The moths are out to get me. I'm convinced of it. They've found out how many column centimetres I've written about butterflies in recent weeks and they're miffed.
Yesterday I had two, admittedly small, moths visit me in the What's With That office complex. It wasn't dark or anything, so I'm not quite sure where they came from or why they were targeting me.
The previous night, I had the window open a bit and one came bumbling into my room, darting back and forth from one light to the next, then dive-bombing my head. Gosh I hate it when they get round your ears and you can hear the frenzied buzzing of their wings.
They may have got wind of my visit to see their show-pony cousins at Otago Museum at the weekend.
If you haven't been to the museum's redeveloped Tropical Forest, you should get along there soon. It's fantastic. Even if you're not a massive fan of butterflies, the sultry, 28degC environment is rather lovely on a rather chilly Dunedin day.
My oldest son Joe was down from Christchurch and we spent Saturday in the museum and then wandering around the Dunedin Botanic Garden. The highlight of the day was the Tropical Forest - we just loved the humidity, the orchids and other exotic plants and, of course, the gliding and flitting, vividly-coloured butterflies from the Philippines and Costa Rica.
We were fortunate to be there at 11am to watch the release of the newly-hatched butterflies, trying out their wings for the first time. One poor misguided creature attached itself to my trousers for at least 10 minutes. Another one decided to hitch a ride on my hair.
I hate to say it, but monarchs have their work cut out looking magnificent compared with some of these butterflies. It's a great initiative by the museum to bring them here. I'd be keen to go again.
Bird behaviour
Yes, more wildlife!
I've had a couple of emails offering explanations for the behaviour of the fantail which Norm Hewitt of Green Island saw trying to force its way into his lounge.
Wendy Ockwell of Outram says she thinks she has the answer.
''They frequently fly at my windows, but they are eating little bugs and spiders up around the top of the aluminium window frames and under the eaves. This occurs about 5pm more than any other time of the day.
''Look out if they fly inside when doors are open, as they are very difficult to get back outside, especially if your ceilings are much higher than your door tops.''
Dave Crooks of St Clair says ''testosterone-filled male fantails in heat will attack their reflection in a window, mistaking it for a rival fantail''.
Both explanations seem highly likely.
Press releases
We get swamped by media releases every day. Probably only one in every four or five actually gets used by an ODT reporter as the basis for a real news story.
Here's one from the ''well, they would say that'' department I received the other day. It's from the New Zealand Alcohol Beverages Council, comprising Pernod Ricard New Zealand, DB Breweries, Lion, Independent Liquor, Foodstuffs (NZ) Ltd, the Brewers Association of NZ, the NZ Food & Grocery Council, Spirits New Zealand and Brown-Forman NZ.
Under the heading ''Study confirms drinking moderately, responsibly the way to go'', the press release says the group has ''given its verdict'' on a recent study in The Lancet on the effects of alcohol over-consumption.
Executive director Nick Leggett says The Lancet study has ''the usual shock-horror tactics used to try and scare people away from alcohol'', although it ''actually confirms something we all already know - drinking moderately and responsibly is the way to go''.
Mr Leggett criticised the study. He said while it found increased mortality for those who drank 10-plus glasses a week, it failed to compare those who drink moderately and abstainers, ''because the unhelpful and uncomfortable truth is that those who drink moderately enjoy better life expectancy than non-drinkers''.
Is that really the case? Is that the ''drink red wine for better health'' argument?
He said Kiwis who followed public health guidelines around healthy weekly consumption of alcohol should ''not be concerned by this study''. Moderation was the key, with two standard drinks a day for women, and no more than 10 a week, and three a day for men, and no more than 15 each week.
Good on the council for pushing for responsibility. But is drinking that much alcohol every week really moderation?
As I said, call me cynical if you wish - well, they would say that.