News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

This strange-looking creature would give anyone a fright if they happened to come across it.

That's exactly what happened to 46-year-old Luján Eroles who stumbled across it while walking across her courtyard in Spain.

Unsure of what it was, she shouted to her friends in horror.

Describing the little critter as a rough-skinned creature that looked like a serpent with two heads, Luján said it measured in at about 10cm.

Luján said: "I looked down and I encountered the strange animal, fear struck me knowing that it could have been poisonous.

"I had never seen anything like it, it was just like a snake and its eyes were so strange," she said.

"We all thought it was a mutant animal, which is why we filmed it and put it online for people to give us their opinions."

Luján added: "We did an extensive Google search on the subject and also several people told us that it was a caterpillar which will become a butterfly."

Putting it on Facebook attracted over 6,000 reactions from people shocked by its strange appearance. Over 2,800 people left comments on the picture.

"The reason it was in my courtyard was because it was feeding off vines near my house, and it was camouflaged to look like a form of viper to scare off predators."

(Image: Wikipedia)

In fact, she had found an Elephant Hawk-Moth caterpillar.

It gets its name thanks to the resemblance of an elephant's trunk and is found mostly across Britain and Ireland. The little beastie is also known for its horn-like curved spines.

Despite the bulbous tail, it's not actually got two heads. But it is unusual to see the caterpillars during the day as, like the moths they become, the creatures are nocturnal.