This is what I found on the granite posts that support our espalier apple trees.  What the hell is it?  A larvae of some sort with some fur or hair sticking out on the bottom.  When I saw this on the post, I almost threw up.  Again, what don’t I like?  What’s my least favorite part of living in the woods of Connecticut?  Yes, the critters.  It can be as big as a beaver or as small as a hairy larvae, but the site of something like this from nature sets me free.  I don’t really know when my critter fears began.  As a kid I was always one with nature.  I caught frogs and toads, tried to catch fish with my hands, used to watch the pheasant and quail fly around in the fields behind my house.  Something changed and all I know now is that there is no joy…there is just a rush of heat through my body as my natural instincts instruct me to run for safety.  It’s the weirdest thing.

The larvae has to be related to the caterpillar I found on the other side of the post.  As a young kid, I would have grabbed the caterpillar, rubbed its furry little body and maybe put it into a jar with air holes poked into the top to watch it turn into a moth or a butterfly.  Now, I attach the telescopic lens to my camera and zoom in from across the yard to get the picture.

Here’s what I’m hoping.  Maybe the larvae and caterpillar have something to do with the luna moth that was stuck to the side of the house for so many days last month.  Maybe the luna gracefully flew to the granite post to leave one more generation of its beautiful family and this is what I found.  With my critter luck, I know that this caterpillar probably produced the larvae and out will come some hideous moth with fangs, a large wasp with a six-inch stinger or some strain of garden eating worm.  Let’s pray for the luna moth!

So rest assured that I will be hitting the internet this afternoon trying to figure out what is stuck to the espalier posts.  I may even go to the book store and buy a moth/butterfly book to see if I can figure out what is growing in the back.  I pray it is not something hideous so I won’t have to go out there and knock it off the post.  That would mean the neighbors would get to see another round of me screaming and running around like a crazy person.  If you know what this is, please leave me a comment.  In other words…..What is it?