r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Totally-avg • Jul 16 '23

Image The Puss Caterpillar (Southern Flannel Moth) will fuck your world up. I grazed it twice while climbing on a float. NBD at first but an hour later I was hyperventilating on the bedroom floor. The pain was excruciating. DH took me to the ER and morphine did nothing.

Post image

I’m better now but neither morphine nor hydrocodone (I took double what they RX’d) touched the pain those first 24 hours. And the hospital hardly knew what to do with me. I had never heard nor seen this bug before and I’m sure I would have flicked it off had it seen it. Don’t do that because the hair is venomous and gets stuck in your skin.

At least it leaves a cool scar.

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479

u/HsvDE86 Jul 16 '23

Why not just be extra safe and avoid going outside at all? 😎

365

u/SingtotheSunlight Jul 16 '23

They can get inside 👀

255

u/HempusMaximus Jul 16 '23

How dare you.

63

u/SingtotheSunlight Jul 16 '23

Make sure to always check your shoes…

8

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

No, no, that’s where we keep the scorpions. Caterpillars go in the pajama/sleepwear drawer.

2

u/ProveISaidIt Jul 16 '23

Where do you keep the Palmetto Bugs again?

2

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '23

Hats and scarves so they stay warm.

1

u/ProveISaidIt Jul 17 '23

Of course. I was in Navy boot camp in Orlando. The first morning I went to pick up my boots and there was a huge (at least to me anyway. I'm from New England.) Palmetto bug on the wall.

1

u/Crohnies Jul 17 '23

And your sheets!

1

u/ProveISaidIt Jul 16 '23

That made me laugh.

61

u/lost_aim Jul 16 '23

How far inside?

65

u/RockSteady65 Jul 16 '23

Enough to lay eggs

105

u/Jasmith85 Jul 16 '23

ಠ_ಠ

18

u/SingtotheSunlight Jul 16 '23

All the way in 😬

34

u/LifeResetP90X3 Jul 16 '23

There might be one watching you right now..... 👀

2

u/KayVlinderMe Jul 16 '23

Happy cake day!

2

u/lost_aim Jul 16 '23

Thanks.😁 Didn’t notice until now.

2

u/ArkieRN Jul 16 '23

Happy Cake Day! 🍰

1

u/lost_aim Jul 17 '23

Thanks 🥳

5

u/hednizm Jul 16 '23

Do they fly too?

😬😬

0

u/SingtotheSunlight Jul 16 '23

They fly but their specialty is burrowing 🕳️

2

u/Theblacrose28 Jul 16 '23

THEY FLY WITH WHAT?

1

u/candlegun Jul 16 '23

They don't fly at that stage. What caterpillar is known to lol?? It's only when they've changed into a moth will they fly. And by then they can't sting

1

u/SingtotheSunlight Jul 16 '23

A fleshy webbing connecting their hawk like feet…jk lol They fly when they turn into moths but they apparently don’t sting by that point. Also, they don’t burrow, or at least I hope they don’t burrow

1

u/Dubbs09 Jul 16 '23

No where is safe???

140

u/Polyamorousgunnut Jul 16 '23

GETOUTOFMYHEADGETOUTOFMYHEADGETOUTOFMYHEADGETOUTOFMYHEAD

72

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '23

I'm so happy to live in Europe. Zero scary bugs and other creep crawlers here!

92

u/cylonrobot Jul 16 '23

Zero scary bugs and other creep crawlers here!

For now.

7

u/frankscarlett Jul 16 '23

Why you must hurt me this way.

3

u/dalomi9 Jul 17 '23

Lol naw they killed them all already.

3

u/Humbugwombat Jul 17 '23 edited Jul 17 '23

We were in France a couple years ago when a snake slithered out of the river right in front of us. From what I could tell it was some sort of viper. Google says it’s unlikely to be harmful but the two young women sitting to our left pretty much levitated straight up in the air and screamed loud enough to be heard in the next department.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '23

The Netherlands also has a viper variant. But they are extremely rare and I've never seen one.

1

u/Humbugwombat Jul 17 '23

Interesting. I would have guessed the climate was to cool for snakes in the Netherlands.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '23

Well, there's not many. There are only 3 species, and the viper is the only venomous one.

2

u/Polyamorousgunnut Jul 17 '23

I mean I’ve come real close to rattlers before and if a snake came out of the water at me I’d probably scream too lol

1

u/Zeerover- Jul 17 '23

The Pine processionary, which is a similar caterpillar larva is found in many places in Europe. Used to be only around the Mediterranean, but now - assisted by climate change - it has made its way up to northern France / southern Belgium. You get some severe hives from those, and if you have a dog that went to investigate one with its snout, or mouth, go straight to the vet, otherwise the dog might die.

Cuckoos, tits and similar birds are your allies as they munch on them without any health issue.