The puss caterpillar is cute , cuddly , and coming to ruin your daylight .
USA Todayreportsthat the highly vicious fauna , also cognise as the southern flannel moth caterpillar , or asp , has of late been spotted in Florida , Texas , and South Carolina . Underneath its furry coating are tiny , potent spinal column that break off and bind themselves to your skin , do excruciating pain and creating ahematoma , a contusion - like wound under your skin where lineage has leak from rip vessel .
According to University of Connecticut bug-hunter David Wagner , the cat is life-threatening partly because the sting of those spines becomes more painful over prison term . “ It builds for a long time in a frightening way . No one expect stings to reach in impact or discomfort , and these will , ” he toldUSA Today . “ It packs quite a impact . ”
For one dupe in Dade City , Florida , even medically administered morphine did n’t alleviate her suffering . “ It matte up like someone was drilling into my bone , ” she wrote in a Facebookpost . “ I cried and pleaded with God for hours to make it stop . ”
If one does go on to inch its way onto you , control the inherent aptitude to flail about or swat at random — trying to sweep off the lovely incubus just increase the opening of those menacing spines sticking to your pelt . Instead , have someone carefully and calmly remove theinsectwith a twig or a 39 - and - a - half - foot pole . Then , take a exhibitioner and lave your clothes to minimize further exposure to leftover spines .
As traumatizing as the experience sounds , your luck of meeting one of these fun - sized villains are hearteningly slender . Wagner explains that they ’re particularly scarce above the Mason - Dixon line , and not even very common in southerly state , where they ’re usually spotted .
In short , this is just another scientific reason why you should stay put topetting dogs .
[ h / tUSA Today ]
