Caterpillar (キャタピラ) and Some Ninja Stuff

World Leader Manufacturing Construction Equipment

The bright yellow CAT monsters are recognized around the globe as Caterpillar.

This one was spotted, early this morning, in a pit, about 20 feet below the road I walked on.

It was still dark outside as I passed this scene on the way to my office.

The photo would have to wait and be taken on the return trip after some weight training.

Today was going to be a rowing-machine-day with 30 kilos of weights.

A 9:30 AM dental appointment was reason enough for me to be in a hurry.

A Little Ninja Training

Construction sites are usually roped or fenced off, to keep outsiders from getting hurt.

Somewhere, I read, people over 40 years of age need to do things to stay in shape.

One of the exercises I like to do consists of walking on something requiring balance.

Picture someone on a balance beam or skillfully maneuvering along the distance of a log.

Well, I skillfully take about 200 steps on some objects in construction sites.

That's where Ninja Training comes in; I just made it up. I'm over 40; that's true.

The sun was shining by the time I finished my workout with weights.

Going home, I snapped the CAT photo at 6:38 and continued to another construction area.

There was no need to jump over the roped-off part. I just went around.

200 steps of balancing were done on the way to the office. I could double that going home.

It's a little tricky, balancing yourself when it's dark outside. In sunshine, it should be easy.

At night, streetlights and passing vehicles, tend to throw shadows.

It makes balancing a bit more difficult. I might slip and fall at 20 or 67 steps.

Early this morning, not a step went wrong. Swiftly and silently, I scampered across the beam.

On the return trip, I guess I became overconfident and added a few steps.

200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, whoops, off the balance beam I went!

The back and shoulders are a little sore from rowing exercises; that's to be expected.

The trip off of the blocks for balance wasn't all that far of a distance. Not a 4ft. wall.

The 4 inch wide blocks I was scampering along, only stand about 4 inches off the ground.

Still, I'm glad no one was out there watching. I landed belly up in a pile of dirt and stones.

Sorta like a turtle turned over on it's back, I laughed and struggled to get myself upright. 

The wife was awake when I got ready to leave in the morning.

 She knew I had a dental appointment. She makes sure I shower and smell good.

Now, she'll be wondering what possessed me to take another shower and change clothes.

My ass hurts but, I'll tell her, "Secret, it's Ninja Stuff we can't discuss."

The Unnamed Caterpillar Got Identified Today

No Sense Rushing Things

The first and only time, I ever ran across a white caterpillar, like this was April of 2015.

Doc Graff and I were on a mission, to find and photograph the endangered Ryukyu Robin.

April is the best month to find them, close to the ground, feeding their youngsters.

We, didn't run up the trail because, we're a bit too mature, to act like teenagers.

We huff and puff and meander up the mountain and, enjoy the fresh air.

Taking your time, gives a better view of nature. We're very observant.

Doc, had gone ahead, to get closer to the waterfall when, I spotted this.

Climbing the trail, there's spots where, cellular service no longer exists.

It's like being in the wilderness which, I kind of enjoy. I was catching my breath.

Standing on this wooden platform, smoking a cigarette is what, I was really doing.

Whoa.  It's like some little bottle brush, started coming towards me.

Forget smoking. Put the butts in yer pocket and, get down to shooting !

 

It's a good idea, to get photos from as many angles as possible.

You'd never know, this guy has red feet if, you didn't get down real close to him.

All along, I'm wondering, what kind of butterfly this creature would turn out to be.

In my pending photo files, there are hundreds of items, waiting for identification.

Yesterday, I sent these photos, to a couple of sites for help.

The Moth and Butterfly Identification Forum, on Facebook, came through today.

Chrysaeglia magnifica, was suggested by a gal named Lisa.

After checking several websites (with images) I think, I've narrowed it down.

This one, will be named Chrysaeglia magnifica taiwana, for the time being.

In no particular order except, the way the research got done, here's links:

Japan Moth Org

Larva at Japan Moth Org

Wikiwand

Gagabiodiversity

Scientific Name: Chrysaeglia magnifica taiwana

English Name: It doesn't have one, yet

Japanese Name:  (Rurimon hosoka) ルリモンホソバ 

Mission Completed

A hike all the way to to top of the trail, wouldn't have been complete, without photos.

We went, hunting for the Ryukyu Robin but, didn't see any along the way.

The falls and some white caterpillar, would be the only memories from that trip.

Coming back down the trail, I spotted someone, down by the river.

A nature guide and a woman, with a camera and a humongous lens, were in there.

She was shooting the birds, we had come all this way to capture.

See: Hiji Waterfall a Most Refreshing Climb for more.

Hungry Caterpillars Eat Plenty of Food

Monster Was Eating Veges

 

 

It was one of those days, I didn't feel like walking too far with a 300MM lens.

So, I just went out back and looked around for something interesting to shoot.

Along came this brightly colored caterpillar and, it put on quite a show.

The little furry critter was eating vegetables in Mr's Yamashiro's garden plot.

It's a good thing, she wasn't around, to see all the damage this thing was creating.

The thought occurred to me, I could perform a random act of kindness.

Grab the culprit and, throw him over the fence, into a neighboor's vegetable patch.

Some people like to squish the hairy things, with their feet.  Not me.

And, I wasn't in a caterpillar chucking mood that day, either.

It did get me wondering, "How much food can one of them eat?"

In, "Ten Fascinating Facts About Caterpillars" I learned this:

Some of them eat 27,000 times the weight of their body, during their lifetime.

Don't diet. Eat more. Maybe, you'll turn into something as pretty as a butterfly !

 After, I shot about 5 gigabytes worth of photos, I let the rascal get away.

End of story

You Might Also Like

A Real Angry Caterpillar Causes an Extremely Short Photo Essay

Caterpillars Spotted Out Back Today

Two Motion GIFs

 

 

It's been awhile since I've run across one of these caterpillars.

The last time was in February of 2012 and, that was at a waterfall up north.

Now, it looks like they're starting to fancy city life.

When I ran to change cameras and get another lens, this guy disappeared.

Luckily, I spotted another one probably a different breed.

But, it was just as entertaining.

The pavement, out behind my office looks like a murder scene.

I'm hoping nobody calls the police before I get it cleaned up.

Did you ever try shooting a camera while crawling around on elbows and knees ?

Caterpillars Can Be Cute or Creepy (Photos)

It Depends on How You Look at Them

 

This little guy was crawling around outside my office.

The door just got locked and I was waiting for a ride, without my camera.

So, I shot it with my cell phone.

 

If Mrs. RyukyuMike saw it, she'd scream and squish the thing.

Green stuff, squirts all over the place when she does that.

I picked the little critter up and and put him in a neighbor's planter for safekeeping.

When I got done shopping, he was still there.

So, I grabbed a real camera and shot him.  The, put it back on the ground where it came from.

Here's a video, I found where people make this guy look cute:

The common name for this caterpillar, when it sprouts wings, is Hawk Moth.

Its scientific nomenclature:  Theretra oldenlandiae

Learn more about them at Hawk Moths of Australia


Would you call these critters cute or, creepy ?

Tachigaa Waterfalls Revisited and a Revised Spelling

Here is another view of that waterfall where I joked about a mean caterpillar running me out of town for harassing him with a zoom lens.

This is probably the coolest waterfall on the island when it comes to access and conveniences.

Every now and then, I catch a mistake, somewhere, on one of my old blog posts and go back to make a correction.  That's why we're revisiting this waterfall today.

Another photographer, who goes by the handle Okinawa Soba, created a link to me through his Flickr account.

When I was looking at his waterfall photos, I noticed my Tachigaa Waterfall was missing an "A".

While I'm busy running around trying to revise the spelling on my waterfall photos here's what you could do, if you have a few hours to kill.

Go visit OKINAWA SOBA'S FLICKR PAGES

Guaranteed.  

There is nothing, anywhere on Flickr, that comes close to what you are about to experience !

Photo Essay: The Surprise at Tachigaa Waterfalls in Okinawa

Going down the stairs to see the waterfall there is plenty of shade in the forest.

It takes a few minutes to find the waterfall but, you can hear it, somewhere off in the distance.

There are a couple of places along the way where you can step out in the sun and view the falls.

All the way down at ground level is the best place to take wide angle photos.

Getting up a little closer could get a person and their camera wet.

But,  that's where you discover the surprise.  There is a cabin off to the right of the falls.

And, if you weren't so busy looking for the falls on your way down the stairs, you would have noticed it then.

Not a problem, just take some photos on the way back up.

But, keep your eyes open for A REAL ANGRY CATERPILLAR along the way.

MORE INFORMATION ON TACHIGAA WATERFALLS

A Whatchamacallit Kinda Day in Bise Okinawa (Photos)

Today the better half and I went to the village of Bise in Okinawa, Japan.  She'd never been there before and has been bugging me to take her ever since she saw the first photos I shot, way back when of the fukugi trees lining the streets in the little town.  More about the whatchamacallit in the photo above, later.

The wife fell in love with my new CANON G12 and wanted to shoot the fukugi trees.  She knew I'd be packing my tripod and camera gear to do some photography so, she wanted to try some, too.

The first thing we ran into driving on the narrow, main road going into town was this water buffalo pulling a cartload of tourists.  My camera bag was in the back seat.  By the time I pulled off the side of the road to make room for the contraption and had my camera ready to shoot, the water bull was passing.  I snapped this quick shot with the PENTAX K5 through the open, driver's side window.

The Missus took this photo of whatchamacallit plants with the Canon G12.  All of a sudden anything that resembles those elephant ear plants, no matter what shape, or color they are, has become an elephant ear plant.  She could be right but, for now, they're just whatchamacallits, to me.

We wandered the streets of Bise and shot photos of the trees, all kinds of flowers and it was kinda fun.  I still have a pile of photos to develop and look at.  Then, serious research begins.

The Canon, the wife was shooting, I set to fully AUTO MODE so, her photos are JPGs, right out of the camera.  If and when I ever get the new camera in my hands, I'll switch it to fully Manual Mode and be shooting RAW files.  Not sure yet if its the Canon, Pentax, or the RAW converter program I use but, the color in the Pentax photos sure looks better than what the Canon created, to me.

While the Canon Lady was (ahem) composing shots of the (ahem) elephant ears, I pretended I was shooting them, too.  This big, fat, juicy caterpillar was munching on an elephant ear plant so loud I could almost hear him.  The wife would scream if she saw the rascal.

He was probably just eating a leaf that was dying, anyway.  But, whenever she sees one of these things in our garden she acts like it's some kind of humongous snake. HELP!   ANACONDA!

Maybe it'd be a good idea for me to study up on these critters.  They look like they might just turn out to be a really pretty butterfly.  Probably a great big one, too.  But, for now, they're just whatchamacallits like the rest of the stuff I don't know.

Greenstuff squirts out of them when you step on one.  Squirts pretty far, too, if you stomp on one really hard (ahem) so I've been told.  Anyway, this guy just got his picture taken today and got to keep munching away because (ahem) nobody saw him.

The whatchamacallit character in the first photo I bought from this gal who runs a seashell shop.

We became friends on my previous trips to Bise and I'm always forgetting to bring photos I promised her. 

The wife bought some trinket and I got me the character.  I may make a logo out of him someday.

Anyway, once I got home, I grabbed the G12 and snapped the photo of the handsome-looking dude at the kitchen table using the wife's special camera settings while she was busy doing something else.

I'll have to sneak out of the house with that camera sometime and see what it'll do with my settings on it. 

A thorough review of that little puppy is coming soon.  Please standby...