SMALL PETS

Mom sees kids with little “fur ball” at the park – looks closer and immediately realizes grave danger

Over the millennia, humans have developed reflexes and have also learned to avoid certain animals and other living beings.

While most animals are completely harmless to humans, caution is advised when outdoors.

Up to this point it had been a typical day with the children, but then he saw a strange, furry, spherical creature. This is what mother Leslie Howe did while she was in a small park with her family.


In 2014, Georgia mother Leslie noticed a strange object near her children at the neighborhood playground.It had been a typical day with the kids until Leslie saw a strange, furry, spherical creature.
The mother let her instincts carry her away. And in the end it would turn out to be the right choice. “It feels like a wasp sting, but worse.”
When the “fur ball” caught Leslie’s attention, she was in a park in Gwinnett County, Georgia, with her baby and two other small children. She felt the need to avoid him, despite his modest size and initially innocent appearance.

Although this story was first published several years ago, it continues to appear on the Internet to alert all American parents to the threat.

Since then, Leslie had hoped that sharing her experience might warn others to avoid the suspicious hairball, which was actually a larva of Megalopyge opercularis, also known as the cat caterpillar.

The name may refer to how similar the caterpillar’s velvety fur is to that of a cat. The insect can inject poison, but its appearance makes it appear harmless. The hair covers the poisonous bristles underneath.
Most of the United States is home to these larvae, which can grow to about 1 inch long. NPR said they “enjoy the vegetation in the states between New Jersey and Florida and as far west as Texas.”


The bite of a cat caterpillar is extremely painful, so you should definitely avoid touching it. If you do that, they might stay with you and inject you with their poison.

“It feels like a wasp sting, but worse.”The pain is immediate and worsens after the creature attaches itself, and can even result in bone pain. The severity of your stuckness depends on where you are stuck and how many spots have dug into your skin. People who had the pain spread to their hands reported feeling the pain up to their shoulders and lasting up to 12 hours,” anthropologist Don Hall told National Geographic, according to Expressen.



The bite of a cat caterpillar certainly injured Eric Day, head of Virginia Tech’s insect identification laboratory. The strange caterpillar stung him while he was mowing the grass at his country home in Virginia.

“The burning went away after about a day, but the blister and irritated area were visible for several weeks afterward,” he recalled.

If you are bitten by this caterpillar, you should wash the area carefully with soap and water and then remove the deadly hairs with tape. If the bite site begins to itch, the National Capital Poison Center recommends applying baking soda or hydrocortisone ointment to the area. If it worsens, seek medical help.

Cat caterpillars are rarely fatal, but the bite can cause anaphylaxis, which can be life-threatening.