I just took these photos of hawkmoth caterpillars in the back garden and thought someone might want to see. Their camouflage is, frankly, staggering. From six feet away my first thought was that I was looking at a snake, then in a split second I saw that it wasn't long enough and thought that maybe it was half-buried. It's that convincing. It's a similar size to my ring finger.
I identified it from the link below. A wildlife book in the house said they're common in the south, but I'm in east yorks. It's unlikely to be a coincidence that it was on the spot where the compost bin sat until I moved it last month; perhaps eggs were laid in it.
http://www.launcestonparishwildlife.org.uk/?q=node/3629
I identified it from the link below. A wildlife book in the house said they're common in the south, but I'm in east yorks. It's unlikely to be a coincidence that it was on the spot where the compost bin sat until I moved it last month; perhaps eggs were laid in it.
http://www.launcestonparishwildlife.org.uk/?q=node/3629
