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I Saw An Odd Thing Last Night

This is what I'm thinking of - the ermine moth, a species of silk-producing moth that lives in the UK. I've seen a few caterpillar-webs this year, something I've not noticed before, so it might be a good year for them.
A_bundle_of_caterpillars_-_geograph.org.uk_-_427496.jpg
 
This is what I'm thinking of - the ermine moth, a species of silk-producing moth that lives in the UK. I've seen a few caterpillar-webs this year, something I've not noticed before, so it might be a good year for them.
A_bundle_of_caterpillars_-_geograph.org.uk_-_427496.jpg
It could have been like that. But that’s Ona tree this was suspended.

When I go upstairs I plan to take a picture of the view and draw on what I saw.
 
The eggar moth and the brown-tailed moth also do this swarming thing in the UK; brown-tailed moths have irritant hairs, so be careful.
 
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Sometimes ermine moth caterpillars do this, which looks a bit like your sighting. The fact that it made a sound when it fell suggests it was a real phenomenon rather than a reflection or optical illusion.

depositphotos_443748084-stock-photo-number-spindle-ermine-moth-caterpillar.jpg
 
Sometimes ermine moth caterpillars do this, which looks a bit like your sighting. The fact that it made a sound when it fell suggests it was a real phenomenon rather than a reflection or optical illusion.

depositphotos_443748084-stock-photo-number-spindle-ermine-moth-caterpillar.jpg
That’s why I was glad something was on the video camera too (ok I know not much) so I know I wasn’t going mad.
 
It’s probably something normal but it did seem odd. I saw it with my own eyes from an upstairs window. It was about the size of a hand and was like a not very tight wound ball of wool. It was in front of a window of our log cabin so either suspended like a spider (I hope it wasn’t that size) or stuck to the glass. Then it suddenly fell and I heard it land. I’ve attacked a picture taken from our video camera at the time. It’s not great you can just about see something black. What was it?

l’m guessing a rat that lost its footing trying to climb down.

They are amazingly nimble:


maximus otter
 
I might have missed it, but what country are you in, and where in that country? This might help us to suggest a species.

The fuzzy ball appearance suggests a ball of caterpillars or some other insect swarm phenomenon. Bit late in the year, though.
Wonder if it was something that might have got caught-up in a spider's web, then dropped down gradually?
 
Have you been out to have a look yet? The answer may be lying/squirming/wriggling/writhing/pulsating on the floor.
 
Pretty big for a spiders web to hold it at all.
Not really, as [quote:] "a Spider's web is five times stronger than steel!"
In any case, it depends on what exactly might have been dangling on the spider's web ~ could just as easily have been something as light as a dead leaf, or moss off of the roof, etc.
 
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From your sketch though, I'd say spider dropping from the roof, lowering itself to the ground.

Any chance that you may have got the size/perspective wrong? A loosely wound spider can look pretty big, if it's moving, but I really don't want to think of a hand-sized one (although I guess a large garden spider with its legs just pulled in could look hand sized).
 
The ermine moth solution looks pretty convincing to me. The right size and shape, and ermine moth caterpillars have been particularly numerous this year (I started looking for them after Chris Packham mentioned them on Springwatch).
 
Not really, as [quote:] "a Spider's web is five times stronger than steel!"
In any case, it depends on what exactly might have been dangling on the spider's web ~ could just as easily have been something as light as a dead leaf, or moss off of the roof, etc.
It made a clatter when it landed.
 
From your sketch though, I'd say spider dropping from the roof, lowering itself to the ground.

Any chance that you may have got the size/perspective wrong? A loosely wound spider can look pretty big, if it's moving, but I really don't want to think of a hand-sized one (although I guess a large garden spider with its legs just pulled in could look hand sized).
No I thought maybe it was closer to me but no I heard it land there and the rubbish video shows there was something there at the time.
 
The ermine moth solution looks pretty convincing to me. The right size and shape, and ermine moth caterpillars have been particularly numerous this year (I started looking for them after Chris Packham mentioned them on Springwatch).
I did have a moth trying to get a lift in my car the other day (I’d already had a ladybird the other day). I wasn’t driving with a moth loose though.
 
It made a clatter when it landed.
Oh well, given that it made a clattering noise as it hit the ground, and you never found anything there, then I guess it must have been some kind of a living thing. Otherwise, it would not have disappeared! So, in that case - it may well have been the up-and-coming Fortean Gnome Circus Act refining his performance perhaps?
 
If it was Ermine Moth caterpillars, why would they be on the window? If they fell from above, what was their food source?
 
If it was Ermine Moth caterpillars, why would they be on the window? If they fell from above, what was their food source?
Moths are attracted to any source of light, and it might have been that it was seeking a sheltering place overnight?
 
Moths are attracted to any source of light, and it might have been that it was seeking a sheltering place overnight?
I'm a bit confused. An Ermine moth or caterpillars?
 
I don't think the caterpillars were on the window; I think they were probably hanging from the eaves in front of the window.

When they fell down they might have knocked something over, one of the gnomes perhaps; hence the clatter.
Nothing was out of place but just landing on it would be enough to make the noise.
 
My mother couldn't see the point in the things. If I had bought one and left marks on the walls or windows my mother would have been going on about it forever as she is excessive/compulsively tidy.

She told me I wasn't allowed posters on my wall because the blue tack would leave marks on the wall. I ignored her. I know she was right but most teenagers want to put up posters. Without them my room had no identity. Just white wallpaper.....

She once put my shoes away before I had a chance to put them on to go to FE college.

One of the last times I went to hers I was eating a banana and yoghurt. I had put the banana inside the skin on my tray (as you do when you are in the middle of eating it) and she grabbed the skin to throw it away - with my banana inside.....She did apologise when she realised.

I do wonder what this fuzzy thing was.....maybe a small bat.....I want to see a sketch of the thing....because the image isn't very clear....
Bats move in quite a distinctive way - if you're familiar with them, you'll probably be fairly sure whether or not it was one?
 
Bats move in quite a distinctive way - if you're familiar with them, you'll probably be fairly sure whether or not it was one?
After thinking about the possibilities of what it might have been, my conclusion is that in all probability it was indeed a bat. It, like birds (might also have been a startled bird), it could easily have banged into the window (it is a well-known thing) and hit the window just hard enough to temporarily knock it out for a spit second or two (which could be when it was caught on the camera), then dropped to the ground, after which it probably managed to revive and crawl away/take flight.
 
After thinking about the possibilities of what it might have been, my conclusion is that in all probability it was indeed a bat. It, like birds, it could easily have banged into the window (it is a known thing) and hit it just hard enough to knock it out for a spit second or two (which could be when it was caught on the camera), then dropped to the ground, after which it probably revived and managed to crawl away/then take off.
I was it stationary before it fell. A bat would not be hanging a couple of feet from the eaves with not visible means of support. Also as I said it had squiggly bits at the side. I think the collection of caterpillar is probably the most likely.
 
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