Processionary caterpillar

Hi, sorry to hear your dog has been affected by these horrible caterpillars!

We  came over to Spain in October and fortunately we were warned about them straight away. We live in Villamartin and have noticed the nests in a couple of pine trees since early December!!! Apparently this is very early for them to appear but as we have a dog ourselves we've been extremely cautious. 

Hope your dog makes a full recovery.

Regards karen

We live in Agost & have not yet noticed any nests in our trees. We have no pets but always get rid of the nests by wearing gloves to remove from the trees & then burning the nests & caterpillars. Humans should also avoid contact. If anyone asks for a vet recommendation I will bear in mind the name you have given. 

Hoping your dog is ok now. 

Nicky

If you see these again, whatever you do, do not squash them with your feet. You can transfer them to inside your house. I do hope that your dog is recovering well. Be very wary under fir trees. And yes, I have seen nests being formed already.

Hi

Friends of ours came out in hives after trying to clear them away by sweeping  them.  They reported it to the people they were renting off and they had someone in to spray the trees.  

Hope your dog makes a full recovery these caterpillars are nasty creatures 

I've bought in campoverde overlooking the valley and trees, lots of pine trees there quite a few nests i can see some are going to be encroaching over the patio this year, I read last year to get rid of them you have to get them out the trees wearing gloves so u don't physically touch them with your hand or body parts because they are very toxic, has to be done in the afternoon, then burn them,it's then to late for the caterpillars to build a new nest and willdie off the ones that havnt been burned, I read this in one of the Spanish magazines last year.

I contacted a Spanish company who specialise in the removal of the nests so they said they asked how many nests I had I counted at least 20 they said it would cost €100 per nest with my finca I have a large piece of land on the side so a friend of mine climbed the tree cut the branches with the nests on and lowered them down to me I put the nests straight into a metal bin and set light to them the trees are now completely clear and had some relief and pay back for what they did to my dog.

At 100€ per nest I think they thought you were a mug! Happily you are obviously not. We removed ours last year the same way as you. We haven't noticed any in our tree this year. Not sure why. 

I am glad you got your dog to the vets in time as contact with these caterpillars can be lethal! A word of warning. You shouldn't stamp on them as this causes the hair on them to fly about and if they get on you or your pets it can be just as dangerous. I have been told to spray the caterpillars with hair spray, this stops the hair from flying about and maybe then it's ok to squash them?? I've also been told that people spray them with lighter fuel and burn them but I wouldn't attempt this as so many things could go wrong. Try googling them, I'm sure there's plenty of advice on line.

The nests are no problem. The problem arises when the caterpilars descend, process and prepare for this years batch of millions of moths. (August - Sept).

This when to prevent the formation of the nests. (too late now).

As mentioned in previous inquiry (on your own property!) An air rifle pellet(s) putting two or three holes in the (higher-up) nests prevent the procession & therefore the moths. There is an off the counter long range incectiside for the more accessible nests.If you get the blighters before they process, the nest will just wither & die during the spring/summer. Disturbing the nests (releasing the irritating fine hairs into the air is not recommended even with gloves)

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