A Leopard in the garage!

It's not just every day you can claim to have a leopard in the garage.  But today, I had a Giant Leopard Moth (Hypercompe scribonia) waiting for me on the window of the garage side door when I went to take the feeders out.  What a cool surprise!

The backstory... last fall, Hubs found a large furry cocoon in our wood pile and gave it to me.  I put it in a butterfly enclosure in the garage with several other cocoons.  Honestly, I didn't think there was anything in it because it weighed nothing - but, nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Well, the other cocoons "hatched" in May, which made me certain that this one was not viable.  Pure laziness on my part prevented me from removing it - instead I left it in a jar with some leaf litter on the workbench of the garage, with no lid.  And this is what came out sometime last night!

The yellow spots on the head are actually secretions that apparently taste bad that the moth uses as a defense against predators.  Guess she thought I might try to eat her.  I moved her from the window outside to the underside of a big leaf in the garden.  She can't fly in the daytime, so needs a quiet place to rest until the sun sets.  What a thrill - this is only the second time I've ever seen this species of moth.  A better photo can be viewed HERE on Flickr - it was taken later in the day when the secretions had dried up and allows you to see the blue tones in some of her spots.  

In other news, the bluebirds are still hanging around.  A whole family of grackles came to the feeders today, introducing their noisy kids to the suet feeders.  You can see one of the youngsters HERE.

But the biggest news of the day ... Hubs accepted a job offer and starts next week!  We are both very excited - the last few years have been ...trying.

Thanks for the love on my Bold Jumping Spider yesterday - even from you folks who aren't all that keen on spiders.  

xo
Debbi