A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

So I'm out doing some shrub trimming in our mess of a tropical paradise here in Thailand. Now mosquito bites are a given most times of the year and you learn to live with a few annoyances when doing yard work. The only thing I really look out for in the danger category are centipedes which can pack a real wallop and may even put you in the hospital if you react badly.

Finished up my trimming and head inside. Hot as hell yesterday so when I got inside my stomach and chest felt a bit itchy. I attributed this to the heat and perhaps some stray pollen getting in my shirt. I took off the shirt and a tiny 1/4 inch wooly caterpillar, red, black and yellow, tumbled into the floor. After dispatching him went to shower. Now a slight rash and itching getting worse so off to the internet to diagnose my condition.

Turns out, there is a condition called wooly caterpillar dermatitis caused by toxins in the tiny hairs or spines, presumably to protect the little buggers from predators. 10 hors later, the rash has grown to encompass my entire stomach and is the worse itching I've ever had in my life. Calamine lotion seems to be ineffective as is cheap hydrocortisone cream. I'm hoping this subsides over the next 24 hours. The dangers of doing your own yard work..jeesh !

Wooly Caterpillar Dermatitis huh? That does not sound good at all. I hope it clears up soon. Back in about 2004 I was clearing some fence line on the farm and got into some poison oak. I had not had it since I was a kid. Calamine lotion just served to spread it. It got so bad my arm was swollen up ande I could not go to work. I went to the doctor twice for steroid shots. Finally one day I woke up and decided I needed to get in the ocean. So, I went to the beach and got in. I stayed there for hours soaking in the salt water. That was that, it dried up and went away.

tonebender wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 5:15 pm Wooly Caterpillar Dermatitis huh? That does not sound good at all. I hope it clears up soon. Back in about 2004 I was clearing some fence line on the farm and got into some poison oak. I had not had it since I was a kid. Calamine lotion just served to spread it. It got so bad my arm was swollen up ande I could not go to work. I went to the doctor twice for steroid shots. Finally one day I woke up and decided I needed to get in the ocean. So, I went to the beach and got in. I stayed there for hours soaking in the salt water. That was that, it dried up and went away.

Supposedly baking soda paste is supposed to offer some relief. Later to the supermarket to buy some

I thought you could only get that from toilet seats.
Had it bad all around my neck, once.

Get well, soon , Tonray.

Partscaster wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 6:37 pm I thought you could only get that from toilet seats.
Had it bad all around my neck, once.

Get well, soon , Tonray.

Thanks...nasty stuff. I think the initial reaction was mild and now my body has broke out in hives making it worse. Pretty much ony around my navel at first which is where the little bugger was hiding..but now my entire stomach and sides of chest has welts. Maybe some non drowsy antiistamime might be a thing to try later. I'm done with garden maintenance for a long while....ha ha ha ha

Maybe it's time to think about a trip to the doctor?

There are hundreds of them.


https://extension.umaine.edu/home-and-g ... 20venomous).

tlarson58 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 7:12 pm Maybe it's time to think about a trip to the doctor?

Only likely to give me antihistamines, I can buy at pharmacy

We have these white caterpillars with black spikes, sound exactly like the reaction you get from them. Sodium bicarbonate paste, antihistamines, etc, appears to be the same solutions.

mozz wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 8:19 pm We have these white caterpillars with black spikes, sound exactly like the reaction you get from them. Sodium bicarbonate paste, antihistamines, etc, appears to be the same solutions.

Yes...I have determined these are part of the same family known as Tussock caterpillars. I just soaked the whole shrub in Chaindrite spray....that should kill all the buggers (and perhaps the shrub itself) and in a few days just to be sure, I'm removing the entire shrub...can't have something that attracts these buggers in the yard

Forget caterpillars, they are a bummer.
Millipedes are where it is at now.

Tonray's G - Get well soon .

bc rich wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 9:59 pm Forget caterpillars, they are a bummer.
Millipedes are where it is at now.

We have them too ! (Not the lemurs...the huge millipedes) Bu the creepy centipedes are the real bastards...a bite can disable you for a day or 2. I never turn over anything in the garden without gloves...and now after these caterpillars I'm wearing a HAZMAT suit before venturing out !

Rash Update:

BAsically whatever the trigger was (caterpillar toxins) it triggered a full on immune response by my body and I have hives all over stomach and running up my sides. Itches like if one had fallen into a poison ivy patch. I tried to get some generic Allegra at the supermarket pharmacy but by the time I got there the pharmacist had gone for the day and all they could sell me was skin moisturizer. Will go to a larger standalone pharmacy today and pick some up. Aloe, baking soda, Calamine, etc...have had no effect so need to get some antihistamines to knock it back.

As soon as I am back to snuff, all leaf bearing trees and shrubs in the garden are history, going to replace all with a nice line of evergreen arborvitae that do fairly well here and look quite stately, and the bonus is, nearly maintenance free. Moths be damned !

Ok got some generic Allegra..hope it does the trick