The Honorable Wooly Worm.... no, it's not what you think!

On Sunday, I sat for an hour next to the Hocking River Bikeway and maintained communications for the charity event "Run Like Hell" 5K for CF.

While sitting, I saw a brown and black wooly worm catapilar crawling across the pavement toward me, and hoped that he wouldn't get squished by the runners. I lost track of him.

An hour later, while sitting on the couch with my laptop, I felt something stinging around my left knee. I swatted at it, thinking it was an ant or something, and it kept up. I whipped off my long pants and turned them inside out, looking for an insect. I found a mat of short black hairs. as I shook them out, I fliped the pants about, and then saw a brown and black wooly worm on the couch where he hadn't been a moment or two before. (I assume I shook him out of my pants.):eyepop:

A number of red dots clustered around my knee. I went to the bathroom and showered off my leg with soap, and then coated the knee with some skin lotion and forgot about it. Later that evening, My knee itched, and each of the red dots were raised slightly. I showered again, and put some anti-itch first aide cream on the area.:jaw:

The next day, the dots are all larger, puffy and itch more. Another coating of anti-itch cream.
Showered twice that day and reapplied the cream.

The second day, the dots are combining and starting to look like a large welt. The dots looks like they want to pop some clear fluid, but I resist the urge to itch or pick. Another shower, another coating of anti-itch cream, and then I took an allergy tablet for the anti-histimine, and the wife says it'll put me to sleep...that I should have done it the night before.

Now, I'm getting worried that I've got a real allergy reaction going. In 26 years in SE Ohio, I have never had one "bite" me, nor ever get up on my skin. I've flicked them off with a finger snap, but no other contact.

Has anyone been through this before? How long does it last? What can I do? Or am I destined for a trip to the ER or a doctor's office? For what? A steroid shot?

Kirk G said:

I found a mat of short black hairs. as I shook them out, I fliped the pants about, and then saw a brown and black wooly worm on the couch where he hadn't been a moment or two before. (I assume I shook him out of my pants.):eyepop:

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This is a family forum --- keep your wooly worm in your pants!

I'd use some topical Benadryl Gel and follow that up with topical Cortisone cream. If it doesn't get better soon, see a doctor. My Mom is sensitive to insect bites, and she gets nasty infections from some of the most minor bites. They often start off like what you described, with red bumps growing to watery blisters, and then infection.

Some thanks you get for being concerned about the safety of this ungrateful worm! Thankfully he didn't crawl even further up you pants...

Sounds like a local reaction, too me. It should get better with time. Try an ice pack and see if it helps the swelling go down. You mentioned that it itches, is there any heat where it is swollen? Pain?

If the swelling gets bigger and it gets hot and painful go see a Doctor.

Now, take a few aspirins and if gets worse call me and make an appointment.

And I was thinking that you should use vinegar, or urine stop it from stinging...

You put the lime in the coconut........

K'Tesh said:

And I was thinking that you should use vinegar, or urine stop it from stinging...

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I'm pretty sure that whole peeing on a sting thing is just a practical joke... but it really couldn't hurt to give it a try...

Who lives near Kirk and has to go?

I didn't know that they stung. Cute little buggers. We have tons of them in Iowa. Looked them up on the internets. Did you know they overwinter and freeze solid? They have a form of antifreeze in their bodies. The humble wooly bear!

Sorry you are in pain!


Launching rockets (or missiles in my case) is so easy a chimp could do it. Read a step, do a step, eat a banana.

Sent from my iPad Air using Rocketry Forum.

Went to the pharmacy and asked what they'd recommend. They suggested some Hydrocortosone cream (1%) but an off-duty pharmacist suggested some Benadryl spray (much like the old Bactine spray pump) and it's helped a great deal. But four days down the line, there's still a lot of bumps and they don't seem to be going away...

Pee has ammonia, After Bite is ammonia, pee works, but windex smells a lot better.



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I'm glad you posted this, because about two Weeks ago, I got a Rash on the back of my Right Leg that sounds exactly like what you described.
I had been wearing Shorts that day, and while out walking my Cat, had gone through a section of tall Grass.
The Wooly Bugger Caterpillers have been out in Force this Year, but I had not given any thought to the Idea that they may have been the cause.
I dosed up on Vitamin B-Complex, and Benedryl, and that brought it under control, but the sensitivity and irritation lasted for a few Days.
I was concerned that I had avoided a Case of Shingles or something sinister, but now I'm confident that I too was afflicted by the Caterpillar.
I see them all of the time out crossing the Road, and usually use a Leaf to scoop them up and get them safely across, as I remembered in the back of my Head somewhere that there Bristles/Hairs can cause irritation, but when I got the Bumps/Blisters on the back of my Knee, I did'nt think that it may have been the Case that I had rubbed up against one.

A few years back my grandson picked one up. His hand was ok, but developed a rash on his wrist, and soon had blisters. My son called the doc, the doc recommended calamine lotion. He said that will dry up the blisters as well as protect from infection. It worked, took awhile to totally clear up. I guess the hairs of the caterpiller break off in the skin and act like a sliver would if you don't remove it. The best thing to do is leave the area alone, no scratching rubbing etc. I can see were swatting one on your skin could make for a worse case rather than having one just roaming around on you.

Kirk G said:

Went to the pharmacy and asked what they'd recommend. They suggested some Hydrocortosone cream (1%) but an off-duty pharmacist suggested some Benadryl spray (much like the old Bactine spray pump) and it's helped a great deal. But four days down the line, there's still a lot of bumps and they don't seem to be going away...

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Now, is this not almost exactly what I recommended? Cortisone and Benadryl? This time, the medical advice is free, but next time, I'm going to have to bill you.

Google puss catepillar

https://www.rightdiagnosis.com/p/puss_caterpillar_poisoning/intro.htm


Richard

More than two weeks before the damn blisters and raise welts finally stopped reacting and have settled down to look healed... Sheesh, who would have thought.

Given the amount of itching and re-inflaming, I suspect I would have been better popping those blisters and wiping away any remnant of the whiskers or bristles that were still imbedded or floating in that fluid. I think until that happened, it just kept reacting until each one broke and washed the "quill" away...

Lol sounds like you got introduced to an Asp. Those cute fury little worms will sting the hell out of ya. That is the poison working on you - not an allergic reaction. They will leave some really nice blistering welps on ya for sure. I use moist baking soda on the bite to pull out the poison. Adolph"s meat tenderizer is the best to use. The poison is acidic. your lucky.......some people wind up in a hospital from Asp stings.

According to Wikipedia, looks like we have them in MD near where MDRA launches. Yikes!