It was a quiet Saturday morning, the kind where the neighborhood feels almost asleep. I decided it was the perfect time to give my car a good cleaning—something I’d been putting off for weeks. I started with the usual: gathering stray receipts, empty water bottles, and crumbs from snacks I didn’t even remember eating.
But as I reached under the back seat, my fingers brushed against something strange. It was dry, rigid, and covered in fine, prickly hairs. At first, I thought it might be a piece of carpet lining or some old plant material, but the texture didn’t match anything I’d felt before.
Curiosity got the better of me. I pulled it out carefully, holding it at arm’s length. The object was lightweight, almost papery, yet oddly shaped—like the ghostly outline of a creature. Instinct told me not to touch it directly for long, so I slipped it into a plastic bag and brought it inside to investigate.
A quick online search left me stunned. The pictures matched perfectly—it was the shed skin of a Lonomia caterpillar, a species considered one of the most venomous in the world. These caterpillars are native to South America, but experts warn they can sometimes hitch rides in shipping containers, luggage, or even produce shipments, ending up in places far from their natural habitat.
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