Lujan Eroles, a woman from Santa Fe, Argentina, had a moment of pure panic when she saw what looked like a baby snake in her own backyard. The tiny creature, around 10 centimeters long, remained very still and showed big eye-like circles that made it look like a serpent. Lujan screamed, frightened by the unique sight.
Her neighbors were also curious and came to check it out, but none could figure out what it was. Lujan shared the story with National Geographic, explaining how real it looked and how scared she felt.
She made a video to ask for help online. It went viral fast as people made guesses from unusual reptiles to mystical animals. Experts finally revealed it was an Elephant Hawk-Moth caterpillar, a species that tricks predators by looking like a snake using painted “eyes” on its body.
This survival trick, called mimicry, allows the harmless caterpillar to scare off threats by pretending to be dangerous.
Lujan’s discovery inspired many people worldwide to learn about nature’s amazing tricks. It shows how even tiny creatures can surprise us and how fascinating the animal world really is.
