Dallas Woman Finds Plants On The Floor at 5 A.M. Could It Be The Work Of A Duende?

A Texas woman woke up at 5 a.m., only to realize that her houseplants were scattered across the floor. Confused, she took to TikTok to ask for some answers.

“Can somebody explain this to me? No one lives with me. Nobody. I woke up to this,” said @itsjennyoukno in a video with over 1.9 million views. She theorized that the creature digging through her plants wasn’t a rodent based on the fact that it didn’t nibble on her plants’ leaves or the food she had left out. So, what creature of the night has started destroying her seedlings?

What Are Other Explanations For Jenn’s Scattered Houseplant?

Commenters had a variety of explanations for Jenn’s soil and plant issue, ranging from mythological to literal.

Some theorized that the creature terrorizing Jenn’s plants was a tarantula. As one person shared, “Most likely it's a tarantula. They dig into the plants and burrow into the dirt. This happened to me once when I live[d] in Las Vegas. I had a big plant on my patio and I saw a tarantula coming out of it.”

Others proposed that Jenn had a snake problem, considering a small, plastic-looking object barely noticeable in some of her video’s stills. Viewers circled this “skin,” which was lying on the floor.

Other theories included various critters like chipmunks and frogs. Those in camp “frog” cited a recent video by other TikTokers who faced similar plant disturbances, only to discover an incredibly jumpy guest in their home.

What Is A Duende?

Many commenters let Jenn know that she might have a “duende infestation.” Duendes are figures in Spanish folklore, comparable to imps, leprechauns, or faeries. While mythical in origin and not proven to be real by any empirical evidence, many people believe in the creatures and their influence on homes in rural areas.

Duendes are incredibly small, rarely being larger than a large child. They’re described as having both good and bad inclinations depending on the home they occupy. That makes them less closely related to negative paranormal spirits, demons, or other characters in folklore throughout history with nefarious purposes.

As Connect Paranormal states, “The ethical fluidity of the duende more closely resembles the temperamental character of Irish leprechauns or Slavic domovoi, whose interactions with people rely largely on mutual respect and defined limits.”

Similarly, the duende is considered a domesticated spirit, which may cause small amounts of mischief within a household depending on its proclivities. They may provide warning signs for issues within a house, but they may also dig up houseplants.

They’ve also evolved over time, with medieval folklore describing these household spirits as having a uniquely creative expression. That may be one reason why viewers connected the scattered soil to the folk descriptions of the duende.

So, What Was The Creature?

In a later comment on her post, Jenn confirmed what was digging through her plant’s soil. A rat had found its way into her home, which some commenters noticed immediately.

As one viewer stated, “It’s a rat, unfortunately they eat your house plants and flowers.” Jenn later said she had no idea how to catch the rat in her home.

Some people shared tips and tricks that worked in their own homes. The most creative was using a tootsie roll as bait for the rat in a snap trap. Jenn said she would try that method out on Nov. 25 and has not updated her post since that last reply.

We’ve reached out to Jenn to see if she was able to trap the rat in her home. We’ll let you know if she responds.

@itsjennyoukno