Do Not Disturb

It may appear to be spring, more or less, but some creatures have not yet emerged from hibernation. There are still several Peacock Butterflies in my woodshed that have tucked themselves away in corners against the tin roof and behind piles of logs, to sleep away the winter.

The Peacock has always been one of my favourite butterflies. It is one of the easiest to recognise and most people know it by its crimson and black markings with bluish yellow "eyes".
When I was a child I used to seek out their caterpillars and then raise them in a sort of converted dolls hospital which I fitted out with pots of stinging nettles, their preferred food plants. The great excitement was watching the adult butterflies emerge in early summer, to dry their wings and fly off into the morning sun.

The underside of the butterfly is far less spectacular but it provides easy camouflage among piles of dead leaves. Peacock butterflies can make a loud hiss by rasping their wings together. This, combined with suddenly opening their wings to show two pairs of large "eyes" is enough to frighten off most birds and mice

They should be taking to the wing any day now.