“We’ve never seen anything like it.”
The Stick That Wasn’t: A Master of Disguise on the Porch
Sometimes, nature’s most astonishing wonders are hiding right under our noses. Just ask college student Bella Hollis, who discovered one in the most unexpected place—her family’s porch in Alabama.
The moment began with a mystery. While relaxing at home, Bella noticed something odd jutting out from beneath the porch railing. It looked like a small stick, but something about it felt off.
“Bella thought, ‘That stick should not be sticking there like that,’” her mother, Corey Danielle Hollis, recalled.
Curious, Bella leaned in for a closer look. The “stick” seemed to be clinging to the railing in defiance of gravity. And then—it moved.
In an instant, everything changed.
As an insect enthusiast, Bella quickly recognized the clever ruse. The “stick” was actually a caterpillar—one with extraordinary camouflage. It was likely the larva of an oak beauty moth, a master of disguise perfectly evolved to resemble a twig.
“I picked him up and let him crawl up my arm,” Bella said. “He was inching like an inchworm. And then he started to stand up again.”
To most passersby, the creature would have blended in completely, hiding in plain sight. But in Bella’s hand, his delicate beauty and fascinating mimicry were impossible to ignore.
“We’ve never seen anything like it,” Hollis said.
After admiring her unexpected guest, Bella gently relocated him to the trunk of an oak tree. There, he vanished once more—nearly indistinguishable from the bark beneath him.
Had the caterpillar not wandered out onto the porch, it’s likely no one would have noticed him at all. And that’s the magic of camouflage: a survival tactic for many species, but also a quiet reminder of how much wonder the natural world hides in the everyday.
Sometimes, all it takes to see it is a second glance—and a bit of curiosity.