Strange creature seen snaking across road in north Highlands stirs speculation (and makes it safely to the other side!)
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An unusual animal that has been mistaken by some UK residents as a snake was seen making its way across a byroad near Watten in Caithness.
Cheshire Live ran an article last year which showed a similar creature "shaped very much like a snake with scale-like skin and on the head 'eyes' similar to those of a reptile" – experts at Chester Zoo, however, confirmed that it was not a "dried up snake" as a resident thought but the caterpillar of an elephant hawk-moth.
The caterpillar feeds on willowherb, fuchsia and bedstraw and when disturbed, it inflates the segments behind the head to mimic a snake and scare off predators. They are seen from July to September and are very characteristic: greyish-green or brown, with two enormous, black eyespots towards the head.
According to The Wildlife Trusts website the elephant hawk-moth is so-called because the caterpillar "looks a little like an elephant's trunk". The Trust goes on to describe the fully grown elephant hawk-moth as a "pretty, gold-and-pink moth that can be seen at dusk in gardens, parks, woods and grassy habitats". The moths also have an important role as pollinators throughout their habitat.
Though this species of moth is described as common throughout the UK sightings appear to be rarer in Caithness, according to the National Biodiversity Network atlas, with only one confirmed sighting recorded at an area near Dunnet.
In July, we reported the sighting of a related species seen in Thurso when Steven and Amanda Buttress filmed a giant hummingbird hawk-moth in their garden.
The elephant hawk-moth caterpillar is not regarded as a pest and as we progress through September and into October the larvae becomes fully fattened and will pupate amongst leaf litter on the ground where they stay until the following summer when they emerge as moths.
The Watten specimen was safely removed from the road and transferred to shrubs in a nearby hedgerow.
