We were out on a constitutional ... near Temple sur Lot.
I noticed something on the road, like a piece of cord or thin rope.
On closer inspection, it was moving. It was snaking along in a chain of short segments.
Now, I've heard of a daisy chain, a chain of ponds or a chain of command ... but a chain or caterpillars?!
Each of these little hairy chaps was about two to two and a half centimetres long. I counted them, there was about 80, all head to tail and moving as one entity across the road.
What extraordinary behaviour, I thought.
When we got back to the same spot, about an hour or so later, we saw, alas, a section of squashed caterpillars the same width as a car tyre.
Well, at least most of them had made it.
I looked these characters up online.
They are the caterpillars of the pine processionary moth, which in late winter or early spring make their way to suitable soil to pupate.
In all my born days, I'd never seen such a thing ... and I grew up in Queensland!
We see warnings every spring about processional caterpillars. Apparently they can be dangerous to pets and can cause severe skin irritations and even allergic reactions if you touch them. Driving over them was probably the safest way to get rid of them.
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