Surprise Find

Would you believe that this funny caterpillar has a beautiful parent?  It is the caterpillar of the Elephant Hawk Moth and I found it over in the Dell.  It was feeding on Willowherb leaves.  It was quite large and very frightening.  The big black bit is not its face or eye.  It uses this camouflage to scare off predators, together with the little hook on its tail.

I did take him back to where I found him and hid him under some undergrowth to give him a chance of surviving for a bit longer.