A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct. Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience, rather than that of onlookers. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this fact. - Aldo Leopold

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Hazy Shade Of Winter

My hike today was pretty easy. Although it's already early December, it has yet to get really cold. The high today was in the 80s. The official start of winter is still 3 weeks away, on December 21st, but from where we are today, I'm not sure it's ever going to arrive.

Although the sky was overcast when I set out, one hour later the sun was popping out. Most life is going dormant but there is always some activity.

I spotted this small woolly caterpillar because I nearly stepped on him. I've posted about this species before and I now think it's a tiger moth caterpillar, but I'm not positive. There quite common during some years, but this year I've only seen this one.

I also saw this small bagworm cocoon. These are really hard to spot, because they're small and usually in a tree or bush. I also found one earlier this year.

There is still some fall color showing. This time, it's yellow grapevine leaves.


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