Florida hit by tiny new threat: ‘Morphine didn’t even touch the pain’
Floridians face yet another threat as a tiny caterpillar roaming their backyards could cause excruciating pain.
Pussy caterpillars are the most venomous caterpillars in the Sunshine State, but they look like a tuft of cat hair.
Floridian, Joel Mathis, found one of the creatures climbing his white picket fence after Hurricane Milton wreaked havoc in the southern state.
“Be very careful when clearing away any debris and/or hand tools left in the backyard,” he wrote Click on Orlando.
Bri Oteri recalls being stung by a cat caterpillar in 2019 while attending her son’s sports practice.
“The morphine didn’t even touch the pain,” she told Click Orlando at the time. ‘Suddenly I couldn’t breathe. I thought I was going to pass out – and then the pain came. In my chest, throughout my right arm, radiating from my wrist to my entire shoulder.
Puss caterpillars are the most poisonous caterpillars in the Sunshine State, but they look like a piece of cat hair
Their fur-like appearance is actually full of stiff hairs that, when injected into the body, fill with poison, causing the victim to feel severe pain. The creatures are difficult to recognize because they are usually only 1.2 to 1.4 centimeters long (photo: caterpillar on a stick)
‘The pain was so unbearable. I cried hysterically in the hospital and begged the doctors and nurses to help me.’
Although the little insect looks fluffy and harmless, it is anything but.
Their fur-like body is actually full of stiff hairs that, when injected into the body, fill with poison, causing the victim to feel severe pain.
And the creatures can be difficult to spot because they are typically only 1.2 to 1.4 centimeters long, according to the researchers. BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont (BCBS).
Biologist, Chris Gillettesaid the insects typically have “dull brown” fur.
“It doesn’t seem like much,” he said. “Keep an eye on these guys, especially after the hurricane when you’re cleaning things up.”
BCBS says severe pain, swelling, restlessness, nausea and vomiting, fever, muscle cramps, swollen glands and shock symptoms are signs that someone may have been stung by a cat caterpillar.
“If you come into contact with a pussycat caterpillar, remove the broken spines with cellophane tape or a commercially available facial peel and call your doctor,” the health care organization advised.