What We Found In Our Backyard

I would like to introduce you to newest backyard find, a freakishly large, mutant, skateboarding caterpillar named Steve, or possibly Dirtbag (I couldn't make that up if I tried):

My husband tells me this is not a caterpillar, it is actually a larvae, but I do not believe him.  I should know, because I take all my zoological training from Pixar movies, and I think our little guy looks remarkably like this:

Comments

[Jane @ What About Mom]

"Just don't get it near me, ew" (in cute Southern accent). I couldn't make that up if I tried.

[Liz C.]

Okay, so they need to name him HEINRICH!

Shannon, thanks for the giggle... my 3yo has made me replay it three time, so she can "look at the cattlepiddle."

[Luke Holzmann]

[smile] Pixar is a fantastic animation studio that can actually come up with good stories, but I don't know if you should take zoology lessons from them... though they do quite a bit of research for their films....

~Luke

[Kim H.]

Okay, we found one of those this summer too. I had no idea what it was except for it WASN'T coming in MY HOUSE!

I hope Steve/Dirtbag provides lots of hours of entertainment for your boys - and they don't torment your daughter too much! :)

And your Southern accent is just adorable.

[Amy]

We love this video-especially my little boy. I personally love the sound of cicadas singing in the background, as we don't have them here...to me, they're a song of the South. I miss them!

[Sandy toes]

How cute! My son would love the caterpillar on a skate board! What a great post!
-Sandy Toes

[Betsy]

Oh, just come on over and see what we found in MY yard. It will make "Steve" (or "Dirtbag") look tame.

http://killianfamilynews.blogspot.com/2008/09/sneaky-snake.html

[MamaHenClucks]

Maybe if he was a cute, furry catapillar, I could say sweet things. But I'm sorry Steve (or Dirtbag) I just don't think you are that cute. You kinda freak me out a bit. In the fall, my mom gets giant hairy catapillars in her yard by the dozens. It's a little bit creepy~!

[Tootie]

Too funny! Who knew that larvae (or whatever it is) could skateboard?? :)

[Melinda]

Ew... Nough said.

Melinda

[Elisa]

OM@G! That is huge! I'm sorry, I have nothing smart to say. It happens when I am grossed out. I can only think in 3-year old terms, like: cute! but yucky!

[Andrea]

Too funny--your kids are hillarious. It is fun to hear what your voice sounds like after reading your blog for so long. And I mean that in the most un-stalkery way possible... I hope Steve/Dirtbag doesn't end up lost in your house :)

[Dionna]

I love your kids just being kids in this video. Made me smile.

[Mrs. Q]

I'm with you...
Don't get that THING near me!

[Jenna]

That is hilarious! I will have to show my Kindergartener when she gets home from school. She loves worms, caterpillars, bees, butterflies, you name it.

[melanied]

Hilarious! I almost had a heart attack until I realized it was a toy skateboard!!! I love that you remain calm even in the face of your fear that your sons will get the larvae too close to you! A true Southern belle (although you just sound normal to me, what's all this about your accent?!).

I'll be interested (possibly disgusted) to find out what he becomes if he is just a larvae. Fun stuff!!!

[Kris- dreaming of mermaids]

hehe, enjoy your new pet. put him in a container, feed him and watch him morph into a butterfly. We did this this summer with a black swallowtail caterpillar, and my boys ate that right up. It was awesome.

[Juliana E.]

How fun to hear your voice! I have been reading your blog for almost a year and now I have that sweet southern accent to go along with your wonderful writing!

Yuck on Steve/Dirtbag - bugs and I don't get along well. My daughter always wants to name creatures she finds Steve. Hmm.

Juliana E.
-Ohio

[Paris]

I think he is cute and I agree with Kris! I bet the fat little guy would make a beautiful butterfly. Now I'm getting visions of A Bug's Life and Heimlich. :)

[AmyG]

LOL, giggling at you saying, "just don't get it near me!"

[lynette]

Oh my gosh...I love that you get your training from Pixar movies...I am still lauging at that one!!!

[Erin]

That thing would go STRAIGHT in our bug catcher, if it were here...although I would insist that the bug catcher stay outside for the duration of the time that "caterpillar" was alive.

[Valarie Lea]

Now I can't get the part where he turns into a beautiful butterfly out of my head. :)

[chickadee]

looks like our luna moth caterpillars we raised. keep it and see what it becomes.

[alli]

Yesterday's theme at library storytime was caterpillars and butterflies. I'll show this to Fuller later so he can see one in action.

[Lisa]

We just found one of these last weekend when my husband was mowing! Watching my husband scoop him up in a shovel, while staying as far away as he could from it was hilarious!!

[:: Suzanne :: Adventures in Daily Living ::]

you have such a cute accent!

[Lisa]

Oh, and any chance we will get that chicken & dumpling recipe anytime soon?? :)

[Nicki]

Oh, my goodness. At first, I thought that was a full size skateboard!

[Melanie]

Could he be one of these?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_hornworm

Hard to tell in the video.

[Michele Helms]

Kids LOVE this kind of stuff! We have lots of cheap entertainment around here!

[Josh Neumann]

Wish I could find one of those in my yard.

[Kelli@CountryMommie]

Love it! What creative kids - great use of a Tech-Deck!

I forget everyone on the internet is not Southern. They are very fascinated by the accent! When I went to Australia, they would all say, "Say it again". "Are you from Greenbow County?". "Do you know Forrest Gump?".

Seriously!

[Octamom]

When are Steve Caterpillars going to be available in your Amazon store?
;o)
Blessings!

[edj]

It was fun to hear your voice!

[Carrie of Ceaseless Praises]

Oh, my word- too hilarious! This is what I have to look forward to with my little boy- so fun! :)

[Beth/Mom2TwoVikings]

So is THAT what your voice sounds like? *wink*

[Amy]

We found one of those the other day. My son told me there was a "long green worm" headed toward his sandbox and handed me a plastic shovel. I'm thinking...snake.

We put ours in a bug barn for a bit then let him go. He was as big as a Ball Park Hot Dog!!

YUCK!

[Minnesotamom]

He's icky and cute at the same time. And multi-talented! First skateboarding caterpillar I've ever met, to be honest.

[Daiquiri]

Larvae? Aren't they supposed to be...small? If that's a larvae, I'd love to see what it grows into! Or...not.

My favorite part of the whole video was hearing what your voice sounds like - love the southern accent! :)

[Chelsea]

We found one of those giant critters once, too! Ours didn't skateboard, though... nor did my kids like it enough to give him a name. They all ran screaming when they realized it had a ginormous mouth.

[Laurie Ann]

EWE! But in a cute kind of way! I bet the kids enjoyed him, and grossing you out with Steve, or is it Dirtbag? Hope the caterpillar (I'm with you - he doesn't seem like larvae material to me) had a good break from nature and is now back at home wondering, "Where's my skateboard?"

[Kathy C.]

Oh my - he is a big boy. Hey, it sounds like everyone was enjoying this little guy - nothing like killing time with bugs, :)

[Stretch Mark Mama]

All the catepillars in our vicinity are attempting to run for their lives. They've been overhandled and thrown around so much they're just begging to cocoon.

[Chanda]

You and your husband are both right. It is a caterpillar...and caterpillars are larvae. It will eventually go through metamorphosis and turn into a butterfly or moth.

What a great entomology lesson for the kids (even if mom thought it was a little gross). ;o)

[Beth @ A Quest for Relevance]

I had something like that, and it (actually they ate my tomatoes! They looked alot like yours, but my first thought was that Pixar worm, too! They hatched white baby-egg things all over their bodies one day and THAT WAS THAT. All the vines - tomatoes, worms and all - got yanked out and thrown away. YUK!!!

[Thea @ I'm a Drama Mama]

wow. that's big.

and gross.

[AmberStar]

You know...I had to go back and listen for the cicada. We hear them here all the time and until someone mentioned it..well, I didn't hear. I loved the kids though. Brought back nice memories of mine.

[Vicky]

Between this video and the picture Pioneer Woman posted on her cooking page the other day (large caterpillar on her chives), I am NEVER moving to Oklahoma. Ewwwww!

[Kristen]

Ewwwww!

[Amy]

EWWWW, we get those here, too. They like tomato plants! I noticed another poster said that, too. I just called my mil and she calls them tomato worms. One summer we had them bad and she told my kids if they saw them to smash them. Boy, did they have fun with that! It was pretty gross, too.

Love it on a tek dek. I'll have to show the video to my kids.

My 12 yr olds newest obsession is going outside with his friends to catch lizards. We have a pretty big one that lives behind our shed. He's scared me a couple of times hanging clothes on the line.

[lovedandamazed]

I heard about one of those about two weeks ago, then saw one myself earlier this week. They are HUGE!

And I admit, I had to play the video again just to hear the cicadas after they were mentioned in the comments. I'm so used to them here your neighboring state that I missed them the first time around. :-)

[Flea]

Ew! Ew! Ew! Never leave Tech Decks outside. Ew!

[Jenny]

I think it is a hornworm? I only know this because I was working at a community garden we are a member of, in the tomato house, and lo and behold I came upon a GIGANTIC one of those. The gardner told me it is a hornworm and they feed on tomato plants. Do you have any tomato plants? He pulled it off and squished it with his shoe. Ick!!!!!

[Melanie]

This would be a golden treasure at our house!

[prasti]

yuck...Steve (a.k.a Dirtbag) is HUGE! and very gross. i'm glad your kids didn't mind though. you should take more footage of Steve/Dirtbag when he can do ollies on his skateboard or something :)

[Katrina (Callapidder Days)]

My favorite part: "Don't get him close to me -- gross!" Because I would have been saying the exact same thing. :)

[Alicia]

Looks like a caterpillar to me.

What I have to look forward to.

[Lisa @ Stop and Smell the Chocolates]

Yuck! But that made me laugh so much that he was on a little skateboard!!

We already knew that you were nice, but you even sound nice!

[Mama Belle]

Funny how Dirtbag seemed like a better name than Steve to one of your boys.

[shannon]

At first I thought tomato worm but they have a very prominent horn at one end so I looked it up and I think it is a luna moth caterpillar (my son assures me all caterpillars are the larval stage of moths and butterflies) look here and see if it matches, I couldn't tell for sure since Steve/Dirtbag kept moving.

http://www.hiltonpond.org/thisweek020801.html

[Runningamuck]

Oh my goodness. My boys would give away dessert to have that bug in their clammy little fists!

[Emily]

Yeah, those are pretty startling! Did you take the time to look it up? Because I think it might be a Luna moth....which is a beautiful big green and white moth that comes out at night....ever watched Girl of the Limberlost?