"Oh my God!" King5 reporter Mimi Jung exclaimed after stepping out of a car on Guemes Island, finding the ground covered by caterpillars. "They're all over the place."
The huge number of caterpillars this year is likely due to three ecological factors, Kohler told King5: a lack of predators, a lack of viruses, and a warmer drought season.
To top it all off, Guemes Island residents can't look forward to a boom in beautiful, vibrant butterflies later this summer either. According to the Washington Department of Natural Resources, they will see an onslaught of brown moths instead.
