Crawled out of the compost heap - any idea what it is

[BillN_33]

I've put it back but it gets hot in there

certainly an ugly bugger - it reared up at me

 

[Al1944]

Looks a bit like an Elephant Hawkmoth larva

 

[Adrian Jones]

It's the caterpillar of a Large Elephant Hawk moth, it'll be looking somewhere safe to pupate to spend the winter months at this time of the year. Put it somewhere that it can remain undisturbed until next year. They pupate amongst debris, old leaves, twigs etc at ground level. The stunning pink and green moths emerge from late May until about July and lay their eggs on Willowherb and Fuchsias.

 

[BillN_33]

It's the caterpillar of a Large Elephant Hawk moth, it'll be looking somewhere safe to pupate to spend the winter months at this time of the year. Put it somewhere that it can remain undisturbed until next year. They pupate amongst debris, old leaves, twigs etc at ground level. The stunning pink and green moths emerge from late May until about July and lay their eggs on Willowherb and Fuchsias.

Thanks, I put it back from were it came