Egads

We were outside the other day, romping among the leaves and stumps from our downed maple tree, when Matthew spotted a caterpillar. It was a really pretty caterpillar- white and fuzzy, with black spots.




I haven't seen a caterpillar of this sort before, so I decided to look it up to see what type of butterfly it might become.

As it turns out, this caterpillar will become a moth, not a butterfly. A Hickory Tussock Moth, to be exact. It also turns out that the caterpillar is one of the many stinging caterpillars in this region of the country.

Stinging Caterpillars? I'm a native of California. Our caterpillars are quite civilized and don't sting people, thank you very much. Fortunately, unlike the Puss Caterpillar or the Io Moth Caterpillar, the Hickory Tussock sting isn't very severe. Most people break out into a burning, itching rash after contact with the larvae. There are some reports of permanent eye damage caused by rubbing the eyes after a hand has been stung- yikes! We were every lucky, as Matt wasn't stung by the creature at all and had no rashes the next day.

We learned our lesson, though- don't pick up a fuzzy caterpillar in this area unless you know the species! Here's a close-up of our little fiend friend: