Casey Blanc

… worse, they, uh… don’t look so hot. I don’t know if they’re tired and gave up, or what, but they aren’t moving a ton anymore. Probably exhaustion? Fuck, I’m really doing this all wrong, huh? I knew the glue traps were a bad idea, I should’ve grabbed literally anything else! I guess PSA: glue traps are cruel. Better to let the cats get ‘em, or even use an old fashioned mouse trap. Least it’s a fast death.

Well, regardless, pretty sure dead things still have DNA, so that’s covered? But not sure how much that matters if I live in bumfuck nowhere Oklahoma (not getting more specific because I ain’t doxing myself), and can’t even take a picture of the things. I’ll email some biologists, but don’t think they’re gonna believe a pencil sketch, glitchy picture, or epilepsy: the video -m-

And yeah, location and time, night of course, but I have NEVER fucking seen these, and rust ain’t exactly a new thing out here. I refuse to believe these shitty locks we’ve not-actually-used for years are somehow such good bait they let some weird things out of hiding.

And look, I’m not a certified biologist or anything, but I payed enough attention in high school (for as much good as it’s done me) to know that evolution takes time. No one came and sprayed radiation on the trees and suddenly we have rust-eating moths. Even if it was some freak mutation that affected a ton of shit, there are a lot of these really suddenly. Has to be a best or something somewhere nearby, right?

I set up a camera in the yard to try to see what keeps getting into my trash. I live on the outskirts, so just really hoping it’s not a mountain lion or coyote or something. Been putting locks on it, but they’re old and really rusted. Like, turn-your-hand-orange rusted. So I was just more put off than anything when the inevitable happened and it started flaking apart completely. I didn’t pay much attention at first, but then realized it was happening really fucking fast.

Like, the first one, I thought it just broke and part got lost when whatever animal knocked over my damn trash can again. Normal enough, if annoying. Got another, equally rusted lock (parents were fucking hoarders), put it on there, and it was half gone by the next morning, and more than that, these was this weird white… powder? Crystal? Looked like salt. Grabbed some gloves and a paper towel to brush it off because fuck that. Couldn’t even blame the mountain lion(?) this time, because the trash can was upright.

Had to wait a day after that, because it was trash day anyways. The trash people aren’t the ones I’m trying to keep out. Had to pick a few pieces off the ground the next day, but no more than a bag full, so good enough win.

Gave me time to buy the camera too. Which, yeah, maybe I’m being a quick shot. One weird thing happens and I get a fucking security camera like I’m a suburban mom who just saw a black family move in, but eh, probably needed one anyways. Not like I know how to work a gun, and like I said, something had been knocking the bins over anyways. And hey, the birds were pretty out here, so if I ended up not needing it, maybe I could finally buy a bird fountain and feeder and start one of those Cat TV channels.

Anyways, let me get to the point.

Set up the camera, put the lock on, and reviewed after a day or two—turns out the neighbors’ horses had found a new way out of their shitty barbed wire fence again. But that’s not the interesting part. Each night, there were these bugs crawling around the lock. A bit hard to make out, ‘cuz I was more focused on the “coyotes,” but could see enough to realize that pre-bugs, lock intact. Post-bugs, lock half gone, and that not-salt was everywhere. Same thing the next night, though I think there were more.

So what’s a person with literally nothing else going on supposed to do except rig a shitty trap?

House has had way more of a mouse problem than it should for how many cats my parents had, but I only had to see one mouse struggling in a glue trap to swear off those… until now. I don’t feel great about it, but they’re just bugs, right? I’ve slapped god knows how many flies, and used fly paper too. It’s no different, right?

Or maybe I’m just making excuses. I’m good at that.

Anyways, as you can probably guess, I caught one, or five. They’re covered in this white, velvety-soft fur. Their bodies are rust-colored, at least what I can see under the fluff. The weird part though are the rings on them. Like, I know moths and butterflies tend to have eyespots, but they’re this weird purple color. I don’t quite know how to describe it. Somewhere between pale purple and an electric color? Or like the glow of white under an ultraviolet light at an old bowling alley. Whatever it is, it makes photographing these things damn near impossible. Might try to sketch one later, but there’s no way I’m nailing that color, which is fine. Better at pencil stuff anyways.

Anyways, been trying to figure out what kind of moths these are, but nothing online even looks close. Finding moths that leave salt crystals (or whatever, I’m NOT tasting that) behind is also getting me jack shit.

So, I guess I found a new species??? I’m calling them Salt Moths for now.

… and yes, their insides are rust colored too. Bright orange. One was really badly tangled and just wriggling, rolling around and getting more and more ensnared. I couldn’t leave it like that. The rest I’ll, uh, figure out what to do with later, I guess. Send to the government? Or a zoo? How would I even do that???