Friendship
Woman takes care of giant moth’s babies
After Tala rescued a giant moth, the moth thanked her by leaving a life-changing 'gift.'
Irene Markianou
04.12.22

Most of us would get scared if a giant moth flew toward us and landed on our arm. So did Tala, a woman that happened to attract a moth some time ago.

Unsplash - Mikkel Frimer-Rasmussen
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Unsplash - Mikkel Frimer-Rasmussen

As she explained, she wasn’t exactly happy to have a moth walk on her arm, but she couldn’t do anything about it.

“A giant moth started crawling to me. And it scared the crap out of me,” she told The Dodo. “I had a huge fear of moths, so I was trying not to move.”

Indeed, as the woman stopped moving, the moth had the chance to explore around, and the woman herself started feeling more comfortable.

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Facebook - The Dodo

Suddenly, a breeze came and knocked over the huge insect, but she found her way back to the woman. It was as if she felt connected to Tala in a way.

The woman decided to give the moth a chance. She let her climb on her arm again and spent the whole day with her.

“I just wasn’t expecting her to look that cute,” Tala admitted. “She stood on my hand the entire day.”

Facebook - The Dodo
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Facebook - The Dodo

That night, the woman tried to find a safe spot to put the moth, which she believed had just come out of her cocoon. So, she placed her on a plant and made sure she was safe from animals.

The next morning, Tala went to check on her moth and she saw her with a male. She was surprised.

“This male came all the way to find her,” she said, “and then they paired up!”

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Facebook - The Dodo

That same day, the weather forecast had warned about a big thunderstorm, so she went outside to check on the moths and take them inside to protect them.

Sadly, the male had already gone, but the female was still there.

Tala put her in a tent, where she stayed during the thunderstorm. The next day, Tala let her go. Actually, it was the last time that she saw her.

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Facebook - The Dodo

But the moth had left behind a gift for the woman who took such good care of her. Her “babies.”

“I realized she had laid a lot of eggs all over her tent,” she said. “So, that’s when I decided to raise all of her caterpillars.”

After a quick internet search, Tala found out that out of 100 caterpillars, only one would make it to adulthood. However, she was determined to help all of them survive.

So, she took care of the 200 caterpillars, and it was the most amazing thing to see the whole process of turning from a caterpillar into a beautiful big moth.

“As I saw the first one hatch I was super excited,” Tala recalls. “To see the tranfsormation from caterpillar to moth that’s really amazing.”

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Facebook - The Dodo

Indeed, 180 out of 200 hatched, and the young woman couldn’t be happier that she managed to take such good care of them.

As she admits, she had never expected that a moth would change her life. Now, she’s trying to show other people how amazing creatures moths are, and she’s trying to change their minds about other insects, as well.

Watch Tala’s unique story in the video below.

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