Hickory Horned Devil

 I heard Rowdy barking like crazy in the back yard, which she rarely does. I went down there to see what she was barking at. She was very fixated on something. So I grabbed the shovel (in case it was a snake) and walked out to the back part of the back yard. This is what I found:

 Zac & Allie & I looked it up online and found it very quickly. It's called a Hickory Horned Devil caterpillar. And apparently, it's the largest caterpillar in North America. Here's some information about it. VERY interesting, honestly! It's really big and creepy looking, for sure!

Once I realized it wasn't poisonous, I agreed to let Zac build a little home for it so he could take it to school next week. The information says that it likes to burrow under soil (and will do so to form its cocoon once it's ready), so we put a lot of soil and some branches of its favorite trees. It's been in the "home" for 12 hours and seems fine. I'm planning to let Zac take it to school and let it loose at their property. His school is designated as a wildlife preserve. I figure that's a good place for it! The kids named it spikey and they think it's a boy (only because it's blue!).