Many small children love playing with caterpillars. They view them as somewhat magical creatures, as they know that they will one day turn into butterflies. Now, however, one mother is speaking out to warn other parents that caterpillars aren’t nearly as harmless as they think that they are.

“I didn’t know caterpillars could do this,” said Lauryn Mae Jordan.

Lauryn went into panic mode when she witnessed her beloved 4 year-old son Beau become violently ill after “accidentally touching a caterpillar” on their doorstep. He got sick while he was sleeping that night, and his condition only worsened the next day.

Lauryn, a mother of two, said that her boy was extremely tired and his face looked puffy and swollen. She decided to rush Beau to the hospital when she started to fear that he had come in contact with a toxic caterpillar known as Oak Processionary Moth.

“His eyes were really puffy,” she said. “They just waited for him to go to the toilet as he hadn’t been drinking any fluids. It was during the night that I was worried.”

“I just thought maybe he had got a bug, it wasn’t until my daughter said ‘maybe it’s from the caterpillar that bit him yesterday’ that I thought about it,” Lauryn explained.

Though Beau spent hours in the hospital, he now has no memory of ever being sick. While he ended up making a full recovery without treatment, Lauryn was left so shaken by the experience that she wants to warn all other parents about the dangers of caterpillars.

“I didn’t know caterpillars could do this,” the mother said. “Kids pick up bugs, I just want parents to be aware that this can happen.”

Lauryn was able to get a photo of the caterpillar, but because the image is so grainy, experts have had trouble identifying it.

Steve Ogden, from Wildlife Insight, believes that the caterpillar was a four-spotted footman, but he warns that people should keep their distance from hairy caterpillars in general.

“Some people seem to have more sensitive skin than others, particularly children, so to be on the safe side it’s always best to avoid direct skin contact with any hairy caterpillar,” he said.

Who knew that caterpillars could be so dangerous?!

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