to be wary or scared of this creature?

[VeganFromSveden]

Found this in the trough filled with compost left over after pulling giant garlic bulbs from it.
Can anyone identify it for me?

Elephant hawk moth larva

It's an elephant hawk moth caterpillar. Very cool

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/moths/elephant-hawk-moth

It's a caterpillar - I think a hawk moth variety. Nice; don't be afraid to let it live.

Looks like a hawk moth caterpillar! It doesn't bite but might be irritant if you touch it

Nope. Absolutely not! Kill it with fire

Yep hawk moth caterpillar, my son found one in our garden, pretty scary looking!

We had them in our garden. They were lovely and very cute. Unfortunately the bushes were cut back and then we had a heatwave so they died but I spent days trying to keep the cat away from them

Yep I shit myself when I found one in my garden too they are actually very cool I think!

Poor attitude to have to unknown wildlife! We need to give it all the help it can get at the moment. It's only a moth larvae.

That's lovely 😍

That is super cool. My older daughter would be absolutely overjoyed to find one of those! We found a very hairy caterpillar in the garden last summer and she still talks about it a year later!

No, it’s not irritant.

Ah thanks everyone…
I’ve since looked it up on Google, and apparently it loves fuchsia, and luckily I have a huge bush in the back garden.
I’ve released the little critter on to it, and he’s feeding as we speak.
Goodness knows why it was in the garlic soil.
I agree that he’s a really cool character, but my darling other half, although very interested, was jumpy as heck!
Thanks again all x

It wants to pupate, and re-emerge next May as a huge and beautiful pink and green moth.

I found two and kept them in a box of dried leaves on a shady shelf in the greenhouse over the winter, fed them till they pupated, then let them go once they emerged. Follow Leopard Gekko on youtube to see what they need. This is the episode where the moth emerged

For gods sake it's a fucking caterpillar.

The attitude to insects on here is consistently embarrassing. And cruel.

Absolutely appalling attitude.

Awww it has a face?

It’s a caterpillar and it won’t do you any harm, put it back in the garden and let it be.

Please don’t

Aw glad you’ve found a nice spot for him 🥰

Here he is, at home and peaceful… don’t think he’s fully grown yet, as Google says that he can get to 8cm…
He apparently will evolve over the winter and become a pink and olive green moth in the spring next year.

I really, really don't like moths, but would never kill one (or a caterpillar) I would be gluing the doors and windows firmly shut if I found one of those, though 😱😂

Lucky you ! Nature can be so fascinating , and this is one that is.

We found 3 of these a few weeks ago and like someone else upthread I shit myself. DH managed to identify them and they’re safely in a box in the porch. We open the box every day to put fresh leaves in and we’ll keep them safe until next year, I was scared to leave them in case a bird ate them. They’re quite scary looking when you first find them 😂

They’re awesome. I always rescue them from the garden when I find one cos they are eaten by sodding everything including those little crab spiders which seem to inhabit the same foliage. Just keep feeding them bogbean, fuscia or willowherb and they seem quite happy. Also v cool they can change colour from the bright green morph into the brown version (all the pics here so far) if you change what they’re feeding on :)

here’s one I hatched last year