I love my garden. It is a place of boundless surprises. A plant comes into flower that you did not expect and brings joy. However, I tend to be bouncing around the plot doing this and doing that. It was during one of these bounces that a nearly trod on a strange creature. I could see it there, like a big slug. I looked closer and it was large caterpillar. Placing it on the wall, I called Ann to photograph it. Those who know soon identified it as an Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar. It appears that once it has eaten its fill of my plants, it goes on walkabout. It is looking for somewhere to hideaway as a chrysalis. Sure enough, a few days later it was galloping over my drive.

Deterring predators

Clearly, as I towered over the caterpillar, it went into defence mode. When it does that it draws its head back into its body. That movement highlights two black and white spots on its head. They then look like two eyes staring at you. This is supposed to scare predators off. This ‘face’ certainly shocked me but it is all bluster. However, it worked if you consider that I put it somewhere safe afterwards. I feel rather pleased that this gorgeous pink moth chose my garden to lay its eggs. That tells me that the garden is wildlife friendly, if nothing else. I should not be surprised. I can hardly pick anything that has not got an insect, and often a caterpillar, on it.

Elephant Hawk Moth

It seems that the Elephant Hawk Moth seeks out fuchsias upon which to lay its eggs. That hardly fits my garden as I only have one small fuchsia. There must be some other plant but I have not been able to identify it. What does it matter? Flowers with pollen and nectar are the real draw and I have those in abundance. This moth, by the way, has the elephant moniker simply because the caterpillar looks like an elephant’s trunk. That is true, because it has a segmented look which is not evident in my photograph. Long live the moths, let us celebrate them as gorgeous creatures to brighten our day.