Ecologists find bird-deterring nets create haven for stinging venomous caterpillars

Phys .Org ^ | 6 Sept 2019 | Jade Boyd

[DUMBGRUNT]

Rice University evolutionary ecologists have discovered huge quantities of one of North America's most venomous caterpillars.

Texas Medical Center (TMC)—which is visited by 10 million people seeking health care each year—are routinely netted to discourage pesky birds such as grackles and pigeons. Now Rice researchers have learned the netting has an unintended consequence: Chasing away birds that eat insects has created a haven for a flourishing population of Megalopyge opercularis, commonly referred to as asps.

When a human is stung by an asp, it can cause localized pain that is compared to blunt-force trauma or a bone break.

Egan's team discovered that caterpillar abundance, on average, was more than 7,300 percent higher on netted versus non-netted trees.

[DUMBGRUNT]

A section of the road to hell is paved with netter trees!

[Texas Eagle]

Ten million people a year??? What the hell???

[Balding_Eagle]

LOL! That’s 1,100 people every hour, day and night, 7 days a week.

Imagine the valet parking! Even 2 people per car that’s 10 cars every minute.

I think someone is exasperating.

[Balding_Eagle]

And exaggerating as well.

[Ken H]

The nets have exacerbated the problem.

[TigersEye]

When a human is stung by an asp, it can cause localized pain that is compared to blunt-force trauma or a bone break.

That's one nasty caterpillar!

[entropy12]

may be there are 100 branches spread out through the state. Texas is a big state. 15 hours of driving to cross from east to west.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

China’s Worst Self-Inflicted Environmental Disaster: The Campaign to Wipe Out the Common Sparrow

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2f4rj5

[Openurmind]

Sometimes you just don’t try to fool mother nature.

[Skooz]

I was stung by one of these little guys about 11 years ago.

Unpleasant. And it hurt for several days.

Not that big a deal, though. Certainly not as painful as a hornet sting.

[TigersEye]

A pic of the little thug.

"The caterpillar is regarded as a dangerous insect because of its venomous spines. Exposure to the caterpillar's fur-like spines leads to an immediate skin irritation characterized by a "grid-like hemorrhagic papular eruption with severe radiating pain." Victims describe the pain as similar to a broken bone or blunt-force trauma.[3] The reactions are sometimes localized to the affected area, but are often very severe, radiating up a limb and causing burning, swelling, nausea, headache, abdominal distress, rashes, blisters, and sometimes chest pain, numbness, or difficulty breathing.[6][7] Additionally, sweating from the welts or hives at the site of the sting are not unusual.

The venom from the spines is best treated within hours of first contact. For first aid, the spines (if present) should be removed by using cellophane tape.[6] Some remedies, which are reported to have varying degrees of success, include ice packs, oral antihistamine, baking soda, hydrocortisone cream, juice from the stems of comfrey plants, and calamine lotion. (or all of the above!)

[lee martell]

Now that the cause and effect is clearly understood, how many years will it take for this city to change it’s custom of netting those trees? My guess is at least 15 years.
No bureaucrat wants to admit that they are wrong, that they have, in effect, been barking up the wrong trees.

[lee martell]

First time I saw one of those Asps was in 2015, during the last presidential campaign. Guess who people were saying the caterpillar reminded them of?

[DUMBGRUNT]

China’s Worst Self-Inflicted Environmental Disaster: The Campaign to Wipe Out the Common Sparrow
This link works for the unfortunate sparrows.

https://io9.gizmodo.com/china-s-worst-self-inflicted-environmental-disaster-th-5927112

Your link took me to an interesting looking documentary, Raccoon Nation, 53 min. I want to watch it but I also want to get some sleep???
I enjoy watching the Racoons, at a distance from my dogs.

[sport]

It is.When one of them hits you it feels like somebody struck a match and stuck it to you. And sometimes they would go down your shirt and get you three or four times before you could get them out.

[Disambiguator]

I thought asps were snakes?

[TigersEye]

Aiyeeeeeee! Don’t want.

[Vendome]

No way they see 10 million people per year.

That’s 30% of the population of the entire state of Texas.

[DUMBGRUNT]

I thought asps were snakes?

And more!!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asp

Animals
Asp (fish) (Aspius aspius)
Asp (reptile), in antiquity, one of several venomous snakes
Cerastes cerastes, a venomous viper found in the Sahara desert
Cerastes vipera, a venomous viper found in the Sahara desert
Egyptian cobra, a venomous snake found in North Africa and parts of the Middle East
Vipera aspis, a venomous viper found in Europe
Megalopyge opercularis, asp caterpillar or tree asp, a caterpillar (venomous)

[DUMBGRUNT]

No way they see 10 million people per year.

It sounds TEXAS BIG!!!

https://www.tmc.edu/about-tmc/facts-and-figures/

Texas Medical Center (TMC) — the largest medical complex in the world—is at the forefront of advancing life sciences. Home to the brightest minds in medicine, TMC nurtures cross-institutional collaboration, creativity, and innovation because together, we can push the limits of what’s possible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Medical_Center

The Texas Medical Center employs over 106,000 people, hosts 10 million patient encounters annually, and has a gross domestic product of US$25 billion.[1]