Hi, Anybody know is the attached creepy crawly dangerous?
2 good inches long. We just haven’t seen any sort of this type of creepy crawly before. Having said that, each year here new flora/fauna arrive and try to dominate, different and new each year.
Any action needed? Essential to avoid all contact?
Invisible creepy crawlies are the worst 
Definitely looks like a pine processionary - the hairs aren’t just to make it look pretty, very toxic and irritating.
Does your phone watermark all your pictures - that would be a “send back to retailer” offence in my view.
@KarenLot Usually to be seen as their name implies, one behind the other, rather than one just on its own. Are there pine trees where you saw it? If so, are there webs high in the pines - their nests?
Very nasty - their hairs (even when detached from the caterpillar) can cause problems - a neighbour lost an eye. Also harmful to pets.
Thanks all. Went straight back and killed it. It was big so I hope it hasn’t got any friends.
It was on the gravel next to an area I go in frequently. My cat was nearby but ignoring it. (Normally my cat goes after anything.) In case of skin contact is it a hospital trip? it was the spines that made me post it and ask here for advice I am scared now.
As far as I know none of my trees are pines. Possibly on a boundary far away from this one. It was near plum trees / I think, young treelets which may be plum seedlings. I have, I think, 2 oaks one about 5-8 meters away through undergrowth ( known as my lawn) and 120 meters away at the gate.
How do I get rid?
I always think this with those Xiaomi ones that do this, would drive me to distraction having some horrendous branding all over the photos.
Edit: I’ve just seen Pocophone is a Xiaomi brand, so it makes more sense now. No less annoying though 
Easy to turn off in the phone settings.
It’s a shame off isn’t the default then if that’s so! 
The 10 sec it take me to turn it off isn’t a big hardship in my life as things go.
Yeah… it’s the principle of it, as I’d imagine being a smart guy you know, but it’s clearly something you appreciate so I’ll shut up and move on.
Colin is that worse, or better?
We are at the edge of the plain of Gramat, so I think a lot of the trees around are oaks
Unfortunately I have been out and the dense trees along the far boundary, where I don’t really venture (and won’t now) definitely have a pine type smell.
Yours scaredly,
KarenLot
Better, the hairs are not supposed to be as irritant.
I’m all in favour of sending caterpillars back to retailer 
Unlikely to be a processional caterpillar in my view, but what do I know? I hope the Oak Eggar isn’t rare because it has just got rarer 
That’s good news Colin. Though any caterpillar hairs can irritate. Better leave well alone.
Best to drop a burning rag on top of processionary caterpillars if they are on the ground. Any other way of killing and the hairs can blow around. If there are nests in the trees these days it’s possible to get traps and pheromones.
One friend of ours used to shoot out the nests with an air gun. Other friends cut down whole branches down of their pine trees where the nests are early in the year and then burn the branches.
Fortunately we don’t have any pines in our garden - the caterpillars are bad in this part of France (47). I’d think twice about buying a house with pines or with close neighbours who have pines.
Done. Ta Colin. Though I did not mind at first, as Xiaomi/Redmi phones are so good.
