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[Campo Girl]

Hola

We went for a walk on Sunday to Refugio de Juanar, Monda. While there we spotted white things in the trees, we thought they were caterpillas but are not sure, have you seen these before and are they fir tree caterpillas which turn into moths?

Thanks

Simone

[Suzy]

Hi Simone,
Those look like processionary caterpillar cocoons.  They appear to love pine trees, we have experienced them since we have been here on our pine trees.  They are quite dangerous particularly for animals, [hopefully we humans have more sense than to touch them] the little needles/spines on them eject off onto the noses of inquisitive animals and poison them and can be fatal.  In the ironmongers they sell collars with sticky stuff on them which you can put on the trees which stop them in their tracks from climbing down and then you can kill them.  However, if you want to "live and let live" they only appear in early March, eg around now, keep a watch on the infected trees and don't let the animals near.  Sounds difficult I know but we have managed to do that with 4 dogs and 3 cats,  the little blighters come down the tree in the night, appear on the ground early morning, so amusing to watch them trooping along, and just disappear down the mountain.  At least that is our experience. 
We have 3 cocoons this year, that I have spotted but think it is too cold for them to emerge at the moment.
Cheers everyone
Suzy

[Campo Girl]

Interesting, thanks Suzy

I have not seen them in our garden, thank goodness but I will keep a watch for the future!

Simone