Some cool animal pound images:
Saddleback caterpillar -- A bee sting times a hundred !! ... 'It's like somebody lit you on fire': First pythons, giant rats, and crocodiles - and now poisonous CATERPILLARS are the scourge of Florida (12 April 2012) ...
Image by marsmet471
Dr Jeffrey Bernstein, medical director of the Florida Poison Information Center in Miami, told the Sun-Sentinel newspaper that although the center has not seen any deaths from caterpillar stings, they have gotten hundreds of calls for help with people 'out-of-control hysterical.'
'It's a very painful sting,' Dr Bernstein told the newspaper. 'We even see people pass out from the pain.'
.
.............................
marsmet526 ... Havoc in the Glades .. A 16.4-foot python was captured this month (30th January 2012)
www.flickr.com/photos/75468116@N04/6783667539/in/photostream
.............................
.
........***** All images are copyrighted by their respective authors .........
.
...................................................................................................................................................................................
.
.....item 1)... Mail Online ... Daily Mail ... www.dailymail.co.uk/news ... 'It's like somebody lit you on fire': First pythons, giant rats, and crocodiles - and now poisonous CATERPILLARS are the scourge of Florida
Warming weather a boon for four kinds of poison projecting caterpillars
By CHRISTINE SHOW
PUBLISHED: 09:30 EST, 12 April 2012 | UPDATED: 13:39 EST, 12 April 2012
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2128744/Its-like-somebod...
Poisonous caterpillars are the latest species to become a dangerous threat to make its way to Florida.
There are four types of venomous caterpillars that use their spines to attack by projecting poison at potential enemies.
Of all the unusual species to call south Florida home - from African rats to burmese pythons - these types of caterpillars can cause the worst anguish.
.
..........................................
img code photo ... io caterpillar
i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/12/article-2128744-1290FC...
'Out-of-control hysterical': The io caterpillar is one of four types of venomous caterpillars to release toxins with the slightest touch that can cause people to pass out from pain
Radius Images
..........................................
.
..........................................
img code photo ... Saddleback caterpillar
i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/12/article-2128744-1290FC...
'On fire': A saddleback caterpillar (pictured) has been known to bring the worst pain of the four kinds of stinging caterpillars in Florida that is like having a 'bee sting times a hundred'
Corbis
..........................................
.
.
Dr Jeffrey Bernstein, medical director of the Florida Poison Information Center in Miami, told the Sun-Sentinel newspaper that although the center has not seen any deaths from caterpillar stings, they have gotten hundreds of calls for help with people 'out-of-control hysterical.'
'It's a very painful sting,' Dr Bernstein told the newspaper. 'We even see people pass out from the pain.'
More...
...Two men arrested for killing more than 500 sharks after they cut off their fins and dumped them back in the water
...Checking in? 6-ft alligator surprises guests outside Baton Rouge motel just before biting into one
The four types of caterpillars with the awful venom include the saddleback caterpillar, the puss caterpillar, the io caterpillar and the hag caterpillar.
When they attack humans, the venom can be unbearable, particularly if the saddleback releases its poison.
South Florida resident Michael Stanwyck told the Sun-Sentinel: It's like somebody lit you on fire.'
He went on to say: 'A bee sting times a hundred.'
.
....................................
.
THE FOUR TYPES OF POISONOUS CATERPILLARS IN FLORIDA
There are four types of poisonous caterpillars living in Florida and stinging humans:
Io caterpillar
...The io caterpillar, which turns into a colorful moth at full maturity, releases venom when it encounters the slightest touch, or threat.
...Saddleback caterpillar
The saddleback caterpillar have been known to be the most painful as their poison can feel like 'a bee sting times a hundred.' They have 'horns' on each end of their body and their stings can cause swelling and nausea.
...Hag caterpillar
The hag caterpillar, which is light to brown in color, is not as common as the other types with their hairs being used to sting.
...Puss caterpillar
The puss caterpillar have stiff spines with poison glands under their soft hair that break off onto humans' skin causing great pain when they are touched.
.
....................................
.
The species is most threatening around this time of year in Florida as the weather starts to get warmer.
Eggs begin to hatch and the caterpillars grow to become moths.
Some people, although rare, can have an allergic reaction to the toxins. and are encouraged to call 911 or go to hospital.
They can experience vomiting, shortness of breath and other reactions.
Others with less severe attacks can be treated at home by calling Poison Control.
Scotch tape can be placed over the wounded area and stripped off over and over again to remove the spines from within the skin.
Although their poison is painful, the caterpillars are not looking to harm anyone or anything. Jaret Daniels, assistant professor of entomology at the University of Florida, told the Sun-Sentine that they are merely trying to protect themselves.
The venom is used as the caterpillars' predators, like birds and lizards.
Mr Daniels said: If you're a caterpillar, you have a very challenging life because everything wants to eat you.
'They're not trying to hurt you. They're doing it to avoid being eaten.'
Florida has become a popular new home for interesting creatures, including crocodiles that can grow up to 14 feet long.
.
........................................
img code photo ... Hag caterpillar
i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/12/article-2128744-1290FC...
Protection: The hag caterpillar is also poisonous as it tries to protect itself from birds, lizards and other attackers that can eat them and prevent them from becoming a moth
Alamy
........................................
.
........................................
img code photo ... Puss caterpillar
i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/12/article-2128744-1290FC...
Coexist: Officials urge people to leave the venomous species, like the puss caterpillar, alone as they are not trying to hurt people with their poison that could provoke an allergic reaction to humans
Alamy
........................................
.
.
The reptiles have multiplied 10-fold in the last 40 years in south Florida with about 1,500 crocodiles.
But now they face a new challenge in the area because most of the places they used to call home are now inhabited by humans.
Humans in Florida also have to worry about huge pythons that are wiping out the state's mammal populations.
A burgeoning population of Burmese pythons — many of them pets that were turned loose by their owners when they got too big — appears to be wiping out large numbers of raccoons, opossums, bobcats and other mammals in the Everglades, according to a study from the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences.
.
........................................
img code photo ... Crocodile
i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/12/article-2128744-02D8FA...
Here to stay?: Once crocodiles decide on a place to live, it's difficult to get them to move meaning people in Florida might have to get used to having the species listed as 'threatened' by wildlife officials
Alamy
........................................
.
.
The study found that sightings of medium-size mammals are down dramatically — as much as 99 percent, in some cases — in areas where pythons and other large, non-native constrictor snakes are known to be lurking.
Scientists fear the pythons could disrupt the food chain and upset the Everglades' environmental balance in ways difficult to predict.
Another species that has threatened the state's environment are giant Gambian pouch rats that have been found on Florida's Grassy Key despite concerted efforts by conservation officials to eradicate them.
Officials worry that the voracious rats, which grow to nine pounds, might wipe out some crops and upset the delicate ecological balance if they manage to reach the Florida mainland.
.
........................................
img code photo ... Burmese python
i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/12/article-2128744-060151...
Another creature: Crocodiles aren't the only ones taking over in Florida as burmese pythons invaded the area
PA
........................................
.
.
Officials worry that the voracious rats, which grow to nine pounds, might wipe out some crops and upset the delicate ecological balance if they manage to reach the Florida mainland.
The Gambian rat first appeared on Grassy Key in 1999 after eight rats escaped from a local exotic pets breeder.
'We thought we had them whipped as of 2009,' Scott Hardin, exotic-species coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, told keysnet.com.
'In the early part of 2011, a resident e-mailed me and said he saw one of the rats. We were skeptical but went back and talked to people and [saw] there were rats that we missed,' he added.
.
.......................................
img code photo ... African rat
i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/12/article-2128744-129136...
Animals love Florida: African rats the size of cats have also taken up the warm state as their new home
Corbis
.......................................
.
.......................................
img code photo ... The Gambian rat
i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/12/article-2128744-129136...
Concern: Officials worry that the voracious rats, which grow to nine pounds, might wipe out some crops and upset the delicate ecological balance
Reuters
.......................................
.
.
After four female rats were found in 2011, officials unsuccessfully launched another effort to kill them in November and December, primarily through the use of poison-laced cantaloupe and peanut butter.
And it might become difficult to control crocodiles' interaction with humans if that population continues to grow.
Crocodiles tend to stick to an area they decided they will live in now matter how much they have moved.
So even if they leave a particular spot they chose as their own for weeks and travel far away, they are likely to return.
They will likely continue to be one of the many species like boa constrictors, Nile monitor lizards, vervet monkeys and more to join the state - and wreak havoc on local animal species.
.
.............................................................................................................................................................................................
.
......item 2)... iVillage Garden Web ... forums.gardenweb.com/forums ...
THE INTERNET'S GARDEN AND HOME COMMUNITY ...
forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/gagarden/msg081310452742...
RE: Watch out for the saddleback caterpillar
clip this post email this post what is this?
see most clipped and recent clippings
----..Posted by wildflower z7b (My Page) on Mon, Sep 12, 05 at 12:38
I've been stung by these 7 or 8 times during the last 2 weeks....
This may sound strange, but I promise you it works - Take a small clump of chewing tobacco, wet it, and leave it on the area where you got stung for about a minute or two...The pain will be gone almost immediately. I think what we have is Kodiak Wintergreen or something like that (no I don't chew the stuff), but it's in a small can; probably -/can, and well worth having around!
Works for bee stings too.
.
.............................................................................................................................................................................................
.
.
