Prickly Caterpillars Turn Into Bats

A couple of weekends ago I went camping for the first time ever. If you put the humidity and mosquitoes aside, it's actually a lot of fun! A lot of the time was spent sitting around shooting the shit and drinking – much like a beach getaway, but instead of being surrounded by sand and waves, it’s dirt and daddy longlegs (blech!)

The first afternoon there (Luray, VA campsite) was spent drinking and exploring. There is nothing like breaking the seal in the middle of the woods that really makes you feel at one with nature. At one point I looked down to find myself giving a tick a golden shower. And when that doesn’t even faze you, you realize one of two things: either you’re more buzzed than you thought, or maybe you’re actually cut out for this camping thing. Either way, that tick got a lot more than he was bargaining for, but I secretly think that sick freak of a bloodsucker enjoyed it. 

After taking in the flora and fauna of Luray, VA, my friends and I got on the topic of caterpillars, because these very strange looking (black and prickly) caterpillars were everywhere. I should also note that as a child I LOVED caterpillars. My mom would have to be very weary when doing my laundry, because more often times than not she would reach into my pockets only to find clumps of dead caterpillar families that I had put in there when “playing” with them. When questioned I would proudly exclaim, “I got caterpidders in my pockets!” To this day my mother still calls them “caterpidders”. So anyway, we start talking about these caterpillars (mainly because my dork-brain was fascinated by them) and the question arose, “what do they turn into?” Not because we’re idiots who don’t know that, obvs, caterpillars turn into butterflies, but because these were special caterpillars. They were like the Goths of the caterpillar world, all black and sullen with spiky things protruding from their bodies. Therefore when the caterpillar query came about, my instinctual answer was, “bats! They turn into bats!” So, if this hardcore (as in dark eyeliner and dog collars) insect ever crosses your path, just remember there is a distinct possibility it could morph into a blind, nocturnal, bloodsucking, flying rodent. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

A bat in disguise.