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Post By WildernesFamily
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Post By hotzcatz
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Post By ronbre
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04/20/14, 08:28 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Blacksburg, VA
Posts: 1,061
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Caterpillar ID?
I'm hoping you can help me out without me getting any more squicked out. XD I keep finding these hairy caterpillars in/around my (unoccupied) coop. They are mostly brown, with black heads and black butts, and hairy all over. I'm wanting to know what they are, and what they eat, but am afraid to google them, because bugs with hair give me the screaming willies. Anybody? They are probably super common here in the east but I just moved from Colorado and we don't have them there.
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Knit and crochet design, editing, and teaching. See my blog or my Ravelry page!
Also 4Farthings dairy goats, heritage poultry, and bees!
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04/20/14, 08:34 PM
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Milk Maid
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Northern Missouri
Posts: 2,635
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They're commonly called "wooly worms" and some people believe they can foretell what kind of winter to expect  .
Oh.. and they're harmless.
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“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.”
~ William Wilberforce
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04/20/14, 08:37 PM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Back in the USSR
Posts: 9,958
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It's a harmless Wooly Bear that eats leaves.
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04/20/14, 08:42 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Blacksburg, VA
Posts: 1,061
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Yup that's the one! I always freak out and assume larvae are either wood boring or wool eating, even though they rarely are. Thank you!
__________________
Knit and crochet design, editing, and teaching. See my blog or my Ravelry page!
Also 4Farthings dairy goats, heritage poultry, and bees!
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04/21/14, 05:26 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 2,854
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And here I thought your Caterpillar was going to be a D9 or something.
They are kinda bizarre looking caterpillars, aren't they?
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04/21/14, 07:48 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Blacksburg, VA
Posts: 1,061
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Super bizarre and I don't like them.  But hey, chicken food, right?
__________________
Knit and crochet design, editing, and teaching. See my blog or my Ravelry page!
Also 4Farthings dairy goats, heritage poultry, and bees!
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04/21/14, 09:04 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Eastern Saskatchewan
Posts: 2,969
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My hens won't touch them....
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04/21/14, 12:00 PM
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Brenda Groth
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Michigan
Posts: 7,817
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try picking them up..they'll curl up in a ball right away, then they might spread back out if you are gentle..they are very sweet bugs..and harmless and become butterflies.
put them on a milkweed plant if you have one around..they'll love you
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04/21/14, 06:23 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 3,024
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They actually eat a variety of different types of leaves, and they don't change into a butterfly, they change into a moth, specifically the Isabella moth.
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04/22/14, 02:15 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 3,590
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marusempai
Super bizarre and I don't like them. But hey, chicken food, right? |
No. Nothing will eat them. The hairs on them (called setae) are protection, they have an irritating toxin in the tips and the hairs can inflict a nasty sting inside the mouth and throat. Handling woolie bears may cause urticaria or a rash similar to poison ivy rash in some individuals who are sensitive.
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04/22/14, 02:17 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: West By God Virginnie
Posts: 10,742
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Wolly worms turn into big Tiger Moths... Always wondered why I see more worms than moths..
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Never let your fear decide your fate!
Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit
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04/22/14, 02:29 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 3,590
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Quote:
Originally Posted by simi-steading
Wolly worms turn into big Tiger Moths... Always wondered why I see more worms than moths..
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Because, although the larvae are toxic and don't get eaten, the moths are not toxic (no toxic hairs), so the moths do get eaten by other things.
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04/22/14, 03:34 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: West By God Virginnie
Posts: 10,742
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Huh.. that makes sense..
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Never let your fear decide your fate!
Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit
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