Animals in Japan (1)

One thing that Damien and I love to do on our days off is to locate a mountain on the map and drive there. Inevitably there will be a small parking area and many “hiking courses”. Each hike usually affords a lovely panoramic view, a chance to visit small mountain shrines and temples, and new wildlife to wonder over.
We went today to a nearby town and found some wonderful hiking trails. They were littered with caterpillars! They were hanging from the trees like ornaments on very long strings. There were all kinds: black, grey, white, red, yellow, furry, smooth, big, small, many-legged, few-legged, round, bumpy, normal and weird. We even saw a stand of strange trees with the strangest bark I have ever seen, that were covered with old cocoons. They were huge and at first we thought that the pupae was still inside. But we figured out that the butterflies had already emerged.
Here is a list of some of the strange animals we have encountered so far in this area:

· Cocoon (notice the bugs having sex in the background! I didn’t realize that until I got home and saw the picture!)
· Striped caterpillar rolling up its ball of thread
· Red caterpillar that looks like a sea horse
· A fuzzy caterpillar and a smooth one
· A yellow caterpillar that looks like a sea horse
· Yellow and white bird with a beautiful song
· Spider in a web near waterfall
· Blue bird in the mountains
· Big ugly spider near Kani river
· Giant bumblebee near Kani river
· Big bug on a flower
· Swimming mammal in Kani river (see Damien’s blog)
· Small cute armored bug on our balcony
· Bird of prey
· Turtles
· Red-headed duck
· Heron-like small fishing bird
· Lizard
· White egret
· Grey heron
· Comorant

I will keep blogging about different animals that we see!
I have heard that there are monkeys in the hills! Hopefully one day I will have a blog about them!