Attack of the Caterpillars

I've been pulling little white furry caterpillars off of plants for the past couple days. The first one I spotted was chomping down on a rose bush stem and a few minutes ago I nabbed one devouring a basil leaf. They're on the flowers too, although I haven't spotted any on the zucchini, beans, or tomato plants. It's also entirely possible I haven't looked closely enough. With the tomato plants and the beans all in the cage it's super crowded and I really don't have good access to watch or even water the plants. As for the non-caged zucchini, I've pulled out a couple sad looking plants that were in containers with another plant and that seems to have made the remaining plants happier. All week I had up to a half dozen female zucchini blossoms open a day and not a single guy. I finally got a male open this morning but by the time I got out there the bees had cleaned it of pollen, so here's hoping they pollinated the girls while they were at it. Meanwhile the butternut squash plants continue to alternate between male and female flowers and as of yet has only had them open at the same time once. That resulting butternut isn't exactly butternut shaped and I haven't noticed much growth, but it's hanging there so we'll see. How frustrating all around.