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Bootpathguy
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Bootpathguy
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PostFri Jul 29, 2022 8:16 am 
I've heard about them but have never seen one. I geek out about stuff like this ( like my experience with rubber boas ) It was dusk ( almost dark ) and I got slapped in the face by a large flying something. Flew a few feet from me over to some flowering plant. Got a opportunity to see, and watch my first hummingbird hawk moth feed on flowers. Pretty cool!!! Thought I'd share

Experience is what'cha get, when you get what'cha don't want

Lightning_bug  awilsondc
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snowmonkey
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PostFri Jul 29, 2022 9:37 am 
Cool! Where did this great experience occur??
Bootpathguy wrote:
hummingbird hawk moth feed

Ocian in view! O! The joy! William Clark
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Bootpathguy
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Bootpathguy
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PostSun Jul 31, 2022 8:47 am 
Teanaway

Experience is what'cha get, when you get what'cha don't want
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Asplorin
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Asplorin
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PostSun Jul 31, 2022 6:47 pm 
Actually saw one of those myself this weekend, along the seashore at Ft.Worden. It was having trouble with the ocean breeze, but it was very pretty up to the point a swallow schwacked it.

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Sculpin
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PostMon Aug 01, 2022 8:15 am 
Many years ago, when I floated the San Juan River in Utah, I found Sacred Datura growing at 4000'. I collected seed and took them home and a couple sprouted. I put the plants out in my yard and they grew like crazy, producing flowers the size of salad plates, opening in the evening and closing the next afternoon. And then one day I was out admiring the beauty and fragrance, and for the first and only time in my life, I saw a hawk moth in Washington State, sipping nectar from a datura flower. Datura is unavailable in the nursery trade, I presume because the plants are dangerous to handle. My two plants did not survive the winter.

Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir

Chief Joseph, Bootpathguy
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Malachai Constant
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Malachai Constant
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PostMon Aug 01, 2022 10:11 am 
Datura contains Scopolamine which has medical uses but can cause serious harm if misused. In Columbia it is called Devils Tongue it has psychoactive properties but also causes zombification if you get the dose wrong. It is not a terribly popular recreational drug but can be used for date rape. It is particularly dangerous when mixed with alcohol. If you read the Don Juan series it sounded awful. There are several species and it commonly grows along roads in the Southwest. In South America there are trees of it.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn

Chief Joseph
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Bootpathguy
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Bootpathguy
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PostSat Jul 15, 2023 9:48 pm 
We had 3 @ our front porch this evening

Experience is what'cha get, when you get what'cha don't want

klock
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Cyclopath
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Cyclopath
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PostSat Jul 15, 2023 9:51 pm 
Utah
Utah
It was her birthday. It has a little more detail if you zoom in.

Lightning_bug, Anne Elk, Bootpathguy, klock, Waterman
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Gil
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Gil
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PostSat Jul 15, 2023 11:17 pm 

Friends help the miles go easier. Klahini

Lightning_bug, Anne Elk, Bootpathguy, Chief Joseph
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adamschneider
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PostSat Jul 15, 2023 11:34 pm 
I've seen them in Nevada, Colorado, and southern California, but not up here in the PNW yet. In the Anza-Borrego desert, they're so common that their caterpillars are sometimes responsible for bringing a premature end to the wildflower season.

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Anne Elk
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PostSun Jul 16, 2023 2:14 pm 
There is an amazing video of the hummingbird hawk moth visiting flowers on Wikipedia. But I also saw that it's native to Eurasia, so if in fact you're seeing it here, it's an invasive species. More likely though, the moths seen by folks in this thread are part of this family of moths, some of which have the same behaviors. Another reference: Moths in Washington.

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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nuclear_eggset
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nuclear_eggset
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PostMon Jul 17, 2023 1:13 pm 
That is the right side of the cool-creepy mix!

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kbatku
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kbatku
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PostMon Jul 17, 2023 3:57 pm 
There were a lot of them in my youth. They come from tomato hornworms which are gigantic beasts of a caterpillar. You don't see them much because fewer people grow large batches of homegrown tomatoes and if you're growing a small batch you notice them as soon as they appear. Commercial crops spray and kill them. They'll eat your tomato plant down to a stalk in a couple of days. I've actually considered raising them but my wife says "no". I mean NO.

sarbar
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