Little white and black caterpillars all over are POISONOUS

[matese]

At Cody's obedience session last week, I mentioned him being from New York city, country life is all new and exciting to him and he gets distracted easily , my concern was he has eaten an insect or two before I could get to him to RIP it out of his mouth. His trainer told me to be careful of the white caterpillar that has a black stripe down it's back, which I have many of in my back yard. I usually pick them up and place them deep in the woods out side my fenced in yard. She showed me the pic of it that she keeps on her cell phone so she can show her clients what to be aware of. I wanted to give the YT family a heads up about this but didn't know the name of the caterpillar, so off I went to google "Poisonous To Canine Caterpillars". I found a Snopes "true or false"
Below is what I found...... Although it mentions nothing about dogs, just humans, I would think it would be dangerous to our precious furbutts.

Little white and black caterpillars all over are POISONOUS. they are apparently new to the area..... doctors say there has been numerous kids having reactions to them. the rash spreads fast. the caterpillars have long white hairs that embed in skin and send poison through out the body. DO NOT TOUCH and DO NOT LET YOUR KIDS TOUCH!!! they look cute and fuzzy and THEY ARE NOT! Please repost to everyone you know with little kids!!
Read more at snopes.com: Poisonous Black and White Caterpillar
Origins: In August 2011 the warning quoted above began circulating in e-mail and via social networking sites such as Facebook. The caterpillar being decried is the White Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillar, which is native in Canada from Nova Scotia to Ontario and in the U.S. from the northeast to the south central part of the country. It appears between June and September and munches its way through the leaves of deciduous trees (it prefers nut-bearing trees, but will settle for willow, ash, aspen, apple, oak, and even raspberry plants and corn stalks). While it does make rather a feast of the leaves it dines on, it does not tend to cause lasting damage to the trees themselves.

The caterpillar excretes a type of chemical defense upon contact. Most people who handle these critters will experience a burning, nettle-type, itchy rash of mild to moderate severity. Washing the affected area with soap and water, then applying ammonia or calamine lotion, followed by icing the area should set things to rights. However, some folks are hypersensitive to the poison and have allergic reactions to same. In addition to the itchy rash, they are likely to experience more severe symptoms such as swelling and nausea. Those individuals should seek expert medical advice as soon as possible:
The hairs on the caterpillar are long and bristle-like and spread out in tufts down the sides. Two long, sharp, black pencil-like hairs protrude near the front and rear of the creature, and these hairs are connected to poison glands, which excrete venom on contact.

Contact with the venom does not generally cause too much of a problem. A nettle or poison ivy-type rash often occurs, which can range from mild with slight reddening of the skin, to burning, swelling and pain, none of which should keep you away from your gardening duties for too long. Hypersensitive individuals may, of course, experience more severe symptoms that could include swelling and nausea. Washing the infected area with soap and water, taking antihistamines, or using ammonia, calamine lotion, or an ice pack can help to alleviate most minor symptoms fairly quickly. People who do experience more severe reactions, however, should seek expert medical advice as soon as possible.

[gemy]

Thanks for letting us know! I actually have seen this caterpillar a time or two, but thankfully not my pups. I will be more alert now to it though.


Luckily we have no nut trees on our property, nor in the parks we tend to roam.


But forewarned is forearmed!

[Doodlebug]

I have not seen them around here but thanks for the warning.

[Yorkiemom1]

.......Oh GREAT!!! Snakes,scorpions, spiders, toads, wasps, bees, catapillars, snails, and a 6 page list of plants/seeds/mushrooms that are poisonous! But thanks for the heads up!!

[matese]

Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1

.......Oh GREAT!!! Snakes,scorpions, spiders, toads, wasps, bees, catapillars, snails, and a 6 page list of plants/seeds/mushrooms that are poisonous! But thanks for the heads up!!

lol,agree, For yearssss in the summer I gave my two girls peeled biggg seedless grapes, about 2 every night cut in half until we ate all the grapes. my older girl had to be put down in 2005 at age 13 y/o, my Matese had to be put down Oct.1, 2013 one year ago at age 17 y/o.
months before loosing Matese I was reading a web-site, fruits or vegs not to feed your dog, grapes was on that list, I near fainted when I read that, here all these years I was feeding them what I thought was good food. I was devastated, I picked up my lil girl and hugged and kissed her, thanked god for saving my babies from my ignorance, if those dogs had died from those grapes, honestly, I don't know if I would be sitting here today writing this. Raw potatoes was another thing I would give them, good thing I HATE to cook so they didn't get much potatoe, that also was on the list, cooked is ok, raw is not. After reading that site I gave my girl nothing from the table, after reading about lil Piper got sick and almost died from some table food, lil boy gets nothing unless it is labeled for dogs. Now all the out door things, frogs, although we have no poisonous ones, I have always patrolled my yard and removed them, my cousins mini Poodle choked to death when she swallowed one years ago. Having my babies outdoors use to be such a joy, now it's such a danger, and this lil guy is like no other yorkie I ever had, eating insects . I have lots of those caterpillars in my yard, they will not be saved and taken deep into the woods, they will be squashed, another thing to patrol for, thank G no scorpions, well that's this year, who knows what next year will bring. Just thought I would share what I just learned, so many unknown dangers lay in wait in our back yards.

[Yorkiemom1]

Originally Posted by matese

lol,agree, For yearssss in the summer I gave my two girls peeled biggg seedless grapes, about 2 every night cut in half until we ate all the grapes. my older girl had to be put down in 2005 at age 13 y/o, my Matese had to be put down Oct.1, 2013 one year ago at age 17 y/o.
months before loosing Matese I was reading a web-site, fruits or vegs not to feed your dog, grapes was on that list, I near fainted when I read that, here all these years I was feeding them what I thought was good food. I was devastated, I picked up my lil girl and hugged and kissed her, thanked god for saving my babies from my ignorance, if those dogs had died from those grapes, honestly, I don't know if I would be sitting here today writing this. Raw potatoes was another thing I would give them, good thing I HATE to cook so they didn't get much potatoe, that also was on the list, cooked is ok, raw is not. After reading that site I gave my girl nothing from the table, after reading about lil Piper got sick and almost died from some table food, lil boy gets nothing unless it is labeled for dogs. Now all the out door things, frogs, although we have no poisonous ones, I have always patrolled my yard and removed them, my cousins mini Poodle choked to death when she swallowed one years ago. Having my babies outdoors use to be such a joy, now it's such a danger, and this lil guy is like no other yorkie I ever had, eating insects . I have lots of those caterpillars in my yard, they will not be saved and taken deep into the woods, they will be squashed, another thing to patrol for, thank G no scorpions, well that's this year, who knows what next year will bring. Just thought I would share what I just learned, so many unknown dangers lay in wait in our back yards.

You know, over the years the list keeps growing and growing....like you, for YEARS, I shared grapes with my dogs, raisons too....they loved onion rings and love to eat tuna fish salad, which has onions chopped up in it.....and I had a Yorkie years ago that had hypoglycemia issues, so at night, at bedtime, after her dinner, she got a treat of a Hershey Kiss!!! I fed these spoiled babies from my plate for yeqars....and I use garlic in spaghetti sauce, as well as anything with ground meat in it! Through divine intervention, I have never had a dog get sick from any of these!!! My babies have all lived to at least 12 years old...even the "poorly bred" Yorkies that I first bought because I did not know better. Cant help but wonder if all that stuff is as bad as they claim.... So PTL, I have been very fortunate with treats my babies have been given! and I no longer push my luck and give any "forbidden fruits or treats"!!

[matese]

Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1

You know, over the years the list keeps growing and growing....like you, for YEARS, I shared grapes with my dogs, raisons too....they loved onion rings and love to eat tuna fish salad, which has onions chopped up in it.....and I had a Yorkie years ago that had hypoglycemia issues, so at night, at bedtime, after her dinner, she got a treat of a Hershey Kiss!!! I fed these spoiled babies from my plate for yeqars....and I use garlic in spaghetti sauce, as well as anything with ground meat in it! Through divine intervention, I have never had a dog get sick from any of these!!! My babies have all lived to at least 12 years old...even the "poorly bred" Yorkies that I first bought because I did not know better. Cant help but wonder if all that stuff is as bad as they claim.... So PTL, I have been very fortunate with treats my babies have been given! and I no longer push my luck and give any "forbidden fruits or treats"!!

Judy, all I can say is, the man upstairs was looking down at us, he knew how much we adored our babies and would do nothing to put them in harms way. He knew we were ignorant and was doing what we thought were good things for our furbabies, this I firmly believe. I by no means am a religious person. Looking back over the last several years what should have killed my pups, what should have killed myself, yet did not, I have to believe there is a great power looking over me and my babies. I got Cody last Nov. the 12th to be exact, the weather was still fair, I had him about 5 days, running free in a yard was all new to him, he loved it, hunting was new to him, investigating all new smells and moving things. I was about 10 feet away from him, I saw him sniffing intensely, as I started to walk towards him he grabbed what ever it was in his mouth, I ripped his mouth open and a GIANT yellow jacket bee fell out, how did this dog not get stung? I had put down my beloved lil 17 y/o girl 6 weeks earlier, I thought I could / would never recover her loss, then Cody became part of my life, the love I had in 5 days for him was over whelming, if I had lost him I know I would not be able to handle the death of 2 dogs and my son in 7 weeks, I know there is someone watching over me and my baby, and watching over you as well. We are careful responsible furbaby owners, and the man upstairs knows this. How did Cody not get stung by that bee?

[TiffanyandTeddy]

Thank you so much for sharing!