I was out in the front yard just now, trimming some miniature pine trees we have (to keep them miniature) when, all of a sudden, one of the branches moved.
Then it moved again.
What had looked like a slightly darker area of the tree was, in fact, a mass of caterpillars. And yes, they were throbbing, rhythmically.
You want proof? I’ve got proof. Here. Look at this. I put a video up on You Tube (my first posting there).
Each caterpillar is about 2 cm (3/4 in) long. I’ve no idea what they are or whether I should be killing them. They’ve been doing the synchronized throbbing thing for about an hour at least now.
Two questions:
Q1 – Will use of the phrase "throbbing caterpillars" lead to a spike in traffic to this site?
Q2 – Is Great Throbbing Caterpillars a great name for a band. A. Yes.
I say kill ’em!
I think if you don’t they’ll strip the tree and/or the gazillion eggs that will hatch will strip the tree. Or if not the tree, then surrounding greenery. I’d try pouring soapy water over them and see if that works. If not, it’s pretty efficient to take a pair of scissors and cut each one in half.
Hmmm… we seem to have moved from salacious to gross.
The caterpillars are now dead. Killed by a spray of washing up liquid. On closer inspection they had stripped one part of the tree already (don’t know how I missed that) and our neighbour, who knows about these things, had the same opinion you did.