I got a request to help identify this bizarre creature. I’m guessing it’s a slug caterpillar, from the family Limacodidae, although I couldn’t possibly narrow it down further, and could be completely wrong. Whoever was filming it can be heard telling someone not to touch it—which is a good idea. These things shed fine hairs that can cause a painful allergic rash.
It’s kind of cute, anyway.
I think the collective wisdom of the internets has convinced me that it is a puss caterpillar, Megalopyge opercularis.