BEWARE PROCESSIONAL CATERPILLARS

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Friday, February 22, 2008 jane b Ático I'm in Vera, Almeria I've made 165 posts Send private message to jane b	Today our dog had an encounter with some processional caterpillars which can be lethal to pets and pretty nasty to humans too. Happily we just ended up €40 worse off, and we still have Kippy - it could have been so much worse. These caterpillars make their nests in pine trees and when they break out of the nest they travel around in a sort of linked chain - yellowy-brown and black in colour and each individual one about 2.5" long. I was walking in the campo and he was running around several metres ahead. Suddenly I saw him leap in the air and heard a yelp. I rushed over and saw this "snake" about 1 metre long, and I knew straight away what it was. I screeched at him and he loped off, and I didn't see him again until I was nearly home (not unusual - he does about 5 kms to every one I do). When I saw him, he was reeling like a drunk and then vomited up lots of grass and nasty white foamy stuff. I grabbed his collar with one hand and the mobile with the other and ran for the car while ringing the vet. Vet said bring him straight in. Fortunately he wasn't sick again on the way, but as soon as he got into the surgery....! Anyway, he was inspected and the vet said he had just minor inflammation on the edge of his 'lips', gave him a shot to prevent a reaction, plus some antibiotics and said he was a very lucky dog. Apparently if the hairs of the caterpillar make serious contact with the tongue, it 'kills' the part it touches and it does not recover. If much more contact is made, it can cause a major reaction in the mouth and throat, causing swelling and therefore cutting off the air supply. No prizes for guessing what that means. We have a friend who cleared some up in his garden recently, wearing heavy gloves, but he still had a violent skin reaction all over his body. SPREAD THE WORD - these characters mean business and must be stopped: If you see their cotton-wooly nests in the trees, cut them out CAREFULLY and burn them. The vet said you can then spray the tree with insecticide if you are not sure if any have actually survived. In celebration of his survival I have made Kippy my new avatar. _______________________ www.lastortugas.net Spam post? If so please click here to report it
22 Feb 2008 9:51 PM morerosado EOS Superstar I'm in Somerset, UK / Guardamar Del Segura on the Costa Blanca I've made 5674 posts Send private message to morerosado	I'm so relieved your Kippy's going to be ok, what a worry. In other Spanish forums I read, people are warning of these caterpillars. Taken from THE OLIVE PRESS Andalucia’s Fortnightly News Publication _______________________ More is listening to http://www.wave106fm.com/ coming from Spain, as I post. Spam post? If so please click here to report it
22 Feb 2008 10:12 PM jane b Ático I'm in Vera, Almeria I've made 165 posts Send private message to jane b	WOW More - our procession must have been a very little one by comparison! It is very worrying, particularly when you have dogs that run for miles in the campo and cats that spend most of their time hunting out there but I guess it's like kids - you have to let go.... BTW, thanks for all your help on the siggie - as you see, I finally got there! Cheers Jane _______________________ www.lastortugas.net Spam post? If so please click here to report it
23 Feb 2008 7:28 AM damok666 Apartamento I'm in Sunderland I've made 76 posts Send private message to damok666	Wow, looks like me and the dog had a lucky escape the other day. I was walking her and there was a line of these right across the pavement, about 1 - 2 metres along. I stopped and had a good look, not knowing what they were. Then I walked her around the small wooded area which is full of pine trees and we came across another bigger line of them. Luckily the dog didn't pay them any attention at all which I did think was strange at the time. _______________________ This space is intentionally left blank. Spam post? If so please click here to report it
23 Feb 2008 11:48 AM morerosado EOS Superstar I'm in Somerset, UK / Guardamar Del Segura on the Costa Blanca I've made 5674 posts Send private message to morerosado	I'm very relieved to hear that your dog wasn't affected by these wierd caterpillars too, Damok. There's loads everywhere. Scary, isn't it. How often, as very young kids, did we all pick up a hairy caterpillar that was to be our best friend in a jam jar ? Actually (we live in Somerset) our friends nearby have a tree that had nests of caterpillars & the nests kept bursting & showering the caterpillars down onto the lawn. My friend always worried about these as she had a young dog. On the subject of caterpillars a few years ago we had lots strip our beautiful tree bare in hours. They grew MASSIVE like 3" long & as thick as my middle finger. Never seen them again & tree recovered. It's a tree that starts off with green leaves which then change colour through to pinks, so pretty. _______________________ More is listening to http://www.wave106fm.com/ coming from Spain, as I post. Spam post? If so please click here to report it
10 Mar 2008 1:04 PM morerosado EOS Superstar I'm in Somerset, UK / Guardamar Del Segura on the Costa Blanca I've made 5674 posts Send private message to morerosado	This message was last edited by morerosado on 3/10/2008. _______________________ More is listening to http://www.wave106fm.com/ coming from Spain, as I post. Spam post? If so please click here to report it
16 Mar 2008 5:05 PM Redjoemw Parcela I'm in England & Almeria I've made 24 posts Send private message to Redjoemw	Wow U all sound like u had a lucky escape Were moving to Spain next year and Im worried now about my cats, Do the caterpillars live in a particular area or are they indigenous to whole of Spain ? Great pictures to everyone - look v v scary ! _______________________ Can't wait til we move to Spain 2009 Spam post? If so please click here to report it
16 Mar 2008 5:35 PM jane b Ático I'm in Vera, Almeria I've made 165 posts Send private message to jane b	I understand they are in most places but they have their nests in pine trees and if you remove the nests and burn them there should be no problem. We have had three cats here for 6 years and this is the first time we have seen an actual procession because we keep our eyes open for the nests and get rid of them. _______________________ www.lastortugas.net Spam post? If so please click here to report it

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