BEWARE.
This innocent looking little caterpillar IS NOT friendly.
At least not if you pick him up.
Just ask Mo.
He found out the hard way today. About an hour before we are supposed to get family portraits done.
Thank goodness for benadryl.
The little yellow hairs you see on this creature release toxins into your skin … even through your shirt apparently.
Case in point: Mo’s midsection. Complete with the tell-tale red welts. That by the way appeared MINUTES after he allowed the creature to crawl up his shirt.
And down his arm.
Now this little creature whom Li’l Bro found on an oak tree in our backyard is safely caged in our critter carrier.
We may wait and see if he becomes a moth. Or not. He has taught us a lot already this afternoon.
**Monday Update: Spots are hardened and crusting almost. Very weird. Very itchy. Mom consulted Dr. Google who said not to worry if no breathing distress, vomiting, headache, nausea, etc. So Mom not worried, but Mom did give orders for an oatmeal bath and more benadryl.**
Leaping into Learning 
Poor guy! When I was a teen, I brushed up against a bush that one of those critters was on and it got the bare skin on my leg. I rememer the sharp pain and the huge welts that appeared nearly instantly. I did not even know what it was that caused my pain. My brothers went out and found the caterpillar and we looked it up in an encyclopedia to see what kind it was. Hope you gain some fun out of the pain and get to see it morph.
Looks like a saddleback, but not quite…have found that the caterpillars that have spikey hairs on their back have a good chance of stinging.
OUCH!