I'm not kidding, its really like a zoo here.
The other day when I said that it was like a zoo here, I had no photographic proof. Now I do.
Aside from the baby birds, and the silkworms, and the rats (no photo), we now also have moths and....
A Japanese Rat Snake discovered in our bath this morning. (Before judging us when you look at the photos, please remember that we do not actually use that bath we use the local bath down the street. This might explain the mess.) The thing we are worried about now is that the snake or his buddies might be back for our birds. They LOOOOOVVVVEEEE birds and bird eggs. Chicken farmers HAAAATTTTEEEE this snake. I will have dreams all night in which I go downstairs and find a snake stuck in the bird cage because he is too fat to get back out.
Last night I found a couple moths in the big pile of silk-worm cocoons. This is actually not good because each cocoon is a single strand of silk and as the moths exit, they break that strand. Of course, we have no route to sell our silk, so I don't think we need to worry too much about this.
There are also groups that promote "vegan silk" - that is, silk that is made from cocoons where the moths have been allowed to emerge and mate so they can live a "silk-worm/moth-esque" life. This lowers the quality of the silk because it is no longer a single strand. Unfortunately, this theory breaks down because the cultivated mot hes don't even live a silk-moth-esque life if they are allowed to molt. Silk worms are one of the most cultivated/domesticated animals in the world, and the variety that I have been keeping is nothing like a "real" or "natural" silk-worm. The moths can not fly. They can not search for food on their own. They grow much bigger than in the wild. This is really another man-made freak of nature, just like the carrot, apple, corn, pumpkin, cucumber, cherry, dairy cow, pig, etc. The difference between these silkworms and a cow however, is that the cows people usually eat are treated like crap as they are alive. On the other hand, my silkworms are free-range silkworms. They have been pampered as pampering can be.