Sad to read about your hen Mandy, it's always hard when an animal dies and I guess she would almost have been considered a pet?

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    1. Hi again JJ and I know you think I'm horrible cos I kill Colorado beetles! ;-) It's not usual for us to have loads of them - we normally have the pretty coloured small snails which don't seem to do much damage and I usually only find these big ones in my beds against the house wall.

      Tell me about hawkmoth larvae after dark. Do they become more visible? I really want to find some and I've only seen a Lime Hawkmoth larva, once, last year. Annoyingly I'm always IDing elephant hawkmoths and their larvae for people on facebook who think I'm an insect guru. I wonder why! :-)

      And thanks for the kind words about Snowy. My hens are pets inasmuch as I don't raise any to eat and when they stop laying they get live out their days here (some people eat them when they stop laying!). But it's not like losing a cat or dog, thank goodness.

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  4. Hi Mandy,
    Well I had managed to avoid finding any Elephant Hawk-moth larvae in the field for years, until last year when I went out after dark and had a look around the Rosebay Willow-herb with a torch. I found quite a number of them without too much searching actually. Apparently they often choose to feed after dark and the night I chose wasn't even the best weather, it had been raining. Have a look if you know where there's a good stand of Willow-herb?

    I was only jesting with you about you protecting your crops from invaders but...I don't like to kill anything if I can avoid it. May not even be the best idea if I consider it fully but it's just my personal philosophy. Good luck with the elephants!

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    1. Hmmmm it's not a common plant around these parts - seen a few clumps here and there growing in ditches. But there are other hawkmoths which is why I'd like my dear hubby to make me a moth trap - hopefully if we can source the materials it will be a nice winter project for him!
      I really hate killing anything too believe it or not! :-)

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  5. Hi Mandy, Sorry to hear your hen snowy dying.

    Glow worms look great, I am out to Brittany this week for five weeks, I have plenty of rough grass and nettles so will have a search for any. Here in UK like you I have the inevitable mountain of courgettes as well, I am guessing the same lot I planted in Brittany will be marrows by now.

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    1. Thanks very much Ian. It's quiet without her as whilst all hens/cockerels make their own little noises, Snowy's was different and I used to enjoy her 'talking' to me with her unique sound!

      I get almost marrow size after about 3-4 days so I dread to think what you will find in Brittany. Something suitable for a 'largest vegetable' competition, I should think! :-)

      5 weeks sounds great, hope you have a great time and that the weather is good for you. I'm going to enjoy the cooler and cloudier weather this week; might actually get more done in the garden.

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  6. Great photos of the Glow Worms, think the snails have always been there, it won't be often you go out at night in the rain, we had to use a few slug pellets on ours, we had so many .
    Sorry to hear about your hen, looks a fine looking bird.
    Amanda xx

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    1. Thanks Amanda! I know there are some snails here but nothing like this. I've looked outside in the dark and damp before and I don't see them crawling all over the place. And despite it being dry I am finding them in my veg patch for the first time ever. Can barely sow seeds now, they munch everything that germinates. :-( And thanks for the kind words about Snowy. xx

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