# If stinging insects or caterpillars freak you out, do not look at the enclosed lonk. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 23, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941 "2006-08-23T20:50:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/61 "2006-08-25T14:39:22Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] Just like to say, I’m lanky and from Lancs. Does that make _me_ a Lonk? [/QUOTE] Do you have …horns? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/62 "2006-08-25T14:41:47Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] It’s a little-known fact that tent caterpillars are the subject of scorn and ridicule from the more upmarket _mobile home_ caterpillars, whereas both groups look down with equal derision upon _static trailer_ caterpillars. [/QUOTE] That would wcplain the tent caterpillars’ cliquisness. Tenet caterpillars, on the other hand, are known for their ideological rigidity. They don’t let facts or reality get in the way of a good old-fashioned defoliation. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/63 "2006-08-25T14:42:46Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Do you have …horns? [/QUOTE] and HUGE wooly testicles? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/64 "2006-08-25T14:52:28Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] and HUGE wooly testicles? [/QUOTE] _I_ wasn’t going to say that… ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/65 "2006-08-25T15:43:15Z")
I wasn’t either. But _someone_ had to. Thank you, **danceswithcats.** ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/66 "2006-08-25T16:04:15Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] and HUGE wooly testicles? [/QUOTE] Someone, not I, should say, “Like the shaggy dog, they are all hair.” ---
**Author:** ![wisernow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@wisernow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wisernow)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/67 "2006-08-25T16:34:02Z")
How soon before this thread makes it to “Threadspotting”? You guys are funny. Thanks for the laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/68 "2006-08-25T16:48:41Z")
[QUOTE=wisernow] How soon before this thread makes it to “Threadspotting”? You guys are funny. Thanks for the laugh. [/QUOTE] [sub]Don’t mention the T-word! Now it’ll never happen![/sub] The first tenet of Lonk Club is, you never talk about Lonk Club. The second tenet of Lonk Club is, there is _no_ second tenet of Lonk Club. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/69 "2006-08-25T17:02:46Z")
We need a bumper sticker: Honk if you {heart} Lonks. ---
**Author:** ![Thalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@Thalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thalion)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/70 "2006-08-25T17:35:53Z")
[QUOTE=Surly Chick] We need a bumper sticker: Honk if you {heart} Lonks. [/QUOTE] I’m sure that **Hal Briston** would buy the first one! ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/71 "2006-08-25T17:41:53Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Someone, not I, should say, “Like the shaggy dog, they are all hair.” [/QUOTE] And someone, not I, should add “but chock full of lonky goodness.” I’m sorry. That’s been running around in my head for the last hour and a half and I just couldn’t hold it in any longer. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/72 "2006-08-25T17:49:04Z")
[QUOTE=Thalion] I’m sure that **Hal Briston** would buy the first one! [/QUOTE] I wonder whther the [Honk if you {spade} lonks] bumper sticker would be more appropriate? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/73 "2006-08-25T19:33:08Z")
True devotees who have learned all there is to know about them are called Lonk Wonks. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/74 "2006-08-25T19:39:08Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Scarier, but not quite as creepy as this (from a message on the Devilbunnies mailing list): [Tenet caterpillars enveloping trees and a bicycle in Sweden](http://user.it.uu.se/~svens/larverna/normal.html). [/QUOTE] :: Itch, itch :: :: twitch, twitch :: :: itch, twitch, itch :: :: Itch :: I’ll never sleep again ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/75 "2006-08-25T20:06:42Z")
[QUOTE=Winston Smith] I’ll never sleep again [/QUOTE] You can always try counting lonks… ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/76 "2006-08-25T20:14:44Z")
[QUOTE=Surly Chick] You can always try counting lonks… [/QUOTE] Hideous, hideous lonks. :: shudder :: ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/77 "2006-08-25T20:27:29Z")
I saw this title and thought maybe it would be about the diabolical Puss Caterpillar. That’s as close a name as I can find to identify it, through pics on the internet. However the ones described on the internet are 3/4 - 1 inch long and the one that stung me in Trinidad (West Indies) was about 3 inches long. It only brushed my arm but it was about the most excruciating and unrelenting pain as I’ve ever experienced in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/78 "2006-08-25T20:37:54Z")
[QUOTE=Winston Smith] Hideous, hideous lonks. :: shudder :: [/QUOTE] I dunno… I thought they had a kind of brutal majesty. Not insectoid at all. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/79 "2006-08-25T20:43:14Z")
[QUOTE=Surly Chick] And someone, not I, should add “but chock full of lonky goodness.” [/QUOTE] I retire from the field in disarray and embarassment. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941/80 "2006-08-26T02:57:13Z")
To the tune of ‘It’s Slinky’ \*They have wooly butts and big wooly nuts their circular horns don’t honk. They’re raised for their meat they walk on the peat Everyone knows it’s Lonk! It’s Lonk, it’s Lonk, they’re big, they’re fuzzy, they’re sheep. It’s Lonk, it’s Lonk have sex with them-you’re a creep.\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-stinging-insects-or-caterpillars-freak-you-out-do-not-look-at-the-enclosed-lonk/369941.md?page=5)