Not for the Squeamish

I'm not really sure about the title but my skin is still crawling. I was getting some laundry out of the dryer in our garage when I heard a strange rustling sound. Thinking the dog may have followed me, I looked around. When I didn't see him, knowing the kids were next door playing and still hearing the noise I began to search out the source. And what did I see but THIS...

It looked like a weird plastic tube until I realized that it was noisily munching away on a plastic bag. This thing is ENORMOUS!!! Here he is posing next to a quarter so you can appreciate his size. I'd say no shorter than 3 inches fully extended but at upon first glance I thought he had to be about 6!

I quickly scooped it up and put it in a jar (NO, I didn't even come close to touching it) because you know he'll come in handy since we are studying insects.

As soon as I started taking pictures he excreted that brown liquid you see. I haven't looked him up yet but I'll be sure to post what he is as soon as I find out. I flip-flop from being grossed out to being fascinated. Honestly, I lean toward mostly grossed out.

When I showed him to Nathan exclaiming, "What is that thing?." He calmly says, "Mom, you know it's some type of caterpillar." Oh yeah!


***update**** Not a caterpillar but a grub. After researching, I'm far more fascinated and far less grossed out. We've found this guy to be a type of scarab grub. Now I have designs to put him in a jar, half filled with dirt, in the closet and watch the metamorphosis.