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Walking with pets? Take care! processionary caterpillars

30K views 131 replies 49 participants last post by  Funnybunny_fi 
#1 ·
A timely reminder about processional caterpillars.

We have very few pests in the countryside around us but at this time of year (January, February and March) in southern France and in Spain these critters develop and move around in their characteristic single file processions. A clue to their presence will be the candy floss like nests in pine trees.



A young caterpillar ready to leave its nest

Under no circumstances should their nests or processional marches be disturbed!



Daytime marching to find food

These caterpillars have brittle highly toxic spines which break on contact and will promote severe allergic reactions if touched or ingested - Don't let your dog go sniffing around them!



Poisonous spines

They can also be very dangerous to humans, especially those with allergy or respiratory conditions. Processionary caterpillars are well documented on the internet but it does no harm to spread the word and awareness of them. Please pass the word around and let others know about them through other relevant forums etc.



An old nest
 
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#11 ·
Yes - they live in pine woods but also urbanisations and golf courses where pines have been planted.

There's another very good article here:
The pine processionary caterpillar and its life cycle

"If you are aware of the presence of processionary caterpillars in your area then contact your local town hall and ask them what their policy is for control and eradication. In large forests this is a complicated problem to solve but in individual and small plantations on urbanisations or in towns there should be an eradication system in place. If not, ask why not."
 
#13 ·
Thanks

I'm glad the thread is of interest :)

Although I have mainly mentioned the danger to animals, humans need to be very careful too - I came across the following information which sums up the situation for all...

"For pets, dogs and cats, the problem is that the caterpillars have a bittersweet smell and taste, and both dogs and cats will try to eat them. The results are almost certainly fatal, as little as three or four will kill a medium sized dog, and one may produce death in a cat. The reaction to the poison also causes necrosis of the tongue, and by the time the owner notices the problem, it is usually too late for veterinary treatment to do much except ease suffering.

In adults these hairs will cause severe skin irritations, and occasionally anaphylactic shock, closure of airways leading to death, and obviously requiring immediate medical treatment. In children, (who are more inquisitive about the processions and may handle the caterpillars then transfer the fingers and hairs to the mouth etc) the effects can be more immediately severe and will almost always require immediate professional medical aid. Similarly, older people with less resistance can also be quickly affected. Golfers, tennis players, footballers and bowlers (petanque and boules) should be careful NOT to handle a ball that has gone through a procession, golfers should check local rules, some courses permit substitutions. Golf, Tennis, boules and Footballs should be cleaned with disposable cloths which should then be burned as a means of disposal.
"

So.... be careful out there :)
 
#15 ·
Hi there,

Thanks for the info and the photos. We found at least six of these nests in our pine tree. We originally thought the birds in there (I have to park below the tree so I know there's lots of birds) had used sheep or goat fleece as a nest.
It's not wool, it's these little things.
Having a 2 year old and having just moved here, we will speak to the neighbours now about getting rid of these before their processions begin!
 
#16 ·
The outlaws had some of these last year and had to have them removed by a junta appointed company. They are very dangerous - almost as dangerous as a conga at a New Year's Eve party... and I should know, I was involved with a conga once. Very nearly killed me.
 
#19 ·
Unreal ...these are exactly what we had on our trees, I'd never seen them before..when my daughter said we had a worm nest in the tree I thought she was joking!!
Does any body know what these things are called and where they come from and why !!
I'll try and upload my pictures, we cut out the branches and burnt the lot !! Not very environmentally sound but it did the trick!
 
#23 ·
They're on the move here. Despite cutting the tree down and destroying the nests, whilst cutting up the wood this afternoon, I found five of them crawling along a trunk.
So I lit the barbecue, used twigs to transport them and incinerated them.

If you use a long twig which has sap coming out of it, they seem to have no objection to climbing on, a quick few paces and throw it in the fire!

There are still more roaming around so will get them tomorrow once all the ash from today has been dealt with!

I showed the neighbours the caterpillars and they freaked a little. We were told "Foc foc" -which is Valenciano for fire, not what you might think their reaction was!
 
#26 ·
Be very wary of disturbing or moving them around, because the millions of fine follicles easily become airborne and can end up anywhere.

You have the right idea chopping down the tree.
No tree, no caterpillars next year.
I have wiped out virtually all the pine population within a few hundred metres,so no nesting sight for the moths.
The moths may travel up to half a mile or so looking for nesting sites in pine trees, but the caterpillars which do the damage rarely venture very far from the tree.
 
#24 ·
Great thread. Interesting and informative. Thanks for the heads up. It makes me wonder is there anything else we should look out for? I was watching a TV program made in mallorca called Mad Dogs and they showed what looked like a scorpion!!! does mallorca have scorpions and are they deadly?
 
#28 ·
just a bit of advice if your dog does touch one or pick one up in its mouth youve got around 20 minutes to get it to the vet but if you carrya pack of regular anti histamines with you when you're out walking your dog and the dog does touch one quickly put an anti histamine down its throat which can either sort the problem full stop or will give you more time to get to the vet. I also had a friend who tried to brush (using a regular long handled broom) these caterpillars away and they shoot their poisonous hairs out whch went all over his legs and arms. He developed a serious allergic reaction and ended up in hospital for 3 days. We live right next door to a pine forest and although the council do remove the nests from public areas (play areas, parks and bbq) they do not move them form regular forests. My husband does each year howver climb the trees in a bee keepers suit, puts a thich bag over the nest a cuts the branch therefore removing the nest.
 
#29 ·
I've been waging war on the little blighters and the trees they nest in for quite a few years now.
I was under the impression they cold hatch out and nest in virtually any pine trees, yet despite the fact that they have been prevalent in the area there have been two groups of pines in which they have never ever hatched or at least never got to the nesting stage.
Over the years they have nested in various pines from half a metre to twenty metre plus high, in exactly the same area.
Since I put all of those out of commision, they still have not resorted to using or possibly more accurately being able to hatch in the other two groups I mention.
I've not seen anything to explain this on various sites I've searched,but can only presume that the reason is because they are a different type of pine.
They look almost identical to the others, but I have noticed a slight difference in the length of the needles.
Wonder if anyone can shed further light on the mystery?
 
#30 ·
I have researched these things out of curiosity. I found an old French book from 1912 about them!

Basically they are quite particular about which pines they infest and the moth is rubbish at flying. If the branches of the tree are above about 10 feet or so, the moth cannot get onto it.

When the eggs are hatched, the caterpillars instinctively move up to higher branches to build their nests. Always on the same tree as they hatched on.

I will try to dig out the book and mention it!
 
#32 ·
Interesting.
I've just done a little research myself and come up with quite a variety of theories, ranging from all pine needles being edible, to all pine needles being poisonous, which incidently is the opinion of my local vet.
However what is clear is that the needles from different species vary quite a lot regarding what chemicals they contain,some of these chemicals being poisonous and others causing extreme allergic reactions in various animals.

Unfortunately I've not yet come up with anything regarding their effect on caterpillars or their eggs, but my own opinion is that some of them do have a serious detrimental effect which either prevents the eggs from hatching or kills them of as soon as they hatch and try to feed.

With regard to your other point, maybe you are correct, but they must be hellish good climbers if they can climb to the top of some of the highest pines shortly after hatching out.
 
#31 ·
I appreciate the problem and it's potential dangers, but it seems a real shame to be cutting down adult trees, especially considering the impact that has on the environment. Also, at least where I live, pine trees are a protected species so you're not allowed to just cut them down (I thought that this was the case elsewhere in Spain too). Here the local government treats the problem before the caterpillars have time to nest (I believe they spray diesel or something similar).

Having spoken to locals - it certain seems possible to treat the problem with fumigation ( treating it before the nests have time to form).
 
#33 ·
Don't know about them being a protected species in the UK, but I do know that I've grown lots of them for a purpose, such as shelter belts for livestock and usable timber and I've chopped lots down when required, no questions asked.

Here in Spain they almost pop up like mushrooms overnight and if I didn't keep on top of them they would soon take over the surrounding campo at the expense of quite a variety of other useful or much more interesting plants,shrubs and trees.

Also interesting to note here, is how little growth of any sort exists in the bottom of thick pine forests or even smaller areas of pine, even where there is sufficient light.
Maybe the needles have a detrimental effect on the growth of most other plants.

Regarding your final point the G.C. do usually arrange to deal with nests close to fairly heavily populated areas, but dealing with millions of hectares elsewhere is naturally a non starter as is spraying diesel or chemicals over wide areas of the countryside.
 
#36 · (Edited)
I'm not into too much of this "tree hugging" stuff lol!! But it seems to me that to spray with chemicals is infinitely worse than cutting a tree down. I would have thought that it would be more environmentally friendly to find what predators feed on these caterpillars and introduce them to the infected areas???? Summat like that anyway

Jo xxx
 
#37 ·
Last Xmas I bought a Xmas tree from IKEA and, unwittingly, brought home one of these caterpillars. I spotted it crawling on the patio, but, unfortuneately, my cat had investigated it first. Consquently, it suffered. I was unaware that it had touched the caterpillar, but when it stopped eating & drinking, I took it to the vet who diagnosed the problem. Then tip of its tongue and gums peeled off and he was in a sorry state. Fortuneately, after 5 days treatment from the vet he was cured, but I was informed that he might not have survived as contact with these caterpillars can be fatal.
 
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