She said, “I looked down and saw the strange animal. I was scared it might be poisonous.”
“We all thought it was a mutant, so we filmed it and put it online to get opinions.”
It looked like a snake, but its eyes were odd. The fear of a possible venomous thing made the moment intense. Eroles soon realized this was a special find.
To find out what it was and share her wild encounter, Eroles put a video of the strange caterpillar online.
The video got noticed fast, with people guessing what it was and where it came from. Its snakey look and small size got online groups interested, leading to the truth about what it really was.
As people flocked to the video, experts and fans guessed the creature’s identity. It turned out to be a rare Central American moth caterpillar. Many thought it was an Elephant Hawk-Moth Caterpillar. It has a cool defense – it looks like a snake to scare off predators.