...unless you live in Le Cannet

One of the most dangerous creatures we have in this region is a caterpillar, just two or three centimetres long. We recall a few years ago when a nursery school just round the corner from us was closed down for the day, just before noon, after several of the children had complained of severe skin irritation. The head teacher walked round the yard and luckily caught sight of the guilty party: a long line of chenilles processionnaires, processionary caterpillars. The affected children had only mild symptoms but not everyone’s so fortunate.

The first evidence of these nasty little creepy-crawlies (above) comes at the beginning of spring – the warmer it is the sooner they appear – when you can see their nests, containing eggs, in the form of creamy balls hanging on the pine trees. Once hatched, they move in a long line, hence their name. If you meet them, keep away. They are covered with fine hairs containing a toxin which can trigger allergic reactions including skin irritation, inflammation, respiratory problems and, so Walt Ambruster tells us, the critical condition of anaphylactic shock. And note that ingesting the hairs and especially a whole caterpillar can be fatal to cats and dogs (the skins of dead caterpillars remain toxic for weeks, by the way).

The obvious advice is watch out but if you live in Le Cannet you don’t need to worry. For two years now the municipality has been spraying local pine woods with a bacterium that kills off the bug in its larval stage – so this is done in late autumn. They say there’s no risk to any other creatures. So why don’t other places do this?


From Riviera Reporter Issue 126: April/May 2008

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