Dangerous Caterpillars

[boatman]

As the title says there are these things now in the garden an on trees if they touch you they highly toxic so gardeners be on your guard an they are a sort of grey with wite hairs on them so be carefull all when gardening
chrisb

[Waspie]

T

AS THE title says there are these things now in the garden an on trees if they touch you they highy toxic so gardners be on your gaurd an they are a sort of grey with wite hairs on them so be carfull all when gardening
chrisb

These things? We had an infestation at a previous address we lived at!!! Horrid things!

[Tim Marlow]

It’s these isn’t it Chris? Oak processional caterpillars.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-22448909

[boatman]

It’s these isn’t it Chris? Oak processional caterpillars.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-22448909

YES Tim just thought id give all our gardeners a heads up to take care as i wont see them hopefully as i dont do gardening but jen does an i was worryied about all you guys so take care an be carefull
chrisb

[Guest]

Good thing to mention it Chris, even better to know now as it will appear in late June / July .

[Guest]

T

These things? We had an infestation at a previous address we lived at!!! Horrid things![ATTACH=CONFIG]n1199554[/ATTACH]

Hard to identify Doug from the photo, could easily be mistaken for a number of hairy types. Unfortunately there are approx 2600 varieties in the UK !

[Waspie]

Hard to identify Doug from the photo, could easily be mistaken for a number of hairy types. Unfortunately there are approx 2600 varieties in the UK !

I have to resize the image to enable it to be loaded onto the site. I guess that reduces the clarity!!
Only way I found to eradicate the critters was to cut out the 'nest' if that's the right word for a gathering of creepy crawlies!!

[Geoffers]

I think it I had a army of these in one of my hazel trees in the garden last summer.
They stripped a couple of the branches bare which is why I first noticed them.
I just left them to it and kept my distance after reading about them and how they can be harmful.

Geoff.

[Ian M]

Your neighbours will think you are nuts but a good way of dealing with caterpillar infestations is to get the vacuum cleaner out. Just suck the little buggers up. If the vacuum has a bag, burn it in the garden. If you have a workshop vacuum, tip it out and, yep burn them.

[Tim Marlow]

Trouble with all this is that if you want butterflies and moths, you gotta have caterpillars. The vast majority of caterpillars are pretty benign really, so don’t go destroying them all wholesale. If you do the impact is felt all the way up the food chain, with things like bats being adversely affected.

[Geoffers]

Trouble with all this is that if you want butterflies and moths, you gotta have caterpillars. The vast majority of caterpillars are pretty benign really, so don’t go destroying them all wholesale. If you do the impact is felt all the way up the food chain, with things like bats being adversely affected.

Which is why I left the ones in my garden alone.
I actually enjoyed watching their behaviour moving en mass from one eaten branch to another.
If I had younger kids/grandkids going in the garden I would have been more cautious but as it’s just me I wasn’t worried.

Geoff.

[Ian M]

Agree whole heartedly for the most. There are however some of those little buggers that totally take trees and bushes over and destroy them in swaths. I like butterflies and moths, what they do and how they look. But a pest is a pest.

If I had younger kids/grandkids going in the garden I would have been more cautious but as it’s just me I wasn’t worried.

Do you have a dog or a cat? they are much harder to get to understand that they should not touch those ones there....

[AlanG]

Agree whole heartedly for the most. There are however some of those little buggers that totally take trees and [COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]buses[/COLOR] over and destroy them in swaths

They must be right hardy blighters to take over a bus. I'd stay well clear

[tigersteve]

We encountered the Pine Processionary Caterpillars in France when living there. They are heading north! Look out for the nests - they come down the tree in a long line looking for a soft area to move into, mole hills are a favourite, they stay there for up to 2 years I think before becoming moths. They kill trees they live in and a very dangerous to children and animals , they have been known to kill dogs when their hairs get into their mouths. I was trying to clear molehills and got very painful blisters from them ( before I understood the problem! ) We found a line of them in the courtyard and asked the French farmer next door how to destroy them - " Burn them where they are ........"

[boatman]

They must be right hardy blighters to take over a bus. I'd stay well clear :smiling3:

ALan put your glasses on Ian said bushes not buses lol
chrisb