Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Processional Caterpillars

Do you get these things in the US ?

The name is self-explanitory. I took these pics today whilst out with the dog.







They are dangerous, particularly to dogs as they release their hairs if disturbed and these can cause lung failure.

Gary

Wow. I dont recall ever seeing anything like that.

Don't snort them!

Yea, we get some at least they are simular if not the same.

I've not seen that up here in Canada, Gary. At first when I opened this thread all I saw was the first picture and it just looked like a crack in the road. That's a strange sight!

They nest only in fir trees and their nests look like a big ball of cobwebs.

http://www.wildsideholidays.com/natural/...life-cycle.html
.

Never heard of anything like that, specially being dangerous to dogs. Yuk

we have something like that here but makes that cobweb nest in all kinds of trees..but have never seen them on the ground all hooked up in one big line..

Ed

Wow... like caterpillars abandoning a sinking ship... I am almost certain that must be a sign of the upcoming apocalypse.

Oh! We're talkin' about insects here, are we Gary?!

(...sorry, but I saw your thread titled "Processional Caterpillars" here, and naturally I thought that might be some euphemism you were usin' about those long long "processions" of slow moving Harley riders we often come up behind and who seem irritated if we try to pass 'em!!!!)

Well, they are hairy and don't seem to be able to travel in a straight line

They look like Catalpa worms that we have here and it sounds as though the nesting habits are similar, but Catalpa worms will nest in any kid of tree and defoliate it in short order. As far as them being dangerous? not that I'm aware of.

Pic of some caterpillars in the woods at the back of my property. Where the Harley riders end up.

Up here we call those tent caterpillars.

Ayuh, tent caterpillars indeed. Never seen them in a procession like in Bugbear's pics... how odd.

Tent caterpillars here too.

We got em down here too but ours are uglier and their hairs can cause big sore welts on your skin. They move around in clusters as if all being controlled by the same brain. They disgust me.

I thought you said professional caterpillars.

Tent caterpillars , or gypsy moth caterpillars. supposedly a genetically modified 'pillar to make silk for the war effort & when they failed to make silk they were just dumped into the wild, becoming a major pest. I cut the branches & burn 'em when they make tents.

I'd never seen the tent caterpillars (that i know of) until i saw these and took the pic. The biggest pest here is webworms (close relative from what i've read), and, of course, bagworms. And, also, since i've been living in the country for the past 11 years at this place, a big pest (of the animal kingdom)....armadillos. Never saw these in Oklahoma when i was a kid, but they've finally migrated up here.

These are very similar to our ones...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoRDPHaS-6Q

I remember a procession of catapillars out on our front path when I was a kid. My Old Man coached them around so as the lead critter hooked up with the last critter and the things kept going round and round all afternoon. The next mornin' they were gone!