Saturday afternoon, I took my doggie on a walk like always, in the same field and woods that we always go to. He did his business and was happy, and we went home. When I got to my stairs, I noticed a little fuzzy thing on the edge of my sleeve, thought nothing of it, brushed it off and went inside. About two minutes later, I noticed two welts on my inner forearm right below where my sleeve ended. Assumed it was mosquito bites, since I am a mosquito magnet.
Within about 10 minutes, my entire forearm was bright red, really hot, and throbbing. Went to work anyway, though somewhat worried. Soon, the heat and pain was going all the way up my arm, into my armpit, and making my chest hurt. Like really, really hurt. My head was pounding, and I had hot and cold flashes to boot. I got to leave work somewhat early since it was slow, and felt hungry, so I ate a bowl of soup. I got home and promptly hurled up the soup and decided I was going to die. The redness on my arm had gotten smaller, but there were two red marks that were kind of..........oozy. I assumed I had been bitten by a spider, but the little fuzzy thing on my sleeve certainly didn't look like any spider I had ever seen. I was at a loss. Woke up today feeling tired and drained, but not too bad, and my arm was just slightly tender.
I happened to mention this to some regulars at work tonight and they said I had been stung by an Asp. I always thought an Asp was a snake, but after some digging on the internet, I found this charming article:
"The moth Megalopyge opercularis has numerous common names, including the Southern Flannel Moth,
Pussy Moth (I hope Jena laughs at this), Puss Caterpillar, Bolivia bug, and Asp Caterpillar. The inch long
larva is coated in long, luxurious hair-like setae, making it resemble a tiny Persian cat, the characteristic
that presumably give it the name "Puss".
The adult moth is also very bizarre in appearance, covered in long fur in colors ranging from dull orange
to lemon yellow, with hairy legs and fuzzy black feet. Ironically, the resemblance of the larvae to soft,
colorful cotton balls encourages people to pick them up and pet them.
The "fur" of the larva contains VENOMOUS SPINES that cause extremely painful reactions in human skin
upon contact. The reactions are sometimes localized to the affected area, but are often very severe,
radiating up a limb and causing burning, swelling, nausea, headache, abdominal distress, rashes, blisters,
chest pain, numbness, and difficulty breathing. Additionally, it is not unusual to find sweating at the site
of the sting".
So yeah, that sucked. Thankfully my wonderful boy brought me some Benadryl gel and that really helped me feel better. He also put up with me being all wonky, I swear I love him more and more every day
Who would have thought a little ol' caterpillar could cause so much drama
Within about 10 minutes, my entire forearm was bright red, really hot, and throbbing. Went to work anyway, though somewhat worried. Soon, the heat and pain was going all the way up my arm, into my armpit, and making my chest hurt. Like really, really hurt. My head was pounding, and I had hot and cold flashes to boot. I got to leave work somewhat early since it was slow, and felt hungry, so I ate a bowl of soup. I got home and promptly hurled up the soup and decided I was going to die. The redness on my arm had gotten smaller, but there were two red marks that were kind of..........oozy. I assumed I had been bitten by a spider, but the little fuzzy thing on my sleeve certainly didn't look like any spider I had ever seen. I was at a loss. Woke up today feeling tired and drained, but not too bad, and my arm was just slightly tender.
I happened to mention this to some regulars at work tonight and they said I had been stung by an Asp. I always thought an Asp was a snake, but after some digging on the internet, I found this charming article:
"The moth Megalopyge opercularis has numerous common names, including the Southern Flannel Moth,
Pussy Moth (I hope Jena laughs at this), Puss Caterpillar, Bolivia bug, and Asp Caterpillar. The inch long
larva is coated in long, luxurious hair-like setae, making it resemble a tiny Persian cat, the characteristic
that presumably give it the name "Puss".
The adult moth is also very bizarre in appearance, covered in long fur in colors ranging from dull orange
to lemon yellow, with hairy legs and fuzzy black feet. Ironically, the resemblance of the larvae to soft,
colorful cotton balls encourages people to pick them up and pet them.
The "fur" of the larva contains VENOMOUS SPINES that cause extremely painful reactions in human skin
upon contact. The reactions are sometimes localized to the affected area, but are often very severe,
radiating up a limb and causing burning, swelling, nausea, headache, abdominal distress, rashes, blisters,
chest pain, numbness, and difficulty breathing. Additionally, it is not unusual to find sweating at the site
of the sting".
So yeah, that sucked. Thankfully my wonderful boy brought me some Benadryl gel and that really helped me feel better. He also put up with me being all wonky, I swear I love him more and more every day
Who would have thought a little ol' caterpillar could cause so much drama
VIEW 12 of 12 COMMENTS
kiss my asp! ... poor baby... i thought an asp was an egyptian snake... weird.