Mystery Creature revealed – the Flannel Moth Caterpillar

Mystery Creature revealed – the Flannel Moth Caterpillar

It is hard to believe that March is over already and that it is time to reveal this month’s mystery creature already. Here is a little reminder…

Did you guess it? It is the…

Flannel Moth Caterpillar (Megalopyge opercularis), often referred to as the Trumpapillar, for, ahem, some very obvious reasons 😉

Here is another image, in case you need more convincing on the Donald Trump connection.

Photo credit: Andreas Kay

They are found in a range of colours, mainly yellows, greys and browns.

These cute and fluffy looking caterpillars are a lot more harmful that they appear. Those silky looking hairs that cover the body contain tiny spines capable of injecting toxins into any victim that come into the slightest contact with them. They say it is an experience you will not forget in a hurry. The immediate symptom is searing pain at the area of injection, where a number of dark red spots usually appear. Most victims don’t get away with just that though; other symptoms include headache, nausea or vomiting, abdominal cramps, chest pains and, for some, serious respiratory distress or shock like symptoms. Although medical attention is needed in such cases there is no antidote to the toxin, the symptoms usually abate with time; the pain usually lasts for at least 12 hours.

A bit of mimicry

These caterpillars are so good at being bad that other try to mimic them, for their own safety, take a look at the video below for more on this amazing caterpillar and those that try to look just like it.

What about the adult moth?

Luckily, the venomous phase of this creatures life cycle is limited to its caterpillar state. The adults pose no threat at all and look like this…

Image credit: Patrick Coin

How common are the moths and where can they be found (or avoided)?

The inch long caterpillar is fond of feeding on many garden plants and common trees such as oak and elm. It can be found in many regions of the United States (primarily eastern and southern states), Mexico and parts of Central America. There are often two breeding species per year, making early Spring and early Autumn the most likely times to get stung. 

Have you ever come across a venomous creature? Or maybe one that reminds you of someone you know? If so, please let us and share your story in the comments below.

Remember to check back for another mystery creature next week!

Netflix stream team – our current family viewing

Netflix stream team – our current family viewing

We have had some dark weather and lots of rain recently so Netflix has been appreciated all the more in this house. Last week we received a lovely gift from Netflix, some cozy slippers, a nice relaxing herbal tea, a lovely lavender and chamomile spray and a mini beanie for the tablet.

The children were quick in coming up with ways to use everything (I got the tea, they made off with everything else). They asked could they all pop into our bed that evening and watch Netflix on my ipad using the new beanie. As it was the start of the long weekend I decided to give it a go (figuring they’d last five minutes before I’d have to break it up). I settled them in and even sprayed the lavender and chamomile on their pillow and headed back up to the fire and my book. To my amazement their idea worked. They snuggled in and watched the whole moving without any arguments and afterwards they all fell off to sleep really quickly.

Thank you Netflix!

What are the children watching?

Penelope

What were they watching that night? They watched Penelope, a real feel good movie and all three kids gave it the thumbs up!

A modern romantic tale about a young aristocratic heiress born under a curse that can only be broken when she finds true love with “one who will love her faithfully.

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Event

The children are also enjoying the Netflix original series of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Event. They are big fans of the original movie which is also available on Netlfix. So far they are really enjoying this eight episode series; they seem to think it is a little darker than the movie with a lot more details and plot lines.

 

Two by Two

The youngest got to choose a movie for another recent movie night and he chose Two-by-two. I watched it with the kids too and it is a really sweet movie, about fitting in, finding friends and realising who you really are (or if you don’t want to psychoanalyse it, it’s just a cute animated movie!).

 

Middle School – the worst years of my life

At Hills Village Middle School, budding cartoonist Rafe and best pal Leo challenge their uptight principal by breaking every rule in his handbook.

My kids loved this movie and it prompted my middle child to start reading the books, which is a win-win, right?

What are the adults watching?

Grace and Frankie

I can’t wait to get stuck into the third season of Frankie and Grace, which will be released in just one more day (the 24th March to be exact). I really enjoyed the first series and was a full blown fan by the end of the second season so I really can’t wait to see what the lovely pair get up to in this next season.

Here is a trailer for the new series:

 

I don’t feel at home in this world anymore

We really enjoyed this new Netflix movie starring Elijah Wood and Australian actress Melanie Lynskey – I don’t feel at home in this world anymore. If you like quirky movies then check this one out.

Grimm

We have started watching Grimm, a series about a cop who suddenly inherits some special powers and realises that not all people are what they appear. It is early days but we are really enjoying the first series so far.

Iron Fist

This is brand new to Netflix this month and we have watched the first two episodes so far. It was a little slow to start but has good promise and we are all Marvel fans in this family (although the movie is rated 18s).

Danny Rand resurfaces 15 years after being presumed dead. Now, with the power of the Iron Fist, he seeks to reclaim his past and fulfil his destiny.

What are you watching on Netflix at the moment? If you have any current favourites let me know in the comments below.

Disclosure: As a member of the Netflix Stream Team I have received a years subscription to Netflix, free of charge, and an Apple TV, for streaming purposes. As part of Netflix Stream Team I will be posting monthly updates on what we are watching and what is on offer.  All opinions expressed will be my own.

Why does my tummy rumble?

Why does my tummy rumble?

I’m back with another great question this week, send in by Sarah, who wants to know …

Why does my tummy rumble?

It is all explained in this short video, just click to play (or, if you prefer, you can read the answer below).

While we sometimes find the noise a little embarrassing it is actually a really natural, and essential thing and shows that our bodies are working correctly, but why all the noise?

Let’s take a closer look!

The noises come from our digestive system, which is basically a long tube that stretches from out mouth to our anus! It usually comes from our stomach or small intestine.

The wall of this tube is mainly made up of muscles, called smooth muscles, which move in a certain way to push food through the system. This muscular movement is called peristalsis and this is how it works…

A small area of muscles contract, a bit like squeezing a ring around a part of the tube and this pushes things like foods, liquids and gases forward a little; then these muscles relax and the muscles in front of them contract and so on, pushing food and other content down the tube with each contraction.

Think about squeezing toothpaste from a tube!

The noises we hear are due to the movement of food, liquids and gases down the digestive tract. We associate the noise with an empty stomach, or being hungry, but the sounds are made when we have food in our system too. We often don’t notice them as the sound is dulled down.

When our digestive system is empty the noise is a lot louder.

It makes sense that peristalsis happens when we need to pass food through our digestive system, but why all the activity when our stomach is empty? Well this is the result of something called the Migrating Motor Complex or MMC for short!

This usually happens when our stomach and intestine have been empty for about two hours; a type of electrical pulse is triggered and this causes peristalsis through the digestive system. This serves a type of cleansing function; it clears any pockets of leftover food, mucus, bacteria and other debris from the stomach and small intestine.

The MMC response is usually triggered when our digestive system has been empty for about 2 hours

The MMC response is triggered every 90 to 120 minutes, until the next meal is eaten. It does tend to quieten down a bit while we sleep and then ramp up the activity again when we waken, which is why we often have gurgling tummies in the morning.

I hope you enjoyed this short explanation and video; Do let me know in the comments below and as always, if you have a question you’d like answered just leave it in the comments below! 

How to make rainbow silly putty

How to make rainbow silly putty

People are always asking me for a slime recipe that doesn’t require borax powder. This is one option, making silly putty. We love this recipe, using just cornflour and washing up liquid (or you can use liquid soap instead); just be careful that you use products that you know won’t irritate your child’s skin.

We thought we’d share this one, in honour of St. Patrick’s Day…. with all the shamrocks and the leprechauns and the rainbows 😉

You will need:

  • Cornflour
  • Liquid soap or washing up liquid
  • A bowl
  • A spoon
  • Food colouring

What to do:

Just click the arrow button on the right of the image below to find out how to make this brilliant rainbow silly putty; it is so easy and my kids loved it!


The results:

We mixed all our silly putty together for the rainbow effect but you can keep the colours separate if you prefer. This silly putty is great to play with, mold it in your hand, stretch it, fold it… it makes a great stress busting tool too! It will last for a week or more if you put it in an airtight container or plastic bag but we usually just make a new batch each time.

Let me know if you try this yourself! We have had lots of fun working on other slime recipes and will be sharing them soon so remember to check back or follow the blog to make sure you don’t miss any posts! 

Are all raindrops the same size?

Are all raindrops the same size?

As you know, I love receiving your questions and I am always thinking of different ways to answer them. Some you will find in my regular column in the Irish Examiner, some I answer here on the blog, in written, video and info-graphic form.

Here is something a little bit different and I am hoping to make it a regular thing, so please let me know what you think and keep those questions coming!

Are all raindrops the same size?

In order to answer this question we need to first understand how raindrops are formed. And that story starts right down here on Earth. We have lots of water in the form of rivers, lakes and seas and when this water heats up it changes into a gas, called water vapour which rises up into the air.

The sky actually has lots of bits floating around in it – like dust and smoke particles. The water vapour tends to form tiny droplets of water around these little specks of dust and smoke and these droplets come together to make clouds.

At this stage the tiny drops are light enough to stay in the sky, but, as the cloud fills up with more and more of them they tend to start to bumping off each other and as they do they join together to form bigger droplets. Eventually they get so big and heavy that they can no longer stay in the cloud and they drop down towards the Earth as rain.

A water droplet needs to be at least ½ mm in diameter before it will fall as a raindrop.

Depending on how many droplets have joined together to make that raindrop, we already have drops of different sizes falling from the clouds.

What shape doe you think the raindrops are? Teardrop shaped maybe? No, not at all! Although raindrops are usually depicted in this teardrop shape they actually start off as nice round spheres. They have lots of forces acting on them, like surface tension which acts on the surface of the drop keeping it in that nice round shape.

As the rain drops fall they experience other forces too like air pressure. As it pushes from below and above the rain drops get squished into sausage like shapes until they eventually split into a number of small drops of various sizes and these are what fall to the ground.

So, are all raindrops the same size? Definitely not!

And they are not all teardrop shaped either.

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A big thanks to Ewan for sending in this question. Remember to keep sending in your questions. You can leave them in the comments below.

I’d love to know what you think of this video, there are lots of improvements I want to make and I’d love your comments and feedback.