In the tranquil town of Santa Fe, Argentina, 46-year-old Lujan Eroles was shocked and amazed when she discovered a strange creature in her garden.
What she initially mistook for a snake turned out to be an amazing example of nature’s mimicry: a 10-centimeter-long creature dressed as a serpent.
This finding shocked Eroles and her neighbors, spurring curiosity and conversation about the odd creature.
Lujan Eroles recounted the moment she made the startling discovery, describing how her immediate reaction was to scream.
The unusual creature, with snake-like features and peculiar eyes, had captured her attention, prompting neighbors to gather and witness the peculiar spectacle.
Eroles shared her amazement, telling National Geographic: “I have never seen anything like it. It was just like a snake and its eyes were so strange”.
”I looked down and I encountered the strange animal, fear struck me knowing that it could have been poisonous”, she said.
”We all thought it was a mutant animal, which is why we filmed it and put it online for people to give us their opinions.”
Elephant hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor) caterpillar, by the River Great Ouse, Priory Country Park, Bedford, Bedfordshire, 26 August 2017.
It resembled a snake, but his eyes were unusual. “I was afraid it was poisonous.” The anxiety of confronting a possibly deadly monster heightened the gravity of the situation, and Eroles quickly knew that this was no ordinary discovery.
Eroles, seeking answers and anxious to share her remarkable experience, uploaded a video of the strange caterpillar to the internet.
The footage rapidly became popular, provoking debate and speculation regarding the creature’s identity and origin. The snake-like look and diminutive size piqued the interest of internet forums, prompting a succession of discoveries regarding its true origins.
As the online community swarmed to Eroles’ video, experts and fans speculated about the creature’s true identity. It was subsequently recognized as a larva from a rare moth species native to Central America. The species, which many thought was an Elephant Hawk-Moth Caterpillar, even had a surprising defense mechanism: it mimicked the look of a snake to dissuade prospective predators.