A reader from Tennessee recently wrote to us about an oak-tree infestation involving caterpillars or worms. The worms (or caterpillars) have been eating the leaves of the oak tree, and there are evidently so many that the reader claims to hear the creatures eating the tree. Moreover, many of the caterpillars or worms fall from the oak tree during the night, leaving a driveway covered with cylindrically-shaped, dead bodies in the morning for our poor reader to confront. There can be no question that our reader is dealing with a relatively serious worm or caterpillar infestation that is compromising the vitality of an oak tree.

A reader recently wrote to us inquiring about the possible health threat that tent caterpillars (sometimes called “tent worms” because, well, caterpillars look like worms) may present to children. The reader is worried that a child’s habit of playing with tent caterpillars (or perhaps just a single tent caterpillar) is dangerous. In this article, we’ll cover the potential dangerous of tent caterpillars, first addressing the topic with regard to humans, and then with regard to animals and plants.