Somewhere early in life, I was told that fuzzy caterpillars can sting.  Later, I discovered that all caterpillars that turn into moths (instead of butterflies) are fuzzy, but only a few sting.  Yet, I kept my distance anyway.

I finally got stung by a caterpillar for the first (and second time) in mid September.  This saddleback caterpillar was hiding in the blueberries and I accidentally brushed my finger against it while picking.  The surprising pain made me jump away and then forget about the caterpillar, so the critter managed to sting me again a few days later when I came back to finish harvesting that spot.

Luckily, the sting wasn't very bad --- not worth spending decades avidly avoiding an entire sub-order for.  It felt like I'd walked through a patch of stinging nettles, meaning the pain was intense for a minute, noticeable for an hour, then quickly forgotten.  (To be fair, though, I have a high tolerance for stings.)

If you live in my neck of the woods, you can see all of our poisonous caterpillar species here.  Like snakes, I figure it's worth learning the few poisonous species so you'll know everything else is harmless.  Then you can start enjoying the beautiful permutations of nature without worrying about your skin.