r/whatisit • u/BooBoo_Ghemotoc • 9h ago
Solved! What is this thing my cat brought in?
It looked like a caterpillar, but it also looked quite wet rather than fluffy. I've taken it out, back in the garden, alive, but I've never seen something like this (or of this size) before. What creature is this, please?
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u/fairwaysandfinance 9h ago
Where do you live? Earth is big.
It's an Elephant Hawk-moth caterpillar.
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u/BooBoo_Ghemotoc 9h ago
Ah, you're right, it should've crossed my mind to mention such an important detail... I live in the UK.
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u/ConclusionOk5552 6h ago
Good catch. Those are pretty distinctive once you know what they are, but location definitely helps narrow things downfirst..
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u/VeritasOmicron 9h ago
Hawk moth caterpillar
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u/BooBoo_Ghemotoc 9h ago
Solved!
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u/FFS-IamNotABot 9h ago
Caterpillar. What country? It looks like something from Australia.
Edit: u/Veritasomicron got it right. That is what I was thinking.
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u/trashbilly 7h ago
Please keep your cat indoors. The ecosystem thanks you
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u/Proper_End_6107 6h ago
Only if we can keep you indoors too. Humans wreck far more damage than any cat will do
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u/Curious_Elephant_152 2h ago
if you can somehow get everything a human needs to survive to be free and given to us without needing to harm the environment in any way i will happily stay indoors. however, seeing as we cannot do that to ourselves, but we CAN do it for cats…
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7h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/whatisit-ModTeam 3h ago
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u/RayaQueen 4h ago
You live in a weird world. Cats need to to their thing.
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u/Sae_Ray 4h ago
"Do their thing"? These are domesticated animals, their thing is being a pet or being farm pest control. Destroying local ecosystems is not farm pest control.
Keep your cats indoors for their and nature's sake.
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u/RayaQueen 4h ago
I think this is only a thing in the US. Cats aren't supposed to be all inside. I think it's very rare outside of the US. And the ecosystems are fine, in fact benefit on balance.
Cats go out and do their thing and then come home for food and snoozing and cuddles and play and all that. Keeping a cat inside is just not right.
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u/Sae_Ray 4h ago
That is... completely false as far as I know.
No ecosystem will benefit from an uncontrolled population of invasive predators, this is a problem all over the world. Australia for example is suffering an ecological crisis over strays.
Also, I'm not from the US either. Cats are supposed to be inside if not on farms.
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u/MiawHansen 3h ago
Honestly not super humane to keep a cat indoor, they are not domesticated for such.
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u/ipovogel 4h ago
They absolutely do. Domestic housecats need to be indoors to do all their happy, healthy, safe cat things with their loving, attentive owners in the house.
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u/RayaQueen 4h ago
This is extremely rare outside of the states. And frankly pretty gross unless there's a good reason. Cats are hunters. (And part of the ecosystem)
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u/ipovogel 3h ago edited 2h ago
Completely untrue. Australia? New Zealand? Canada?
It's gross to care for your pet? To keep them safe indoors? Spend time and effort enriching their lives inside? The only gross thing is people who get a pet just to neglect and abuse it, substituting responsible and involved pet care for tossing them outdoors to the detriment of both the native wildlife and the cats.
Yes, every predator is a hunter. Do you also support free roaming dogs? Snakes? Lizards? Ferrets? No?
They are absolutely not a part of the ecosystem. Felis catus is a domesticated species and not native to any place on earth. They are actively detrimental to ACTUAL native feline parts of the ecosystem. One of the biggest threats to small native wildcats is domestic housecats through hybridization, direct competition for prey and territory, physical altercations (which the housecat gets a vet visit for and the wildcats gets untreated injuries and infections from), disease transmission, and parasite transmission.
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u/vodka_tsunami 2h ago
Yes!! I say the same about my rat pet and my pitbull but it seems that people only understand when I talk about allowing cats to roam free. They all need their freedom and they're all part of the ecosystem.
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u/Curious_Elephant_152 2h ago
that’s not how that works sadly. if i buy a pet from a pet store its not part of the ecosystem and should never be allowed out into the ecosystem
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u/vodka_tsunami 2h ago
I thought the irony was clear when I mentioned a pitbull roaming free...
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u/Curious_Elephant_152 2h ago edited 1h ago
i was hoping so but you never know. a few years ago my grandpa got his leg chewed on by someone’s unleashed dog which was a pitbull they let roam around outside until my grandpas dog came and scared it away.
i also thought the wild rat thing was a joke but you never know! people tame some weird shit out there. during covid i used to have a deer tamed to come to my backyard every night for food and to sleep safely in our fenced yard
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u/vodka_tsunami 1h ago
It's WILD to have cat "lovers" saying they allow their cats to go outside unsupervised. It wouldn't be accepted for any other animal, and if it was some other pet, they would be worried sick!
This kind of "cat people" is worse than cats roaming free. The cats themselves can't be blamed.
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u/PMG2021a 8h ago
Fortunate that it isn't poisonous, but some can be toxic due to the plants they eat.and cats seem to find quite a few plants toxic. Good it didn't eat it.
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u/toastronomy 1h ago
that's a common stumpsnake, they are harmless and an excellent source of vitamin Z. my grandmother was once cocooned by one of these.
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u/toastronomy 1h ago
that's a common stumpsnake, they are harmless and an excellent source of vitamin Z. my grandmother was once cocooned by one of these.
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u/spotlight-app Mod Bot 🤖 8h ago
OP has pinned a comment by u/VeritasOmicron:
Note from OP: The Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar, to be more precise (according to google). Thanks for the quick resolution!
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