A tip of the hat goes out to Matt from The Gus Blog for responding to this post and correctly identifying the following incredibly weird insect:

Apparently, we encountered a "hummingbird hawk-moth" during our trip to Yellowstone last month. Click here to learn more about these critters and for clearer photos snapped by people with cameras far better than mine.

And now you know...if you didn't already. As of approximately three minutes ago, the hummingbird hawk-moth is officially my favorite species of moth.