Awesome Bug

I came home one afternoon to find this on my back door. At first glance I thought it actually was a leaf stuck to the door. But on closer look...it's a moth! If this guy was on a tree branch I'd never in a million years see him. Or her.

Looks like a leaf! 28 July
Well, thanks to the miracle of Google I find it's a Pandorus Sphinx moth. I was amazed. And I got to learn all about the Pandora Sphinx.

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During shedding season I leave all my horse hair outside in piles. Here's why.

I found this nest while I was trimming thorn bushes one afternoon. The silvery lining there? That's tail hair! The birds use all different kinds of horse hair in their nests. The Baltimore Oriole's nest is the most interesting. We have Baltimore Orioles all over the property. The entire nest is often made completely from horse hair. They hang their distinctive pouch nests from tail hair and line the nest with progressively softer hair. Every year we find a couple of nests blown down in the fall.