Can you make tent caterpillars dance?

CBC's Morning North host Markus Schwabe and reporterErik White tested out the theory that tent caterpillars will dance if you get close enough and clap hands. Any loud noise, in theory, should make the critters wiggle.

The idea was based on an online video from 2012. YoutubeuserMaynemarkuploaded a video of how to scare tent caterpillars.

The caterpillars swarmed a tree in his back yard, a sight which is becoming familiar here in northern Ontario.

"You sneak up on them very, very slowly," Maynemark says in the video, "and you say 'boo' in a very loud voice."

As a tip, Maynemark adds that tent caterpillars seem to react more on a warm, sunny day.

• 5 things you may not know about northern Ontario's caterpillar infestation