Today I saw something pretty wild. After a long bike ride, I ended up at our local pond and park. I laid down on a bench, looking up through the canopy as the late sun started casting its golden light. There was a nice breeze, and everything felt really nice.

As I was staring up at the foliage, something that looked like a dead leaf caught my eye - turned out to be a Polyphemus Moth. Its wings looked tattered or dry. You don’t see them often, though I do have one in my personal collection. It’s been a while since I last spotted one, so I was very surprised.

I stood up on the bench and gently pulled the branch toward me to get a better look. As it started crawling onto my fingers, it suddenly flew off - and then, weirdly, landed right into the pond. I felt bad. I figured that was probably it… soaking wet, wings ruined, going to drown.

But after a few seconds of flopping around in the water, it somehow pulled itself out and flew off. I was amazed. And then - boom - it cannonballed right back into the pond again! Another few seconds of splashy chaos, and unbelievably, it flew off once more to a nearby tree to rest.

I couldn’t believe what I just saw. Not once, but twice, this moth threw itself into the water and flew out like nothing happened. Maybe it was trying to moisten its wings - they did look beat up, possibly from the heat. I didn’t know moths could do that. Maybe it’s something they’re known for, but I’ve never seen it before.

Either way, it was a very cool thing to witness.