Conga Line

Bug train

Nick you can appreciate 600mm and how much is left each side on a normal one track road if i said over 100 it would not be far from true. i could not believe it when i saw it on my return it stood out a bit down the road . i was bird hunting.

They are very dangerous for human beings and animals !! Would not like to meet this train !!

The only thing they are dangerous to is a tree... but quite a line.

I become goose bumps only by looking at them.

There certainly was a lot of them they went from one side of the road to the other. funny i know just what you mean.

Great shot Steve, well spotted.

Are these processionary pine moths?
If so, avoid like the plague! They shower you with a horribly debilitating spray if disturbed!
Accidentally brushed up against them at the start of what should have been a great day out in the hills. Instead had to go home via the chemist's and spent a very uncomfortable couple of days!

Andy in the area not a pine three for miles and miles this may help you

lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/noto/lunifer.html

Far out, Steve. Thanks for the fascinating information. Was this local (southern WA)?

Yes this local Perth area only second time i have seen them.

Terrific link, Steve; thank you!
And yes, unwise to handle this lot, or even breathe in the air around them. Interestingly, I suffered from urticaria (hives) for some time after. Only now (reading the link) have I associated my hives with my brush with the caterpillar nest! It may just have been a co-incidence of course, but I look out for these on my walks because I see them fairly often, either in nests in pine trees or in procession (yes, a different species but with similar characteristics).

This i will remember and will treat them with what i did distance thanks to the big lens i could not get close at all. on that note you take care out there you just never know what there is spider or snake....

I do see plenty of adders on my walks, sunning themselves on the granite. I am wary when pushing through tall undergrowth! I saw a wild boar sow with hoglets once but fortunately she was too sleepy to rouse herself and I didn't linger to take a photo!

I have been lucky plenty of things over here to you real harm but a few precautions work very well. i walk very loud and plenty of movements tends to make the wild life move away. Snakes you can happen on if they are out sunning had that once. last walk Clara and i did we had a 1.5m tiger snake move over the path in front of us, they dont tend to give way at all. take care.

surfing like i do is a whole different problem.......

A fine capture Steve and one that I see has caused some interest on here (specially from our mutual friend Andy) . I see many caterpillars during the Summer months and quite often handle them but after reading your link and Andy's story I realise that I had better be cautious. Just be careful out there mate, Herb