Texas hospital shooed away birds. Now it has venomous caterpillars instead, study says

Venomous caterpillars have found a home at the Texas Medical Center after birds were evicted from their space, according to KHOU 11.

While asp caterpillars have been welcomed, passersby are encouraged to stay away from the insect that packs a significant punch similar to experiencing blunt-force trauma, Mattheau Comerford, an ecology and evolutionary biology graduate student at Rice University, told Science Daily.

“I’ve been stung by a lot of things and an asp sting definitely ranks high up there,” he said. “It takes about 10 minutes before the pain kicks in so you might not even realize you’ve been stung at first. It feels like a broken bone and the pain lasts for hours. I was stung on the wrist and the pain traveled up my arm, into my arm pit, and my jaw started to feel pain.”

In October 2018, a Rockwall child was stung by the furry critter, causing her to be hospitalized, according to NBCDFW5.

Lauren Chambers, mother of 5-year-old Adrie, said she received a call from the daycare telling her “she (Adrie) had been stung by the most poisonous caterpillar in the United States.”

“They said if that had not happened it could actually cause her whole body to go numb and start shutting down,” Chambers told the outlet.

If you’re ever bitten by the caterpillar, here are steps to take, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension:

• An ice pack should be applied to the site of the sting
• Oral antihistamines can be administered to help relieve the itching and burning sensations.
• For caterpillars with stout spines, try carefully applying cellophane tape to, and stripping it from, the sting site to remove the irritating spines.

If you have an allergic reaction, see a physician immediately. Eye injuries should also be referred to a specialist immediately.

This story was originally published September 9, 2019 at 7:22 PM with the headline "Texas hospital shooed away birds. Now it has venomous caterpillars instead, study says."