When it comes to this fuzzy caterpillar, you can look, but you sure don’t want to touch.

Poisonous caterpillars, known as puss caterpillars, are once again popping up in Florida, and officials are warning residents not to be fooled by the creature’s soft and furry appearance.

It’s the most venomous caterpillar in the U.S. and even a simple brush with the insect can cause “excruciating pain,” according to National Geographic. The caterpillars’ fur hides toxic spines that stick to your skin.

One mom in Plant City, Florida, learned that lesson the hard way last week when her 5-year-old son accidentally stepped on one as he played outside.

“He started screaming, screaming and screaming,” Staggs told CBS News. “He screamed, ‘Get them off me!'”

At first, Angela Staggs thought her son walked on a pile of ants. She carried him to the bathroom and examined his foot over a bathtub, but there were no bites.

“He started to hyperventilate from screaming, and I was trying to figure out if he got into stinging nettles, but this scream was blood curdling,” Staggs wrote in a Facebook post Thursday that has gone viral with more than 1,200 shares. “Then it clicked…”

Continued at:  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/poisonous-caterpillar-sting-sends-florida-boy-to-the-er-mom-warns/