SubscribeOver the weekend I discovered this gigantic moth hanging onto my garage door. To be honest - I thought it was a bird at first it was so big! It's legs looked like tarantula legs (picture fuzzy pipe-cleaners) and the wingspan was enormous. Being fascinated I googled "gigantic moth" and amazingly I was immediately sent to Polyphemus Moth - or Giant Silk Moth. (I swear you can find anything on the web!) These moths are the second largest in North America (I hesitate to imagine the moth that takes first place!) with a wingspan up to 6 inches. Sadly they live for a very short time - less than a week and have no mouth to eat with (since they don't live long anyway I suppose there was no point). Later I went back out to visit my furry friend only to find him on the ground - not looking so well - so I must have discovered him towards the end of his short stint as a moth.
Being the coward I am I couldn't convince myself to touch it - but my husband was kind enough to hold it while I took a couple of pictures for all of you (knowing you couldn't go another day without a picture of a moth!). So realize that Craig's hands are very large as you view this picture - this moth is nearly 6 inches across in size! He (she?) is actually very beautiful with two eye-like spots that look as though they were painted on. Rumor has it this is to throw off birds who may attack the poor critter.
and another picture on the rock we placed him on to enjoy his time left on Earth.
I was absolutely fascinated with this guy - it's kind of sad actually when you think about it.
On a happier note - this is a short week for most of us in the U.S. as we had a holiday on Monday. Long weekends are such a treat aren't they? I'm back in the office now working on the slate of classes for Autodesk University 2007 - if you haven't started saving your pennies to go - now is the time!!! Have a car wash, bake sale - whatever - but start saving today as you don't want to miss this great event. I had a conference call with our best presenter at Autodesk University - dave espinosa-aguilar (yes - all lower case). He's helping us out with our AutoCAD Advanced Power Track - something new to Autodesk University 2007.
Hi dave! :-)