Animal Diaries Archive

Leaf cutting nightmares!

1 August 2008

Out Leaf cutting for our very much loved koalas, we strive to provide the best eucalyptus leaf available. We do a pretty good job too, keeping our koalas happy, healthy and very well fed throughout the year.

In our constant quest for leaf however we encounter an unseen threat from a normally passive adversary, the hairy caterpillar. These Eucalypt caterpillars aren’t your usual story time type that chomp a few leaves, have a smile on their face and turn into a butterfly. They have a sinister side.

When disturbed the deviate caterpillars eject puffs of stinging hairs that jet into any intruder that happens to touch them. The leaf cutters often feel the wrath of these nightmarish critters of the trees. Luckily, the pain that comes from a brush with one of these ‘hairies’ (our nickname for them) is only mild, the resilient itch that often comes in accompaniment is far more inconvenient.