catappillars

Gardening/Walking/Nature trails & wildlife. Share your experiences here...

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opas
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catappillars

Post by opas »

I witnessed last week for the first time in my life.......incredible really given my age.......processionary catappillars. It was my youngest daughter who pointed them out to me and ironically i counted 66 of them! She was the one(10 year old ) who told me and my young charge not to touch them,

Today I turn up at work and apparently the little girl I look after had been out yesterday with her family and one of these catappillars had touched her........she is in a real mess and to be honest her face looks like she has been on a rugby pitch, she is scratching like crazy on her arms and her hands are swollen.

Now fortunatly tor her , Mum is a doctor and apparently had all the paraphenalia needed in her car.

I honestly cannot beleive what a mess those little creatures could make.
Take care when out walking and keep your eyes peeled!
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Marguerite & Steve
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Re: catappillars

Post by Marguerite & Steve »

opas wrote:I witnessed last week for the first time in my life.......incredible really given my age.......processionary catappillars. It was my youngest daughter who pointed them out to me and ironically i counted 66 of them!

Found the right department then.....66 :wink:
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sue and paul
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Post by sue and paul »

I was severely afflicted with the rash from these last year. I went to our pharmacie and after they had all had a good gawp, and told me it was 'dégoutant' (or I was !) they sold me some Onctose ointment, which soothed it a lot. But I had a swollen neck and lower jaw for about 2 weeks, and hell, did it itch! these caterpillars can be very dangerous for dogs if they get the hairs on their tongue. Remember you don't have to touch a caterpillar to get the itch, it's enough to get some hairs on you. Yuk :twisted:
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Kathy
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Chennilles

Post by Kathy »

We have been fighting an ongoing battle with these monsters since we purchased our house. In December we removed lots of the cocoons from the trees and left our tree man to remove the ones left after our departure, unfortunately he forgot so in Feb we found them crawling all over the place. Hubby set fire to approx 50 of them but when we chopped down the remaining nests they felt empty. We will be at it again next year unless we get rid of the trees which I am loathe to do. He pours on acetone then lights it. It seems cruel but as they do not appear to have any natural predators and are dangerous to have around we have no choice.
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sue and paul
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Post by sue and paul »

Yes, if possible you have to cut off the branches with nests on, and burn them right away. We recently paid to have our 5 pines reduced by about half their height - they are still about 20 feet high - so that in future we can (well, him indoors can) use the long loppers and get the varmints. I have no fine feelings about burning the nests.
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Marguerite & Steve
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Post by Marguerite & Steve »

I haven't seen these caterpillars before so I have just googled them... :shock: they are horrible, they give me the creeps, I pity you all if you are infested with them. Can they be permanantly removed/destroyed?
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sue and paul
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Post by sue and paul »

"Can they be permanantly removed/destroyed?"

you cut the tree down...tempting :lol:
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PaddyFrog
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Post by PaddyFrog »

About 15 years ago they used to spray from planes (Crop Spraying Types) above all mountain villages, it worked but apparently Cough Cough it was toxic.
Now they are considering resuming.

Use A blow torch until the nest is gone, I have seen trees decimated by a small group.

of course you could cut off all their feet on one side.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Kathy do not bother to re- varnish their nails after your husband takes theold colour off!!!!!!


Michael :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:
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rbg
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Post by rbg »

Mind your pets as well , as they can be severely affected too ....
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