UKH

Last weekend, my climber partner & myself were both affected for most of the week afterwards from the infestation of Caterpillars on the cliff top (and even many in the rocks below the cliffs). The hairs from the caterpillars attach themselves to anything they crawl across, so any clothing touching the areas they have been in contact with becomes incredibly itchy as soon as it comes into contact with skin. It grows more uncomfortable on the following days. I'm not too sure there might not have been harvest mites mixed in with it too, as I was very careful to avoid contact, but was still caught out. I have never seen such an infestation before (and these are only small at the moment from newly hatched pods in the bushes above the crag). Keep all clothing out of the grass and avoid sitting down in affected areas if possible.

In reply to purple sue:


Are they these?
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/oakprocessionarymoth

You might need to report

In reply to JJL:

I was affected by these a couple of weeks ago resulting in an itchy burning rash around my neck that lasted nearly a week. Stay well clear! I think they are brown moth caterpillars but could be wrong.

In reply to purple sue:

Yep, they're brown tail caterpillars. Well known on Swanage & Portland. They grow a lot bigger than the ones we saw. It was the large volume of numbers that didn't help.

In reply to purple sue:

Calamine lotion is the best thing to use, to sooth the itchy rash.

In reply to purple sue:

I've had a large itchy patch on my waistline all week, looks like 30 mosquito bites in a concentrated group, I'm guessing one got caught in my clothes at some point on Saturday. Found another one on the back of my hand while driving home!
Will be sure to be more aware next time, I've been itching all week!

In reply to purple sue:

Top tip... don't rub your eyes after contact! I had an interesting experience with my eyeballs blistering to twice their size...

In reply to JJL:

Might be a bit too far south for the OPM, also they live in and around oak trees, so probably the brown tail, as suggested.

In reply to purple sue:

I've had harvest mite problems after climbing on swanage before and that day it was still and we saw no caterpillars. A 50 50 mix of tea tree and lavender oil works wonders on this apply neat for immediate results! (Might be worth testing on a small area first some people need to dilute with a carrier oil 50 percent olive oil is fine)

In reply to Dandan:
Waistline is a classic spot for harvest mite bites but finding one of the back of you hand does sound suspicious that it's that caterpillars. Might be worth looking at pictures of the rashes online.

Harvest mites general bite where clothing constricts I would imagine it's the opposite for the caterpillars.

In reply to purple sue:
On Saturday, as we passed a gaggle of twitchers on the track from Reaps Lane out to the Battleship cliff on Portland, we noticed the track was crawling with the little beggers.

Thankfully, we didn't see any at the crag.

Battleship Far South was always the worse place for caterpillars, as it gets very hot on still, sunny days.

"Death to the Squelchies!"

If only I had read this before the weekend. I'm covered in rashes following a trip to Boulder Ruckle. Still well worth it just to do Finale Groove!

In reply to Julesthe1st:


Are you guys taking the caterpillars off with your hands or something? I too was slowly attacked, but came away basically rash free (either that, or my sunburn just covered any rashes up!). I usually could blow the caterpillars away with a puff of air, or a flick of my nail, or just using a bit of rope to poke them away.

In reply to SenzuBean:

No we tried to avoid touching them but the sheer amount at the top of Marmolata buttress made it really hard ( they were on the rope / ruck sac etc so had to give then a flick). I think one must have found its way on to my buff scarf and left the hairs.
Should have been more careful in hindsight however.

In reply to Julesthe1st:
Yes everyone climbing there try to be careful with them, i have been climbing for over eight years at the Ruckle and never ever had seen these creepy caterpillars... I have my neck, part of my face, legs, stomach covered in a terrible rush and it iches horribly... Worth climbing at the ruckle but watch out for these guys..