Devils coach horse

[Gralay]

Hi all
We are at a CL site near Mablethorpe and just had a visitor in awning, I personally had not seen one before, the wife nearly had kittens lol. Has anyone else seen them? as according to Google they are quite common

 

[JTQ]

Yes, seen many over the years and glad to, they are good news in they feed on maggots and slugs.
Don't provoke it or it might fire a nasty smelling fluid at you, and if you invite it, they will bite with those rather large jaws.
Arched as in your photo is because it has gone into the defensive mode.
Without provocation, it is not going to trouble you and as said is really "your" friend.

 

[Gralay]

Yes, seen many over the years and glad to, they are good news in they feed on maggots and slugs.
Don't provoke it or it might fire a nasty smelling fluid at you, and if you invite it, they will bite with those rather large jaws.
Arched as in your photo is because it has gone into the defensive mode.
Without provocation, it is not going to trouble you and as said is really "your" friend.

The picture is off Google, I put a 1ft square piece of cardboard on floor, encouraged it onto cardboard and took it outside. The wife was hiding in caravan.

 

[DaveA1]

As has been said they are good news for gardeners. Had a Jack Russel, got stung by a wasp, when a puppy and when it saw one of them it jumped back as though it had four springs on his feet. Still make short work of a rat though.