Some moments are painful! This is the caterpillar of the Io (eye-oh) moth and those spikes can deliver a powerful sting. This is a large native moth and you can read more about it here (great pictures too).
I was on a group ramble/hike and we stopped to look at a plant and the caterpillar fell down from above and landed on my calf. My pants were a thin material and I could almost immediately feel a light sting. A friend helped get it off with a stick and we put it back in the vegetated area. [I had no lasting effects from the brush with it.]
These moths are generalists and eat the foliage of many of the native trees that we'd already identified on the hike. I had never seen the caterpillar before so this was actually a great #momentinnature for me.
August is a great month to see caterpillars in nature. Here is a blog I did about finding caterpillars in 2018 (and it has links to two earlier posts so you may find those interesting too). Get out there and find your moment!
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