A caterpillar graph $T(p_1, ldots, p_r)$ of order $n= r+sum_{i=1}^r p_i$, $rgeq 2$, is a tree such that removing all its pendent vertices gives rise to a path of order $r$. In this paper we establish a necessary and sufficient condition for a real number to be an eigenvalue of the Randic matrix of $T(p_1, ldots, p_r)$. This result is applied to determine the extremal caterpillars for the Randic energy of $T(p_1,ldots, p_r)$ for cases $r=2$ (the double star) and $r=3$. We characterize the extremal caterpillars for $r=2$. Moreover, we study the family of caterpillars $Tbig(p,n-p-q-3,qbig)$ of order $n$, where $q$ is a function of $p$, and we characterize the extremal caterpillars for three cases: $q=p$, $q=n-p-b-3$ and $q=b$, for $bin {1,ldots,n-6}$ fixed. Some illustrative examples are included.
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