PSA - Gypsy Moth Caterpillars

[BucketBack]

We are getting hit hard with Gypsy Moth Caterpillars, they eat oak, maple, apple,ash, and pine tree family.

So, I cleaned off about 500 caterpillars off the oaks and pines in my immediate yard. I'm not heading into the goods proper, since it sounds like rain with all the poop balls falling down.

So if you want to take aggression on the SOB's, wear safety glasses, cause they squirt out a brown fluid when whacked with a switch

 

[Schattentarn]

We get caterpillers which eat fir trees. After a "controlled burn" the trees are weakened and sometimes these caterpillers descend upon the forest and kill thousand of mature trees. Just another consequence of false information and bad policies on the part of the federal agencies.

 

[backandbeyond]

It's a shame free-range chickens can't climb trees, they'd have a field day.

 

[GaRp58]

There are also caterpillars in Germany which are destroying millions of oak trees and the entire forest is like a mine field and is closed to the public as they are poisonous to touch and it is very painful on top

 

[Arcticdude]

We get caterpillers which eat fir trees. After a "controlled burn" the trees are weakened and sometimes these caterpillers descend upon the forest and kill thousand of mature trees. Just another consequence of false information and bad policies on the part of the federal agencies.

More like millions of trees. Just how would you propose that a "federal" agency treat millions upon millions of acres of timber land? It they could be treated they would be doing it. There isn't a work force large enough, nor enough money to tackle a problem like this. You think your taxes are high now.....

 

[Schattentarn]

More like millions of trees. Just how would you propose that a "federal" agency treat millions upon millions of acres of timber land? It they could be treated they would be doing it. There isn't a work force large enough, nor enough money to tackle a problem like this. You think your taxes are high now.....

Oh, real easy, don't do controlled burns.

 

[Robinjopo1]

Not a caterpillar but

https://endoftheamericandream.com/g...are-devouring-crops-all-over-the-western-u-s/....

 

[Robinjopo1]

Food prices will be through the roof.

 

[backandbeyond]

Nature it seems is not happy with the status quo. Nature is all about balanced ecosystems, mankind is all about unbalanced systems. Strip half the forests and grasslands off a continent and plant cereal crops, what could possibly go wrong...

 

[DrHenley]

Not a caterpillar but

https://endoftheamericandream.com/g...are-devouring-crops-all-over-the-western-u-s/

Actual National Weather Service Glasgow Montana Facebook post dated June 26, 2020:

We saw something on our radar this afternoon that looked interesting. Could it be Grasshoppers?
If you are near the UL bend, NW Garfield County or SW Valley County, did you see a lot of insects?
There might be a lot of bait out there for your fishing!

Doesn't sound very apocalyptic does it?

In the second image, most of what you are seeing is "ground clutter." It's only the bright spot lower left that they think is insects.

And now this one dated July 2, 2021, notice how similar it is. The grasshoppers are probably the bright green area and the rest is probably ground clutter just like in the first images. The ground clutter is centered on Glasgow because that's where the radar tower is. That post also doesn't sound very apocalyptic.

Now, a real grasshopper swarm that you worry about is something like the 1875 swarm that covered 186,000 miles and had upwards of 12 trillion grasshoppers that ate everything in sight including sawdust, leather and the clothes on people's backs.

 

[Arcticdude]

We're getting a lot of grasshoppers here eating what little grass we have left. Not apoplectic by any means but still pretty bad.