Eastern Dobsonfly

I found this "lovely" lady on my screen last summer, and nearly had a heart attack! They are quite large, which is why I included a quarter for scale. I needed to call the local DEP because I had no idea what it was. The woman who helped identify it for me said that she's seen quite a few people turn pale when they see either the larvae or adults, but they are harmless.

We call them a grampus here and use them for catfishing bait.

Wow, the coolest thing just happened! My DH and I were sitting on the deck waiting for our Eastern Screech Owl to fly from his/her house at dusk. S/he had been looking out the doorway for about 10 minutes when suddenly s/he left the box and swooped up in the tree above for a second, then flew away. We noticed something fall to the ground from the place s/he had swooped to. We went to look and it was a Dobson fly! We didn't know what it was at first and upon examination, kinda wished the owl had gotten it. Very creepy looking bug! It was so well camouflaged against the tree trunk, it goes to show that what they say about owls' night vision is true. S/he spotted it from about 25 feet away.