Invaders

I took this macro of this catapiller that was climbing on two of our tomato plants the other night. This is the better of three photos but the other catapillar we found had these white fuzzy things all over its back...don't know if they were little ones or just some kind of protectant but it looked very weird. If you look closely at this one, you can see that it has a thorn sticking up from its tail end...self defense I assume.

This second pic is one of several little sap hills that are on our tree that has to be taken out. I had the tree guy come out today and he said we definitely have to take it out. Apparently the chemical they used to use on these little buggers is no longer allowed so there is nothing to do but get rid of the tree. We have decided that it is worth it to have someone else take it out and grind the stump than do it ourselves.

We can file a claim for storm damage with our insurance and we can get some money back on the replacement tree that we will have to put in, so that there will be some shade in that yard for the new landscaping. I took some pictures today of what it looks like with the tree and we'll see how drastically it looks when the tree is gone. We might be able to get it out today, otherwise it will be in the next few weeks. I am really bummed that we are losing it. Feels like I am killing a friend, but I know that it is already dying so perhaps I am keeping it from suffering and saving the other trees from possible infection.