Sometimes my Caterpillar wriggles almost frantically.
Is this normal?
  
Don Herbison-Evans,
( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Yes this is normal. The wriggling is a response to feeling threatened. Many caterpillars are able to wriggle faster backwards than they can crawl forwards, so it is a good mechanism to escape potential predators.

Caterpillars also get frightened by big people. If your caterpillar does this, let it have a spell on its own to recover its composure.

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(updated 5 September 2001, 5 January 2014)