Last week I packed my backpack, threw together some trail mix, a gallon of water and then trekked my lil’ butt out to the garden.
I was merely checking on my eggplant-plant. I am nothing if not prepared.
See the huge green monster here? (yes, Cocoa was wondering why I was taking a picture of a plant. again.)
Ok, maybe that lil’ grasshopper is not THE monster, but it looks like he was eating SOME of the plant. oink oink.
How about THIS monster?
Isn’t he Fugly??? I was askeered of him. And I was irritated to see how much he was eating!!!
You know what he reminded me of? This guy:
And I was so askeered of him, that I could.not.remove.him.
I asked Lindsay to come outside and do it…she said: “ just get a stick and knock him off Mom. Geeze.”
So, I got a stick, and I still.could.not.do.it.
I just watched him eat eat eat.
Finally Linds came out and said she would help me. It took a minute for her to actually SEE him…and when she saw him she made a weird noise and jumped back. “That is a ninja caterpillar, he might jump out and attack me”
I was thinking the.same.exact.thing.
So, I called the Coach and asked him to please get home before dark, so he could help me in this delicate situation.
He came home at dusk. It took him a minute to find him too, I could only point my pointer finger SO close, knowing this was a ninja attacking caterpillar we were dealing with.
Sometimes it takes a different brain to help with a situation…The Coach got my garden scissors, cut just below the Ninja and took that part with the Ninja attached and relocated him far out into our mulch corner of the yard.
Why didn’t I think of that?
After a bit of research, I identified him as the Green Horned Caterpillar. And what do they like to eat? Eggplants, pepper plants and tomato plants. Right now, the only stuff in my garden besides herbs is the eggplant and a red pepper plant. Soon, I will add tomatoes.
I have provided a salad bar for the green horned ninja caterpillar.
I am now working on a green horned ninja caterpillar Plexiglas barrier.
If you need me, I will be in the garden.
Have a great weekend!
Bee careful out there!
Busy Bee Suz 
You so crack me up Suz! I hope no more giant green monsters cross paths with you this weekend! 🙂 Hope you and yours have a wonderful bugfree weekend. 🙂 XX
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Good thing you found him! Those things can devour a plant in no time!!
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It's too bad your life isn't a cartoon, he could eat beside you at the table while you make witty quips about salad.
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I really wish you DID have a suit like that. Can you even imagine how hot you would look in something like that? Seriously! You would rock it! Hope you and your Ninja caterpillars will bee safe this weekend. XO
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This is why I do not garden. I hate all the little creepy crawlers! That one would'a skeert me too! : )
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You are so damn funny!! When are you taking this act on the road? I think you could totally rock that suit, by the way!
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Nijna caterpillars! Like scary Ninja babies!
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yikes!that scary ninja catepillar would have scared me away from the garden forever. you are brave to return, even in your big yellow suit. but what i wanna know is this: what kind of silverware do you use at your salad bar?
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oh you know what you need to plant are marigolds. plant marigolds between your eggplant and tomatoes. they will attrack predator bugs that will eat horn worms. by predator bugs i mean lady bugs, believe it or not those little guys are great for gardens. they also attract other good bugs for your garden and that will keep you pesticide free. check out preditor bugs on line for a good insectary in your region.i plant marigolds in between my tomatoes and peppers i have not had one horn worm.
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This is a situation where it is good to have a little neighbor boy you can pay to remove the offending pest.
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LOL Oh you are so cute. I love that Hubby came along and just cut the leaf. Goodbye Ninja caterpillar. Not sure I would have thought of that either:)
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You are so funny!!
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Omg! Stop it! Ninja caterpillar! You've got me rolling on the floor.
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Hahaha! Ew. And as I was reading and got to the part where your husband got out the scissors, I totally thought you were going to say he snipped the 'pillar in half! Double ew! But he didn't. Which is probably good and bad. Good for the ninja. Bad for your plants. 🙂 You're funny.
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I am thinking abotu the hungry caterpillar book – where he just ate and ate., This cracked me….
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I love that new gardening outfit. No monster catepillars are going to get you!Your Coach is a brilliant man. I wouldn't have thought of cutting off the leaf to remove the little guy.
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Honey that is a Tomato Hornworm – see my blog for details… if you have a tomato plant, they will devour it in a matter of MINUTES! They are RAVENOUS! And yes, they look totally like the hookah-pipe smokin' caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland!(One of our tomato plants got ATTACKED by one this Summer!)
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Not sure if my last comment posted or not… I was logged in under S's Gmail (cupcake something or other…)-Tracey
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We didn't have any of those ninja caterpillars this year, but I saw one for the first time last year. The sheer size of them gave me the willies… I did take him and pitch him into the woods behind our house though, thought the birds might want him for lunch…
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EEEWWWW…wiggly green attacking things! Glad it's gone now. Just taking a peek to see what I've missed…I'll be over for guacamole yesterday 🙂 YUMMM…Love the tree and the reason for it..and Black will always be in style!Keep making us all giggle 🙂
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I'm glad you found this Ninja Caterpillar and that Coach was able to get him off your eggplant. It wouldn't take it long to devour your entire plant. And while I like your gardening outfit, isn't it a bit warm for Florida?
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Ha Ha Ha…. Cute post, Suz… Made me laugh outloud…. Love your yeller outfit —but I liked thinking about you packing your backpack, trail mix and water to work in the yard…. How funny!!!!!Glad Coach came to the rescue… Those things can do alot of damage QUICKLY…. Yipes!!!!Guess you'd better take your tent out there and stay out there on guard 24/7… And don't forget the bug spray —for you, not the caterpillars… ha haHave a wonderful weekend —and keep watch!!!!Hugs,Betsy
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Many years ago when I could still bend over and even reach my garden plants, I did not see one of these and grabbed it with my bare hand. YEOW!!! Boy, did it hurt! If the Food Network had been there this morning, there would be a lot of film they would have to cut!!!!!
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Oh! My! You are brave to even get that close (and awesome photography by the way, i forget which camera you have? do tell this old fart!) – and hurrah for Coach and his quick thinking, phew!I wouldn't have though of that either.Ooops.Good luck with your ninja plans!
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eewww.ugh.You have some weird Floridian insects down there. Definitely wear that suit. Stay safe.;-)
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You made me laugh so hard, Suz! I love starting my day off that way!I'd have done the exact same thing. The Source would've done the exact same thing as Coach. Look at it this way, men like to be needed. You weren't really askeered of the ninja, you were feeding Coach's male ego. 🙂
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He really is beautiful.Except if he ate my tomatoes? I'd smoosh him.Not really. I'd move him like Coach did. I can't kill an ant without feeling bad.But I will kill flies without feeling bad.
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Ahhh, I can always count on a REALLY good story when I come over here. Thanks for not disappointing. Hee-hee! : )M.L.
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FUGLY alright!
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Funny post. I needed a good laugh. Thanks for providing it.
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oh my goooooness.that Ninja dude is very scary indeed. did you see the way it was looking at you, Suz?run, run far away!
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ahahahaha!! i actually think he's quite cute 🙂
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HAHAHA! Yes, Ninja Caterpillar reminds me of Alice in Wonderland too!
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OMG, I laughed so hard over your ninja caterpillar that I had to read your whole entry outloud to my kids and show them the pictures! I laughed because I would've reacted the exact same way!!! SKEEERY! That thing is definitely creepy.Love your new gardening attire. I think I saw it on the Better Homes and Gardens runway just a few weeks ago!
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This is exactly why my hubby does all of our outside work! Love it!!
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OMG – that is the same green monster that ate my whole tomatoe bush in one night, though he brought many friends. Funny thing though when I googled it one of the remedies to rid of these guys, was to get your kid or borrow your neighbors kid and smoosh them, yuck really???? So i got Connor to handle the situation, but watch for more they are very little and can do so much damage so quickly. Besides Im thinking I want to come over for Eggplant parm.
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