I have spent the morning freeing 9 maples and numerous baby turkey oaks from the suffocation of greenbriers, aka smilax. It’s been a 2 hour battle, with me as victor. I pulled, I tugged, I cut, hacked and twisted. I even swung around a few times. Those vines are pernicious! My hands are dotted with holes where the thorns penetrated my gloves.
I’m glad I’m finished with this job. I was worried my young maples were being stunted. It couldn’t feel good having a parasite like that constantly stealing your energy.
But I was lucky enough to find an interesting caterpillar, one I’ve never seen before. It appears to be a Horace’s Duskywing Skipper, sitting happily on a turkey oak leaf.
Buzzing Blossoms 