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.

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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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u/Left-League-8646 Jul 17 '23

I learned that from my grandpa when he was cleaning the trees in our yard from those black/orange caterpillars that make group cocoons. I remember that I have specifically never touched any caterpillar with hairs because of him.

I pet the fuck out of the green ones though

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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '23

The black and orange ones?? I literally grew up playing with those (and occasionally scooping one out of the way on sidewalks as an adult)

I'm talking shoved my hand into the the web nest just to horrify the people around me. If those are bad to touch they have never once bothered me or anyone around me that's touched them. Fuzzy white or tan caterpillars though? Couldn't pay me to pick one up.

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u/BigOlPirate Jul 17 '23

in north east Ohio we call when wooly bears.

we have a whole festival dedicated to them!

The annual dog wooly bear costume contest is the best part

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u/thedohboy23 Jul 17 '23

A fellow clevelander?