DANGEROUS CATERPILLARS AND HIGH FASHION.

DANGEROUS CATERPILLARS AND HIGH FASHION. This article describes how the Belgian army is gearing up to fight a wave of procession caterpillars (so called because they march in lines) that trigger allergies in humans. Painful rashes and other symptoms can last for up to two weeks. Apparently, there is a video report that describes the use of blowtorches against the caterpillars. Years ago, we were staying with friends in upstate New York and spent an afternoon helping them to defend against a wave of gypsy moth caterpillars that was threatening trees at their country house. I suggested using a vacuum cleaner on the caterpillars as one of the defenses and it helped. We all wore work gloves, but when Mary Jane got home, she found that she had a painful allergic response, a rash, on both wrists. She was meeting her sister for dinner, so she tied a clean handkerchief on each wrist and went to dinner. At the restaurant, the lady at the next table leaned over and asked where Mary Jane had gotten those “those darling little wraps for your wrists.” Mary Jane gave a truthful answer, but we both wonder from time to time: What if Mary Jane had said that she had found them at a little boutique near Bloomingdale’s? Could she have started a fashion trend?