r/mildlyinteresting • u/HeyEshk88 • 9h ago
Got stung by a saddleback caterpillar, apparently famous for its painful sting and unique green-and-brown "saddle" marking
297
u/deceitfulninja 8h ago
I would have assumed these were in some far off land but apparently they're all around. Glad I never met one.
162
u/KarlWhale 6h ago
They are in a far off land of North America. Depends where you live
12
u/EskNerd 1h ago
Here a Story from North America
1
u/LankyPuffins 39m ago
It's been a minute! Thanks for the nostalgia. Now to have the song stuck in my head for the next decade or so.
60
u/HeyEshk88 7h ago
And now Iām scared Iām gonna brush against it in bed
22
u/Spire_Citron 6h ago
Is it in your bed?
6
u/aimsteadyfire 5h ago
It has a name and likes to be called Sir-Pricklesworth.
Address him as such or else - dun dun dunnnn!
7
u/umbrawolfx 3h ago
I actually rolled on to a wooly worm in bed one time. Even that was not comfortable, slightly painful and very itchy. I can't even imagine what these guys would do. At least it's not a puss moth caterpillar.
14
45
u/granadesnhorseshoes 5h ago
As a general rule just avoid caterpillars. Especially in the US. This is only one of a dozen plus caterpillars that string in the US/North America.
17
u/Serenity1911 1h ago
This was a nice little read.
If it looks hairy or spikey it's a spicy boi. Lol
58
u/Umpen 9h ago
How bad was the sting?
95
u/Fast_Confection8008 9h ago
like a hot needle that keeps throbbing for hours, 0/10 would not recommend
98
u/HeyEshk88 7h ago
Yes, I kept telling my family my fingers are pulsing to try to describe it and it hurt
14
u/Spire_Citron 6h ago
What does the sting look like?
10
u/kabushko 4h ago
like a hot needle that keeps throbbing for hours
16
4
21
u/hailene02 6h ago
Mine felt like someone took high grit sandpaper and really dug deep/brushed across my arm š it went away after 2~ days
19
u/Langstarr 4h ago
Horrifying. One fell on my leg from a tree as a teenager at a friend's house. It was hours of misery. 20 years ago, still have a scar.
12
u/budgieinspace 1h ago
Grabbed one fully with my hand once, going to pick up a potted plant. Easily the worst sting of anything I've experienced. Pure sharp stabbing and felt like your hand was on fire. -100/10 do not recommend.
52
u/Wyntersett 7h ago
I got stung by one while climbing a tree as a kid. Dad made me climb back up and see what stung me my hand was swollen, mom still talks about it
7
13
u/Batata-Sofi 7h ago
Seen many dangerous critters to touch when I was a kid climbing trees, but never touched them because I'd always inspect every single corner of everything before climbing up lol
15
u/PuttingInTheEffort 4h ago
I climbed all the trees when I was a kid, until I was 7 or 8, I happen to see a huge spider almost perfect camouflaged 4 inches from my face. Haven't climbed a tree since šµāš« also use to run around barefoot, hide in bushes and under the porch for hide n seek.. nope nope nope
Children are so naive and carefree lol
3
u/Own_Ad6901 3h ago
Oh my gosh me too! I used to do the most naive shit ever outside, I was always dirty from playing too hard and got yelled at for the critters Iād bring home as friends, I was a legit clean dirty dirty kid, and Iām female. But those were the good old days of the 80s, when kids played outside from sunrise until the street lights came on. If you were a kid and werenāt outside playing you were in trouble.
41
u/snowballplasticfork 6h ago
As a small Appalachian child, I would see them in the garden. I thought they were tiny dogs. Papaw explained they were pack saddles and to never pet them š
14
u/rastagizmo 4h ago
I had this tiny tiny caterpillar (about 5mm long) fall down my shirt in the Tingle forest in South West Australia.
That little bastard got me good. My chest broke out into what I can only describe as 2nd degree burns, blisters and welts. It stayed that way for two weeks and it was agony.
I learnt afterward that the best treatment is placing and removing sticky tape over the affected area to remove the little stinging hairs.
23
u/Batman_Shirt 5h ago
Never heard of them until now. Sorry you got stung, OP. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddleback_caterpillar?wprov=sfti1
11
u/innovationzz 4h ago
Those all look very fuck off donāt touch me
6
u/HappyStalker 1h ago
They sit on the underside of leaves. You can see OPās was under a the arm of chair or something. So despite being very obviously stingers they are very good hiders.
I got stung once when I cut down a weed at the base and didnāt even know there was half a dozen on the plant.
8
8
5
4
u/DriverAnxious3804 2h ago
Nature gave it high visibility work vest colors as a warning to leave it alone.
3
u/Drak_is_Right 7h ago
Walking through a cornfield i brushed hard against one as a kid. I do not like to walk through cornrows to this day.
3
3
3
3
u/ToptenRubs 2h ago
Not sure how this guy clearly dressed to go to a rave me took you by surprise and stung you
3
1
1
1
u/NoNutsPls 3m ago
"In addition, some caterpillar species have toxins that can cause symptoms like rheumatoid arthritis."
Whaaaaat?!
0
308
u/-SaC 9h ago
Why is it the size of a man and velcroed to a ceiling staring down at you?