Most visitors who come to our home are welcomed with open arms. However, this one was strictly uninvited, and he paid the ultimate price. But not until after a filling dinner.

Nancy was gathering vegetables from her garden when she noticed that one of her pepper plants had been pruned of its top branches and leaves. She called me out to see if I could help solve the mystery. I suggested that rabbits from the wooded area behind our house were the culprits even while wondering how they could eat the TOP of the plant. Then Nancy noticed some movement (big mistake) on one of the pepper plant stems. I ran for the camera and then for the executioner's guillotine.

After some research on the computer, Nancy named the culprit a "tomato hornworm". He was about 4 inches long and a half-inch in diameter, and I don't think there are too many people who would want to meet the moth it planned to become. For those of you asking the important question, the horn is on its rear end.