I found an elephant hawk moth caterpillar!

How bizarre!!! I found one on my bike cover this morning and had to google to see what it was!!! Is it the time of year for them or something? I think it fell out of the tree that's above our driveway.

Just how big are we talking about here?

Mine was the size of my ring finger so maybe 2 inches?

Now that is interesting! I havent seen one for years! they pupate in the ground so maybe its time for them to do that?

whereabouts in the country are you? I am in derbyshire...

i hope i see some more!

Yeah the one i caught was about the dimensions of my ring finger. they are brilliant, they have big fake eyes at the front and a spike on their bum and look like a elephants trunk.

Interesting. I am not a huge caterpiller fan but I'd prefer them as caterpillers than moths/butterflies.

We're in north Hertfordshire. It did give me the shock of my life this morning though!

I bet it gave you a shock, my H was a bit taken aback! I was just excited!

the moths are absolutely beautiful! they are purple and green, they also squeak a bit too! they arent as big as the caterpillars, probably as big as a peacock butterfly, a bit smaller than a swallowtail.

it has completely made my day, especially as you have seen one too serephina, i was worried that they may be becoming a little too rare.

Ahhh I wonder if this is what my children found today, certainly sounds like it. I shall go and google for pictures so I can be certain. The one they found looked kind of like a rolled up leaf - would that be it?

ETA

Just found some pictures and yes, it's definitely what we found today. We wondered what it would turn into. Now I can impress my children in the morning ?

They are brown and when you pick them up they puff up their head end to make you think they are a snake and curl their bodies into a U shape. did your LOs like it? hope so.

very exciting! wonder how many other people have seen one today....

I have a moth phobia and the fcat that you've told me they can SQUEAK has almost put me over the edge. Now I know I wasn't imagining it when I heard one hiss my name.

They loved it ce and put it in their big bug jar with some leaves to have a good look. My son wanted to keep it, but I told him it wouldn't make a very good pet - oops! Where/how did you keep the ones you had when you were younger? Would be really interesting for them to see it through to the moth stage if that's practical.

ooops i am really sorry! i know for a fact that they are really friendly so it was proabably just saying hello!

I am so glad they liked it! I loved caterpillars, butterflies and moths when i was little (still do now!) I used to collect the eggs from the food plants and keep them in fish tanks with net over the top. I collected fresh leaves every day and put them in oasis then i would put the new bunch in the tank and carefully move the caterpillars onto the new food, i used a paint brush for the hairy ones (beacuse sometimes they can irritate your skin). i loved finding out about them and learning how to care for them ?, i am a nerd its official! they are really difficult to find in the wild now. i got some small tortoise shell and comma caterpillars from world wide butterflies last year. I would only get the native ones as the best bit for me was releasing the butterflies and moths! The ehm seemed to get tame!

pm me if you would like more details!!

cexxx

Thanks ce I shall pm you. ?

No worries, I'm just being dramatic ?

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