Moths

I got home yesterday at about 7pm. I organised something to eat, put the TV on ready for Masterchef, opened the patio door for the cats to have a potter in the backyard and sat at the table to eat my food, mess about on the internet and keep an eye on Masterchef.

Suddenly something flew into my head and bounced off. At first I thought it was a small bat but it turned out to be a large moth, much like a bogong moth. It had come in through the cat space in the fly screen.It was also hotly pursued by the cats.

This wouldn't do. I did not wish to spend the evening with an agitated, large moth flapping about, pursued by two excited cats. But how to catch it?

Inspired by the vision of people chasing butterflies with butterfly nets that had appeared from somewhere in my mind , I grabbed a long handled kitchen sieve and a tea towel. In the meantime, a second moth had come inside. Cats super excited!

I finally caught one of the moths and put it outside. I came back to sort out the second moth - and the first moth came back in. Sigh!

These moths were flying low (which I suppose is how they found the space to get into the house), and were easily in the reach of the cats. I managed to catch a moth, put it outside - and shut the patio door.

The second moth was more difficult, because by now it was very agitated and clomping around, up and down, here and there, all over the place. Eventually it was in the sieve, covered with the tea towel. I put it out the front. Brandy came out with me, but readily came back in. And started rushing about the house, miaowing loudly, hunting and searching.

I assumed he was looking for his lost moths.

I should have paid closer attention to him because while I was telling Freyja and Simon (by phone, they hadn't come back to my place) about the moth saga, I notice a third moth hiding in the kitchen sink. Brandy and Whiskey would never find it there. But I did!

I put a glass tumbler over it, then slid a disposable mask under the glass and took it into the laundry. My alternative moth catching equipment wasn't very stable and I needed to release the moth outside without letting the cats out or any other wildlife in. Fortunately, there is a door into the laundry which I could shut and use the laundry as a sort of air lock(or moth lock!).

I don't know if they were bogong moths. They certainly looked like it and they were definitely on the big size. But I can tell you that 20, 30, 40 year old Frances would have closed all the doors and windows, got in the car and gone up to Rupert and Hugo's place until her place had been thoroughly de-mothed. By someone else! 67 year old Frances was just pleased with the ingenuity of using a long handled kitchen sieve and a tea towel as a makeshift butterfly net. And not pleased that she had missed most of Masterchef!