Two Encounters

 Years ago, when Bill and I were attending Ole Miss, we rented a house on Molly Barr Road in Oxford. I planted Morning Glory seeds by the corner trellis on the front porch. They grew and bloomed quite nicely. One night, I was standing by the trellis when something big flew up next to me and extended its proboscis into one of the flowers. I was so astonished that all I could do is stand stark still and gape. My next thought was maybe this was Mothra, the giant Japanese moth that was friends with Godzilla. It was the biggest moth I had ever seen.

This afternoon, on my way to the thrift store in Clinton, I looked down to find another moth that was as big as my hand. I thought it was dead, so I picked it up and put it in the back seat of my car. When I arrived home, I tried to take some photos of it, and found to my surprise, that it was still alive, though mortally wounded. The moth was nice enough to extend its wings to allow me to take a picture. Unfortunately, camera phones don't take close ups, so I had to back off till it came into focus.  But believe me, it's a big one, even though my photo doesn't do it justice. Nature always has a way of amazing me. My biggest delight is to be surprised. Thank you Mother Nature for this one!

Both moths are members of the Giant Silk Worm family Saturniidae. They are nocturnal.