From Caterpillars to Crawling Salads: A Tale of Two Surprises

While walking through my yard one afternoon, I spotted what looked like a long, coiled rope on the grass. A wave of fear swept over me—was it a snake?

Heart pounding, I crept closer, gripping my phone to snap a photo. Every step felt weighted with anxiety. But as I neared, the truth unraveled.

What I’d mistaken for a snake turned out to be a line of about 150 caterpillars, crawling in perfect formation. Tightly packed, they moved as if drawn by an invisible thread.

I was captivated. I’d never seen caterpillars behave like this before.

Later, I learned this phenomenon—known as a “caterpillar train”—may help them ward off predators, conserve energy, or forage more effectively. Whatever the reason, witnessing it in my own backyard was unexpectedly mesmerizing.

But not all surprises are so enchanting.

On another evening, a friend and I were enjoying dinner at a popular restaurant when she spotted tiny black specks in her salad. We laughed at first, assuming they were chia seeds—until they began to move.

Horrified, we called the waiter. The restaurant claimed it was due to spoiled ingredients, but we went straight to the hospital, where we were treated and given precautionary medication.

The experience was deeply unsettling. Now, even seeing chia seeds triggers that memory—the creeping dread of what might have been crawling across our plates.

Nature, it seems, has a way of surprising us—sometimes with beauty, sometimes with fear. And sometimes, with both.