Mothra: an ode to the bizarre in the Sierra
Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 7:55 pm
I'm certain that just about anyone who has been in the Sierra has had some unexpected event threaten their trip in one way or another (from lost gear to marmots/bears eating their food to a horrific rash I remember reading about in a post from Mike M). This was the weirdest I ever experienced:
My wife and I had just gotten down the long, slow descent from Ireland Lake plateau to the upper reaches of Lewis creek basin in southeastern Yosemite. I was beginning to enjoy walking on solid ground (rather than talus) when an agitated flying creature buzzed me and then flew directly into my ear. It went in far enough that I could not reach it. At about 20 second intervals, it fluttered its wings to produce an amplified sound quite unlike anything I've ever encountered. It felt as if it was banging around in the middle of my skull (well, darn close!). My wife undoubtedly thought I was having a psychotic breakdown when I ditched my pack and started shaking my head and bouncing on one foot. Oh and cursing. When those antics failed, I gradually calmed down enough to let her try to reach the beastie with the tiny forceps in my Swiss Army knife. 20 minutes later, no luck. The fluttering is driving me crazy. No reverse on this *^#@+~$%* frickin' critter. So, a flashlight won't work. How about water? A head dunk was ineffective, but then my wife poured a stream directly into the auditory canal. After several more minutes of probing with the forceps she claimed to see something. A couple minutes more and it emerged at the end of the forceps. A moth. OK, a drowned moth. One very petulant and disturbed moth.
Ok, this was a once-in-49-years of backpacking in the Sierra event, but what would I have done if I were solo? Or if this had been a bee? Well, it was strange enough without contemplating other scenarios. I'm still a bit tentative around moths.......... Cameron
My wife and I had just gotten down the long, slow descent from Ireland Lake plateau to the upper reaches of Lewis creek basin in southeastern Yosemite. I was beginning to enjoy walking on solid ground (rather than talus) when an agitated flying creature buzzed me and then flew directly into my ear. It went in far enough that I could not reach it. At about 20 second intervals, it fluttered its wings to produce an amplified sound quite unlike anything I've ever encountered. It felt as if it was banging around in the middle of my skull (well, darn close!). My wife undoubtedly thought I was having a psychotic breakdown when I ditched my pack and started shaking my head and bouncing on one foot. Oh and cursing. When those antics failed, I gradually calmed down enough to let her try to reach the beastie with the tiny forceps in my Swiss Army knife. 20 minutes later, no luck. The fluttering is driving me crazy. No reverse on this *^#@+~$%* frickin' critter. So, a flashlight won't work. How about water? A head dunk was ineffective, but then my wife poured a stream directly into the auditory canal. After several more minutes of probing with the forceps she claimed to see something. A couple minutes more and it emerged at the end of the forceps. A moth. OK, a drowned moth. One very petulant and disturbed moth.
Ok, this was a once-in-49-years of backpacking in the Sierra event, but what would I have done if I were solo? Or if this had been a bee? Well, it was strange enough without contemplating other scenarios. I'm still a bit tentative around moths.......... Cameron