An Australian mother was left unable to sleep and suffering from “unbearable” itching after touching a strange creature fixed to the side of a tree.
The woman, based in Manly, in Sydney’s North Shore, saw the little-known danger and touched it earlier this week. Immediately, his finger was covered with tiny black hairs that appeared on the outside of the 10 cm long mass.
“My mother said she touched it,” the woman’s son shared, asking locals who the strange find could be. “I ended up with the tip of my finger covered in tiny black hairs. The itching, he said, was unbearable.”
Despite the incident that happened several days ago, the man told Yahoo News Australia that the tip of his mother’s finger remains numb. “She said she couldn’t sleep because the itching was significant,” he told Yahoo.
Strange discovery revealed
Many quickly answered the man’s question, explaining that his mother touched the cocoon of a White Stem Gum Moth.
The insect is one of the largest common moths found in Sydney, but it can also be found in New South Wales. Queensland and victory according to the Australian museum. Cocoons are usually found on tree trunks, in wood, in letterboxes and even under garden items such as trampolines.
“The short spines on the outside of the cocoon are sharp and fragile, meaning they will break off and lodge in your skin; they also carry a toxin that causes pain and, in rare cases, anaphylactic shock,” CPR Kids shared on to his Facebook page.
Aussies share their pain
A local, who said his daughter took one of the cocoons home to watch it grow, said she took a leaf from the box and ended up with “very painful” spikes on her fingers.
“The hairs are in all the giant caterpillars, then they are pushed through the walls of the cocoon to protect it,” he explained.
“Vivid memories of catching one of those as a kid, never did it again,” another recalled.
A third warned to “never touch anything unless you know what it is,” adding that this lesson was learned “the hard way.”
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