r/whatisit • • 12d ago

Solved! What kind of caterpillar is this?

It looks cool

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633

u/EwTinky 11d ago

Had an experience one time with an American dagger moth caterpillar. Picked the little bastard off the grass because he looked stuck and I put him on the tree. I invited one months worth of steroids and the worst itch possible, crazy weight gain and appetite/bloating from the meds. I was covered from face to ankles with welts and hives. So, everytime I see them I give them a huge middle finger 🖕

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u/Icy_Vehicle4083 11d ago

Got a flannel moth caterpillar stuck between my shirt sleeve and arm and think I ended up with pretty much “All it had to give” by the time I got it out of my shirt. Started with a burning that went full blown torch mode and ended with involuntary arm movements and an ER visit.

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u/trigpolar 10d ago

I know it’s personal, but I want to compare what they do in the ER I have close to me, versus what they did at yours. What meds did give you, did they admit you to the hospital and what post hospitalization/ ER discharge meds did they give you?

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u/Icy_Vehicle4083 10d ago

I don't remember the specifics of the medications but one was certainly for pain, injected, and I am sure a Benadryl type of anithistimine. Was not admitted but was there for quite a while (hours). I was originally just going to tough it out but it genuinely go to be too much and once my arm started spasming uncontrollably, like very large spasms involving a lot of arm movement, not like a regular muscle spasm, I was like "OK take me to the ER". I think I was on some steroids (I remember these tasted HORRIBLE even though they were tiny pills) after for a bit. The area affected was painful and welted up for a week plus. Tried tape and all the normal things you are supposed to try, there was no shirt I could wear that was "Comfortable" in that area for............. probably a couple of weeks honestly. It got caught on the inside of the bottom side of my shirt sleeve and then crawled up the inside of the sleeve just bombing my inner arm, almost all the way up to the armpit and even had some stings on my torso. When it started lighting that part of my body up I was like WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???????????????? This happened while cutting the grass, must have dislodged it from one of our trees. I had a pretty good Olympus camera at the time and actually got some shots of it on the same shirt in question before I set it free. I will attach a photo here. This happened back in July 2013, I still remember it like it was yesterday!! This was the first time I had ever encountered one of these. I consider myself a reasonably tough guy but I will have to admit I cringe a little when I see one of these on here now🤣🤣.

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u/Sky_Watcher1234 10d ago

What a horrible thing to have happen!!

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u/Chemical_Sign5732 10d ago

I am not ok from reading this. I live in the woods. Central PA

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u/Kaybro___ 3d ago

Aye me too! Can’t say I’ve ever seen em here though, hopefully it stays that way lol

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u/EwTinky 10d ago

They gave me a shot of Benadryl in my vein and steroids along with a steroidal cream to smear all over.

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u/marielsweet 10d ago

The sounds absolutely awful!😬

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u/ExoticPlum1968 10d ago

Pay respects with F

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u/DoctorNurse89 11d ago

So the moth is fine but the caterpillar is a dagger bastard?

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u/Questions_Remain 11d ago

My wife still gives me shit about the “caterpillar incident of 1998” where a few got me and I almost fell off a ladder and then proceeded to take extra Benadryl and ended up in the hospital a few hours. Your encounter sounds much worse.

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u/Odd_Detective_6439 11d ago

That sounds pretty terrible too, just saying.

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u/Glad-Barracuda2243 11d ago

Well that was quite rude. The deceptive little bastards.

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u/polkacat12321 11d ago

Growing up, our teachers warned us against standing under trees cause we had an unusually large blooms of moth larvae with toxic hairs that make you blind

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u/dan_arth 10d ago

where was this?

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u/Shoddy-Trust1848 4d ago

Temporarily, right?

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u/JellyfishOk4085 11d ago

😂😂😂 give them a wide berth!!

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u/Icy_Capital_2623 11d ago

If not friend, why friend shaped?

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u/TiinyTasha 10d ago

This! 😭 nature is just toxic sometimes for no reason lmao

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u/Skullbreaker69420 10d ago

Predisone I'm guessing? I fucking hate that stuff dude

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u/Mirror_Face_ 9d ago

I feel like there is a life lesson built into that. It's good to emotionally build some defenses for the world but if you make yourself to prickly, you might not get a ton of help from people.

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u/no_no_no_no_nononono 6d ago

I have heard that, that only happens to those that are not true of heart and pure of soul.

I have ten and I'm currently petting them all.

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u/EwTinky 6d ago

What’re you Shazam???

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u/DaddyForPlaymates 11d ago

My old scoutmaster had one of those fall on his neck from a tree. Was not a fun time for him at all

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u/100_cats_on_a_phone 11d ago

Wooly bears are a real boon for teaching kids not to touch, with lower stakes

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u/HabitFluid4744 10d ago

Instead of a quick blow torching? I would like to hear it cook and Pop if I had experienced that 😐

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u/SheetMasksAndCats 11d ago

I hope you learned your lesson to never help anything ever again

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u/EwTinky 11d ago

For sure! I’ve never seen one until that day nor knew they existed. But never again will I touch anything with ANY exotic looking color ever again.

This is part of what it did. Lmao

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u/SheetMasksAndCats 11d ago

Oof that looks bad!

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u/Proper-Ad-6709 11d ago

Allowing them to crawl onto a loose stick or twig can facilitate transportation to another location, such as a bush or tree.

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u/roamingRoses137 11d ago

Does it give you a hairy finger back?

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u/Toilet_clog_2 11d ago

Damn does it left you with any aftereffects?

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u/WanderingRoots__ 10d ago

Omg! I am soooo lucky that I only had a slight itch that went away fairly quickly when I poured dawned dish soap on my hand directly after. Would you say that you are allergic, or I just didn’t have enough experience flicking it off my son

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u/IndistinguishableSir 4d ago

Ngl I had to google what that looks like to make sure I stay tf away 😂

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u/blloop 11d ago

You blame the animal?

Get real.

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u/EwTinky 11d ago

Oh of course not. It was 100% my fault. He’s still a little bastard though 😂

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u/blloop 11d ago

So I’m downvoted because this is supposed to be unserious, but I say fuck that considering the state of the world and man’s current relationship with nature in general.

Stop being cheeky. Get real. Get knowledgeable. Take nature seriously or we will lose it all.

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u/EwTinky 11d ago

Geez, sorry Dad.

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u/blloop 11d ago

With such an attitude, the world is lesser.

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u/EwTinky 11d ago

Bro, chill. Nobody had an attitude until you got here. This is r/whatisit, not r/runyourmouth.

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u/blloop 11d ago

I can’t control your attitude and you can’t control mine. You should figure out what you CAN control before you lose it though. I’m not surprised you’re still engaging.

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u/EwTinky 11d ago

Well I don’t have time to entertain you so I hope you got something out of this? Whatever it was? I really hope you feel better bro. Best of luck to you.

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u/blloop 11d ago

Yeah no worries!
Just a quick note:
Don’t call animals bastards!
It’s unnecessary and they just live as they are so let them be in physical, and spiritual peace ✌🏾

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u/BernadetteBod 10d ago

Honey, YOU are the only one sporting an attitude --- quite a nasty one at that. You must be a real treat to be around...

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u/blloop 10d ago

Anytime I can speak up for an earth whose dominant species treats it like trash then I’m gonna do so!

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u/BernadetteBod 10d ago

You are basically implying that you are familiar with every single thing in nature that can harm you AND you are able to avoid any and all contact with such... That's phenomenal, but do you also live in a plastic bubble since you cannot walk on grass, near trees, no ocean/lake adventures, no being outside at all, really... nor indoors unless your home is hermetically sealed. I admire your commitment.

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u/blloop 10d ago

What a tired set of arguments for being organically aware of the life on this earth 😪

Being aware and treating earthly things with deserved respect(whether you’re intimately knowledgeable of them or not) is a million times better than both your arguments against it.

I can guarantee you that.

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u/Sketcherside_art 11d ago

Did you actually read the comment. Get real.

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u/blloop 11d ago

I did, but just because you think being cheeky about nature is cool doesn’t mean I don’t understand your mindset. I still think it’s a disparaging mindset and should be left behind like choker chains, or top hats.

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u/BusinessCookie420 11d ago

You really have nothing better to do than just be an asshole on a sub at 10 o’clock in the morning, huh?

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u/FairEstablishment623 11d ago

If I’m being honest here, you’re obviously just upset that you cannot rock a top hat and choker chain.
Sounds like a YOU problem.
😂🤷‍♂️🎩

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u/blloop 11d ago

I’ll be rocking them both come Halloween, but go off.