Posted on 08/18/2024 7:33:24 PM PDT by Red Badger
Bearded fireworms have been found crawling around the Gulf Coast, and accidentally touching one can cause pain for hours and leave your skin sensitive for weeks.
Surfers beware: Bearded fireworms, caterpillarlike critters that look like they are straight out of a horror movie are lurking in the sand on Texas beaches.
"Your worst nightmares are washing up right now in the form of bearded fireworms!" the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies said in a post on Facebook on Aug. 14.
The creatures, also known as bristle worms, can be dangerous. If they sting you, it can be painful for hours.
"The white bristles coming off each segment of the worm are hollow filled with neurotoxin and they break off when you touch them," the Facebook post read. "They are found in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and of course the Gulf of Mexico."
The bearded fireworms washed up on logs covered in barnacles, one of the animals that the otherworldly-looking creatures feed on.
While the bearded fireworms may look harmless, people are advised to keep their distance as a small prick can quickly upend a relaxing day at the beach, creating a painful, long-lasting memory. "Your skin can feel sensitive in the sting site for weeks depending on where it stung you."
Regards,
What I read today says they washed up on Mustang island, this is close to Corpus Christi.
“..I think pretty much every critter in Texas is poisonous....”
Everything here either stings ya, bites ya, pricks ya, numbs ya etc.....or just outright kills ya.
It’s similar to being in a lawyers’ office....LOL
Sometimes in the spring, we also see 2”-3” black prickly caterpillars that do the same type of sting...very painful.
it took 17 replies, but there it is...
Just when clear blue water returned to Galveston 🙄
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