Here we go again!

I went out to beetle around in the garden this morning. Black-eyed peas--lookin' good, okra and corn--gettin' tall, tomatoes full of juicy fruit, ripe for picking, then I saw it...

POOP.

Lots and lots of it! And where there is bright, green poo, there is usually a LARGE caterpillar responsible for it. So I looked up and what did I see?

Yep, that would be a GINORMO tomato hornworm, aka Five-Spotted Hawkmoth, aka Manduca sexta. The reason I know this, is I have done this before! In the summer of 2008 we made the "Journey with Ernie"! As usual, I suck at killing things. And honestly, even though the caterpillar is a menace to my garden, the moth is beautiful! Have I mentioned I have two kids that LOVE caterpillars? So where is this beast now? Yep, on my dining room table in a little container, denuding all of the tomato leaves I have picked for him and pooping up a storm. And in case you think I'm kidding... This is only after about 4 hours in the container! Seriously, hornworms are nothing but eating, pooping machines! And because this little beast is such a ravenous boar, he has been lovingly named "Pig" by the Piglet! So now I have "Pig" along with a black swallowtail chrysalid and 5 other black swallowtail caterpillars. They are all eating me out of house and home! And yes, you can just refer to our place as "The Bug House"!