Its fur is usually of a yellowish-brown colour, coarse and grizzled, and of little value commercially, while its flesh, unlike that of other bears, is uneatable even by the Indians.
Moreover, young birds that had been taught by experience that these caterpillars are uneatable also left wasps untouched.
As to the flavour of its flesh, some assert that it is wholly uneatable, and others that it is palatable.