I think it's a Gypsy Moth caterpillar. They wreaked having on my brother's trees this year.
It was around 7 to 10 years ago that we were bicycling down Hemlock Lake's access road and we hadn't noticed the silk tents way up in the tree canopy. By the time we reached the end of the road and turned around to peddle back they had started to rappel to the ground. Racing back to the vehicle is a moment captured in my mind forever. I don't know how to describe the way I felt during these 15 minutes but I can say that I was exhausted and relieved to be back at the truck.
It was a bizzare experience.
From what I understand, their lifecyle reoccurs every 7 years. We refer to that year as "the year of the tent caterpillar."
I took a look online before posting and by descriptors I saw gypsy moth caterpillar come up. This one seems like it’s less “hairy” and more “spiny”, so not sure if that is it. Will hold off to see if anyone else has any other ideas to add.
Crazy story, thank you for sharing! Biking through raining caterpillars sounds like a pretty sizable nope lol!
imgur.com
I think it's a Gypsy Moth caterpillar. They wreaked having on my brother's trees this year.
It was around 7 to 10 years ago that we were bicycling down Hemlock Lake's access road and we hadn't noticed the silk tents way up in the tree canopy. By the time we reached the end of the road and turned around to peddle back they had started to rappel to the ground. Racing back to the vehicle is a moment captured in my mind forever. I don't know how to describe the way I felt during these 15 minutes but I can say that I was exhausted and relieved to be back at the truck.
It was a bizzare experience.
From what I understand, their lifecyle reoccurs every 7 years. We refer to that year as "the year of the tent caterpillar."
I took a look online before posting and by descriptors I saw gypsy moth caterpillar come up. This one seems like it’s less “hairy” and more “spiny”, so not sure if that is it. Will hold off to see if anyone else has any other ideas to add.
Crazy story, thank you for sharing! Biking through raining caterpillars sounds like a pretty sizable nope lol!