A trick of the light can make a really big impact. Thanks to an optical illusion, a mom snapped a photo of her four-year-old boy apparently inside the enclosure of a big cat.

Little Noah Moore was mesmerized by a giant feline when his mother Shanice took him to Colchester Zoo in Essex, England last week.

28-year-old Shanice was snapping away, taking photos of her son as he gazed up excitedly at Bailey the lion lying against the glass. 

But it was only when Shanice and her partner Jake Moore were heading back home that she looked back at her photos… and saw Noah looking perilously close to Bailey in one of her pictures.

The image shows just Noah's reflection in the glass of the enclosure, making it look like the youngster is standing inside, snuggled up against the lion's bushy mane.

To make the photo even funnier, some picture-perfect words are written across the bottom of the glass: "We eat meat."

Shanice said she had just intended to take a photo of Bailey the lion, and hadn't even realized at the time that Noah was reflected in the image.

The mom, who is expecting her second child next month, said: "I just couldn't believe it when I saw the picture. I shared it on Facebook after I spotted it, and had people asking me whether I had done any Photoshop on it. But I'm rubbish with technology—I don't even think with Photoshop I could have done a better job than what I did.

"The zoo said it's quite rare for that particular lion to come right up to the window like that. It was awesome."

Shanice said that the moment was made extra-special because of how her autistic son reacted when he saw the lion.

She said, "He's quite severely autistic, and he's non-verbal, so he's never really engaged with any of the animals on the few occasions we've been to the zoo.

"But on this occasion, it was the first time he's been really engaged at the zoo.

"He was staring at the lion for ages, and because we've got a pet cat at home, he actually said ‘kitty-kat', which was amazing and very emotional for me. I think the lions must be his new favorite animal."

Shanice said she has now had the photo framed. We hope it will remind her of a special time with Noah for a long time to come.

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