Officials Issue Warning About The Dangerous Critter People Keep Spotting In Their Yards

While trying to get into her Prius, Crystal Spindel Gaston felt the sharp pain engulf her leg out of nowhere. “It felt exactly like a scorching-hot knife passing through the outside of my calf,” though when she looked, nothing appeared wrong, at first.

“Before I looked down to see where it came from,” Gaston said, “I thought 100 percent I was going to see a big piece of metal, super sharp, sticking out from my car.” Instead, Gaston saw a weird little clump of fur that looked like a stray mustache.

Panicking because her pain was increasing, and because she was sure this mystery creature was the culprit, Gaston went to the emergency room. She wanted to know what furry little thing was capable of causing so much agony. Answers were hard to come by.

When Gaston showed the pictures she snapped to the medical staff, no one had a clue what her attacker was. It wasn’t until later that she learned that she was one of several people across Virginia to spot the hairpiece-like bug.

As reported in Prince William Times, the puss caterpillar, sometimes called a woolly slug, is named for its resemblance to cat fur. The ridiculousness of its appearance makes it all the more sinister, as Gaston attested, the effects of its sting can be severe.

After several days of achy pain that she felt down to her bone, Gaston began to recover from her stings. Though, as an avid outdoorsman, she was pretty stunned that she’d never heard of these predatory puss caterpillars before. She wanted to give others a warning.

“It’s almost a cruel trick of nature. They look like a plush toy, something soft, and they could be very alluring to a child,” Gaston said. Thankfully, the Virginia Department of Forestry received several other reports of puss caterpillar sightings and advised the public.

On the VDOF Facebook page, they quipped, “#SocialDistance away from this caterpillar!” Jokes aside, they illustrated the risks of coming into contact with a puss caterpillar. Even though you might want a closer look at the little chestnut hairpiece insect, stay clear.

This freaky little crawler takes the title of the most poisonous caterpillar in the United States. Hidden amongst those shaggy hairs that look so amusing are hollow spines chock full of venom.

Symptoms set in as soon as you touch one of the venomous spines. First, there’s an intense pain that flares in waves. The puncture swells, becoming red and itchy, and it doesn’t end there.

Some reactions can be more severe, with nausea and vomiting, intense pain as Crystal Gaston had, and even seizures. No brush with a puss caterpillar is going to be pleasant, though there is a way to prevent your sting from getting worse.

Your instinct might be to swat the hairy caterpillar away out of fear but resist that urge. That could break off more venomous spines into your skin, which will only make you more uncomfortable. Nurses attack the problem differently.

The way nurses dealt with Gaston’s injury is one of the best methods, by gently pulling out each spine with sticky medical tape. If you find yourself removing puss caterpillar stings, plastic wrap works well too.

But if these guys pose such a threat, why aren’t they more well known? Some areas aren’t aware of woolly slugs because they’re native to the southern United States. Though, as years pass, these toupee-style caterpillars are crawling ever northward.

There isn’t a definitive answer for what triggered the puss caterpillar moving north, but one expert feels confident in her theory. According to diagnostician Theresa Dellinger, from Virginia Tech’s Insect Identification Lab, climate change is to blame for the expanded territory.

Usually, puss caterpillars are between 1.2 and 1.4 inches, though the larger they are, the more power they carry. The VDOF says they should definitely be appreciated from a distance, so you don’t need to go out of your way to remove them.

“If you find the caterpillar, leave it alone and let its natural enemies control their populations — there are a number of other insects that will prey on them at different stages of their life cycle,” the VDOF advised.

That being said, if you’re on the receiving end of a puss caterpillar sting, and your symptoms don’t feel manageable, the VDOF recommends you seek medical treatment. People who are prone to more severe insect sting reactions should also see a doctor.

Puss caterpillars are popping up in parks and places where people could easily come into contact with them by mistake. They’re actually more likely to be in your backyard than out in the deep wilderness.

There are no records of fatal puss caterpillar stings, but they pack a painful punch that would seriously upset any curious kid. Let’s be real, the most likely person to touch a weird creature out of curiosity is a child.

Keeping your fingers to yourself is hard to do when you spot an animal that’s covered in fur, or even electric blue. Seven-year-old Hunter Lane learned that lesson when he spotted something weird in the seashore that didn’t belong.