I found this in the park last week....

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

Holy shite!  I'm sitting in a chair in the park, I hear this "plop" next to me, and THIS is what fell from a tree!

Pretty scary looking, but totally harmless (they say, I wasn't touching the thing!)

5 inches long, turns into this beautiful moth...



I thought we'd been invaded by aliens!

[katkillad]

harmless???  I bet he wouldn't be too harmless if you were a bird and ate him.  I remember when I was younger my cousin caught a moth that was enormous...probably the size of a baseball glove.  I'm pretty sure he killed it by trying to keep it as a pet...and i'm pretty sure that was illegal.  I think they were endagered/protected by Ohio law.

[MMJ_fanatic]

agent JC on duty at your friendly neighborhood park ;D

[lfish]

Yeah right,

Last time I heard someone found a digital camera....

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

Yeah right,

Last time I heard someone found a digital camera....

hey now, it's the truth!  found it right next to me, scared the bejesus out of me and mrsjohnconaway...

[lfish]

Ok, I believe you.

I hope the kid is alright?

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

baby and mother are fine...thanks for asking!

[Elizanne33]

  Wow, that looks kinda scary. Not like the fuzzy caterpillars I used to play with as a kid.  I found a praying mantis at a car dealership over the weekend.  I know it's not that scary or overly exciting, but I had never seen one in person before.  I took some good pictures of it.  It was really cute and very photogenic.  I don't know how to post pictures on the message board though.

[Elizanne33]

I figured out how to post a picture. So I thought I would share my pics of the praying mantis I found.





It was a mellow bug. It hung out for awhile and then I let it go in my backyard.

[MMJ_fanatic]

probably went to look for JC's bug to eat!!!

[Oz]

Holy fuck, those bugs are scary! I always get kinda nervous from the alien-look of those creatures...

[lfish]

Wow this looks more like a national geographic forum here ...

Does anyone knows the latin names for those insects?

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

Citheronia regalis (Fabricius)
for the Hickory Horned Devil...which suddenly sounds like the name of a great band or at least a great MMJ tune...

Stagmomantis carolina for the Praying Mantis, also a cool name for a band...hmmmmmmm

[MMJ_fanatic]

"My Morning Jacket with special guests Hickory Horned Devil and Praying Mantis"  :D

[lfish]

Man,

with those names you need giant posters to advertise  ;D

[TheMollusk]

i want to know exactly what you were doing in the park

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

i want to know exactly what you were doing in the park

Sitting in a lawn chair, enjoying the unseasonably cool Kentucky summer, feasting my eyes upon the passerbys, listening to the cool babble of Beargrass Creek behind me, smelling wildflowers blooming not 20 yards from me...enjoying the company of mrsjohnconaway and discussing the baby, the baby's future, our future, life, the election, a slice of baklava I once had in Montreal...

[TheMollusk]

yea sure buddy

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

yea sure buddy

Oh, so you were there, eh?

[TheMollusk]

sorry, im not into that