Pet Rescue

Yesterday I spent 1 hour 50 mins searching for doomed hibernating larvae on a massive old sallow brought down and snapped of by the December gales.  The tree was hard to photograph but it looks like this -

Two larvae were found, about 10m and 11m 'up' - one in a fork, the other on a bud.  Both were found on strong leaders off the trunk, below the main, twiggy canopy.  None was found in the canopy itself, which doesn't surprise me.  The tree was some 17m tall, which is massive for a sallow.  Three other giants are still standing in that area, one of which seems to support Goat moth borings. 

Here are the lucky two who were rescued -

I'm not at all surprised that they didn't fall off when the tree came crashing down - it takes a lot to knock these guys off.  Whatever mistakes you make in life Never Underestimate a Caterpillar (Erucam numquam minoris aestomate).

Two other old fallen sallows still need searching...