• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

Invasion!

C

cannon

Well, what was originally my best cayenne has suffered untold adversity. First, he was knocked over by a wind-storm that broke the stem under the surface of the soil. I staked him, tied him, and gave him TLC out of the 100+ degree sun for a couple of weeks. Just as I get the poor guy re-introduced to the rest of the herd, I step out this morning to see that he got smoked by a scum-bag horn worm. For reasons that should be painfully obvious, I exacted retribution that was both swift and proportionate to the crime.

xinvasion01.jpg

xinvasion02.jpg

xinvasion03.jpg

xinvasion04.jpg
 
Hey, he was just living his life, doing his thing. I hate those things too, but scissors might be a bit more humane.
 
bigt said:
Hey, he was just living his life, doing his thing. I hate those things too, but scissors might be a bit more humane.
Click to expand...

But what if, under the severe conditions (exposure to flame), it secretes a chemical to warn others to stay away? Most insects, from ants to honey bees, communicate through chemical secretions.
 
bigt said:
Hey, he was just living his life, doing his thing. I hate those things too, but scissors might be a bit more humane.
Click to expand...

Oh, I see your point, and I suspect (although I can't say for certain) that scissors would have been FAR more humane. Thing is, I'm just not that sympathetic to the plight of a hornworm. I would see it far differently if it were a puppy, but since it was a disgusting worm that took a full third of something I've spent 4 months growing, "humane" wasn't the route I was looking to take. I'm thinking that "vindictive" might better describe the M.O.

And to the poster above, I noted that within 1 second of the flame hitting his head, the worm began to sway back and forth violently and spit green stuff everywhere. I suspect it was exactly the defense mechanism you were referring to. Either way, the reason I burned him wasn't to warn other critters, but to make his death as slow and painful as was possible. If I could have envisioned a way to make it slower and more painful, you can bet I would have done it differently.
 
Wow that was a huge one. I found a small one last season and feed it to my black widow. I prefer a more human way of death ;)
 
Straight pins and a piece of wood to stick them in through the horn worm. Mid body or tail first then and hour or so later come and add another, working your way to the head slowly.........Don't call me sadistic I have a one-eyed horny worm I take great care of :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
The best part about this thread isn't even the moral conundrum about how to dispatch horn worms, but reading one had been called a "scumbag," like he was a hairy dock worker who moonlighted as a pimp and petty crook.
 
cannon said:
Oh, I see your point, and I suspect (although I can't say for certain) that scissors would have been FAR more humane. Thing is, I'm just not that sympathetic to the plight of a hornworm. I would see it far differently if it were a puppy, but since it was a disgusting worm that took a full third of something I've spent 4 months growing, "humane" wasn't the route I was looking to take. I'm thinking that "vindictive" might better describe the M.O.

And to the poster above, I noted that within 1 second of the flame hitting his head, the worm began to sway back and forth violently and spit green stuff everywhere. I suspect it was exactly the defense mechanism you were referring to. Either way, the reason I burned him wasn't to warn other critters, but to make his death as slow and painful as was possible. If I could have envisioned a way to make it slower and more painful, you can bet I would have done it differently.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. I would of strapped him to a huge firework rocket and sent him on his way with a leaf hanging in front of him lmao... :rofl:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top