Backyard Scientists

We have a postage stamp of a backyard that has a surprising amount wildlife in it. We see all sort of birds, squirrels, rabbits, the occasional herd of deer, rock lizards and lots of insects.  The kids and I were fascinated to find this guy:

I saw him from several feet away because he is HUGE. Here's another pic, with my very long finger for scale:

We tried to pick him up but his feet are super strong and he really loved the grass, so we let him be. I hope he finds his way back to the birch trees that attracted him to our tiny yard.

My daughter loved him so much she wanted a picture.

We did a quick google images search to discover he is  a polyphemus moth caterpillar.

 It all reminds me of one of my favorite childhood books, A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter.  I was so obsessed with moths for awhile there that my parents drove me to see her house in Indiana.  That book drove to me to scour moth field guides and look closely at the world around me.  When an Actias Luna  flew into the lodge at a camping weekend, I identified it by name and reverently returned it to the outdoors.
For this afternoon, its fun to have a caterpillar crawling around that I can see from inside the house!