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Poisonous caterpillars are about to overrun Spain

Spain is bracing itself for a plague of poisonous caterpillars that can sicken adults and kids — and kill small dogs, officials said.

Warmer-than-usual temperatures have been good for frisky pine processionary caterpillars, whose numbers have swelled.

“After a winter that has been much milder and drier than normal, the population of the processionary caterpillar has flourished and brought forward their arrival,” Milagros Fernandez de Lezeta, director of the Pest Control Association in Spain, told The Local Denmark.

The dangerous caterpillars, which are usually about an inch long, have tiny barbed hairs containing a protein called thaumetopoein, which can cause allergic reactions, foaming at the mouth and vomiting.

Children and dogs are especially at risk because if they accidentally ingest the caterpillars, the barbed hairs could cause severe damage to the tongue. Pooches that try to gobble or even sniff the creepy crawlers could face amputation of their tongue or nose — and die, experts said.

The critter’s eggs are laid inside floss nets on pine trees and are generally in a line, creating the shape of a snake.