Residents in Prestwich have been left dumbfounded after another headless caterpillar appeared on Bury’s streets.
After initially being spotted in Tottington earlier this month, another Large Elephant Hawkmoth has been sighted in Prestwich.
It has again left residents confused by what they have found — with some saying it looked like snake with no head.
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Others said it was a ‘thing of beauty’.
“Does anybody know what on earth this is?,” the Original Prestwich People Facebook page posted.
“It seems to have no head but it was moving. It was about two inches long and was on Rectory Lane near junction with Heywood Road.
“I am hoping it’s a big caterpillar but my paranoid self thinks it’s a snake (adder) that lost its head.”
Residents were quick to speculate on the identity of the other-worldly-being.
“[It] could be a chrysalis of a rather large moth, admit it does look odd though,” one account commented on the post.
Another simply said: “Sea cucumber.”
Others defended the odd-looking fellow.
“It’s a thing of beauty and should be placed somewhere safe as in off the road and in the undergrowth,” one user commented.
A similar reaction was sparked earlier this month, when the Manchester Evening News exposed the first Large Elephant Hawkmoth sighting.
At the time, Chester Zoo’s Animal and Plant Director, Mike Jordan explained why the caterpillar took on its distinctive form.
“This is a Large Elephant Hawkmoth (Deilephila elpenor),” he said.
"The caterpillar feeds on willowherb, but also fuchsias so is quite often seen in gardens.
"When disturbed, it inflates the segments behind the head (as in the picture) to mimic a snake.”
