That's a Big Bug

The bugs are bigger out here than in the city. I've seen a lot of bugs, but I don't recall seeing this little monster before.

I've seen multiples around the house hanging off screened windows. This one was conveniently on the porch, so I could do a size comparison.

I could have been braver and picked it up for the picture, but those mandibles looked painful.

I used my insect-finder app and then looked the bugger up. It's a female Eastern Dobsonfly. The males have much longer 'teeth,' but the ladies are the ones who can bite. They're not aggressive and the bite's not poisonous, but I can live my life happily without experiencing it.

The dobsonflies live for less than a couple of weeks and may not even eat during that time. The locust that trapped itself on the inside of the screen door was safe from attack.

It said that they lay eggs near water and rocky streams where they spend most of their life in a larval state. There's no visible water from our property, but we did find the little stream behind the corn and the trees from all the runoff.

BONUS: I was walking the bridal trail and found this. I think it's coyote poop. It's smaller and we've seen a fox before, so that's another possibility. It's certainly not deer pellets or a bear pile.

Yes, I stood in my hard and Googled different kinds of poop. It wasn't a Loki, cat, or horse pile and an inquiring mind wanted to know.

BONUS V2: 

Noticed a tick crawling up my leg that same day. I hate ticks.

They really haven't been bad, though. I've pulled a few off the dogs, but none have sunk into me. I check for them religiously, but I rarely see them. I was worried our fields were going to be infested and that hasn't been true.....not that I'm going to stop checking.

BONUS V3:

Shane spotted a cocoon on our way out to do agility training with Loki (from the prior post).

It was a gaudy sphinx, a species of hawk moths according to the app.