{"id":1008028,"date":"2026-06-05T23:19:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T23:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1008028\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T23:19:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T23:19:22","slug":"woman-watering-yard-spots-2-inch-owl-in-leaf-pile-then-takes-a-closer-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1008028\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman Watering Yard Spots 2-Inch \u2018Owl\u2019 In Leaf Pile \u2014 Then Takes A Closer Look"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago, Florida resident Erin Sullivan<\/a> was watering a tree in her backyard garden when she noticed something moving around on the ground. She wasn\u2019t sure what she\u2019d just seen, so she looked closer.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy hose went across this leaf area, and I saw this little bit of movement, and at first I thought it was light, and then I was like, \u2018Oh, no, there\u2019s something there,\u2019\u201d Sullivan told The Dodo.<\/p>\n

Sullivan\u2019s eyes landed on a tiny white creature, who looked remarkably like a miniature, 2-inch-long owl. Of course, owls aren\u2019t that small, and Sullivan quickly realized the little animal was actually a moth.<\/p>\n

Erin Sullivan<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018Oh my gosh, that moth totally looks like an owl,\u2019\u201d Sullivan said.<\/p>\n

Sullivan held her breath as she took out her phone to record a video, but to her surprise, the moth didn\u2019t seem bothered by her presence. The black-and-white moth fluttered around, crawling over the leaf litter, for several minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it would fly away, but it didn\u2019t; it just kind of hung out and started flapping its little wings,\u201d Sullivan said.<\/p>\n

Erin Sullivan<\/p>\n

As soon as she got back inside, Sullivan posted a video of the moth to her Instagram page, where many commenters compared the insect to snowy owls, specifically Hedwig, the owl from Harry Potter.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It looked like] a little Hogwarts character,\u201d Sullivan said.<\/p>\n

Erin Sullivan<\/p>\n

Luckily, an entomologist named Matthew Nochisaki was among the commenters on Sullivan\u2019s post, and he helped Sullivan identify the moth as a female black-etched prominent. Based on the black-etched prominent\u2019s behavior, Nochisaki guessed that she had just emerged from her larval stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said that it probably \u2026 was flapping its wings because it was warming them up so it would be able to fly,\u201d Sullivan said.<\/p>\n

Nochisaki also explained that black-etched prominents get all the nutrients they need when they\u2019re caterpillars, and don\u2019t eat in their adult phase. That explains why they have such tiny, cute faces \u2014 they have no need for mouths.<\/p>\n

Beyond their adorable appearance, moths actually play a crucial role in their local ecosystems.<\/p>\n

\u201c[M]oths are pollinators, and we need as many pollinators as we can get,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cEverybody thinks about bees, but they don\u2019t really think about moths.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erin Sullivan<\/p>\n

Sullivan is overjoyed that she got to have an up-close encounter with such a unique species. Now when she\u2019s in her backyard, she keeps an eye out for insects that look like tiny owls.<\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/a>Workers Cut Down Dead Tree And Find A Pile Of Fuzzy Babies In The StumpThey were just a few days old \ud83e\udd7a<\/a>