As the UK is apparently experiencing a severe water shortage, we have been recycling water as much as possible. Every time one of us showers, we collect the bathwater for use on the garden plants by showering over a bucket. This morning, I got into the shower to find a moth floating on the top of the water in the bucket, on its back with its legs in the air. It seemed pretty damn dead, which made me sad - but I didn't want a dead moth in the bathwater even if its body would provide extra nitrates for the soil, so I tipped it out to dry. A few hours later, I went back into the bathroom to find the same moth had miraculously come back to life, crawling up the sides of the bath, and getting stuck due to the steepness of the gradient. So I used the bucket's lid to help it out, and released it from the window. It happily flew away.
So that was very exciting already, with the coming back to life and all; but in tonight's Evening Standard there is an article about endangered species in London, and a photograph of several species of moth. It seems that the moth in question is called a Double Line Moth and is very rare in the southeast; and found mostly in Richmond Park. Well, Richmond Park is just up the road (10 minutes on foot), and gives its name to our constituency - and that, plus the fact I examined the moth for a good five minutes to make sure it really was okay before letting it go, makes me quite certain of its identification.
Isn't that cool?
