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Hungry caterpillars - Massachusetts being devoured - One species is sated; 3 still ravaging leaves
Boston Globe ^
| June 21, 2005
| Megan Tench
Posted on 06/21/2005 4:12:09 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Fierce Allegiance
I used to go to Mass a lot. During the first Reagan election everyone but the elite, politicians and professors, were for Reagan though you would never know it unless you were there.
Excellent profile page and a great looking family.
41
posted on
06/21/2005 6:14:12 AM PDT
by
Mind-numbed Robot
(Not all that needs to be done needs to be done by the government.)
To: Cincinatus' Wife
We had a 17-year locust infestation back in 1996. Creepiest thing I ever heard/saw.
42
posted on
06/21/2005 6:17:51 AM PDT
by
P.O.E.
To: Blogatron
What ever Ted is drinking at the moment.
43
posted on
06/21/2005 6:22:01 AM PDT
by
TGOGary
(I would blow my brains out before ever wearing a blue beret.)
To: P.O.E.
We had 17 year cicadas last year here in Maryland.
To: Cincinatus' Wife
Don't drive after doing it though, Ted alone is 200 proof.
45
posted on
06/21/2005 6:24:06 AM PDT
by
TGOGary
(I would blow my brains out before ever wearing a blue beret.)
To: happinesswithoutpeace
Brings back memories for me too. My friend and I would go around blowing up the nests with firecrackers. Flaming gypsy moth caterpillars every where. It was a sight to behold. ;-)
To: Cincinatus' Wife
We are having a MAJOR gypsy moth infestation here in Pike County, PA - - northern part of the Poconos. All the oak trees are stripped bare as are some of the maple trees in our yard. Nearby there is nothing green at all except for the mountain laurel which is in full bloom.
To: Mind-numbed Robot
Thank you.
Mass is definitely a stronghold for Professors & elitist snobs with all the colleges & universities. The liberal catholic and union types have a lock on eastern Mass as well, but "out west" where I grew up, a Reagan campaign banner was much more common than that of the opposition.
48
posted on
06/21/2005 6:28:02 AM PDT
by
Fierce Allegiance
(This is not your granddaddy's America)
To: Fierce Allegiance
In 1997 they hit Ohio pretty hard. Along the Ohio Turnpike most of the oaks were bare in early July...most re-foliated by fall but it seemed like it took a good 2-3 growing seasons for them to return to normal.
49
posted on
06/21/2005 6:34:16 AM PDT
by
RockinRight
(Conservatism is common sense, liberalism is just senseless.)
To: Cincinatus' Wife
Well let's just point them to Ted Kennedy-after they feast on him they'll leave the trees alone...
50
posted on
06/21/2005 6:42:39 AM PDT
by
RockinRight
(Conservatism is common sense, liberalism is just senseless.)
To: Cincinatus' Wife
Talk about giving one the heebie-jeebies. They sound and look like they're from outer space.
51
posted on
06/21/2005 6:42:54 AM PDT
by
P.O.E.
To: RockinRight
Bawney Frank prefers catepillars to gerbils anyway.
52
posted on
06/21/2005 6:45:01 AM PDT
by
dfwgator
(Flush Newsweek!)
To: RockinRight
They are nasty bugs that do some major damage. Thankfully, the trees recover - so I can cut them down later!
53
posted on
06/21/2005 6:45:20 AM PDT
by
Fierce Allegiance
(This is not your granddaddy's America)
To: Cincinatus' Wife
Wow, I've been reading your posts for YEARS - and had no idea you were a "neighbor" (I'm in Severn). And, FINALLY, we have a subject on FR on which I feel VERY qualified to speak on. I raise moths for a living. Yup...believe it or not. I rear thousands of the things. Not the ones mentioned in the articles....but all of the Giant Silkmoths - Lunas, Polyphemus, Cecropia, etc. (I make jewelry out of Farm-raised butterflies and moths). The USDA destroyed HUGE populations of both moths and butterflies up and down the east coast years ago attempting to "control" the Gypsy Moth. As usual, they did more damage than good. Like the bugs they are releasing to "control" them now (Control is mostly impossible, it's like trying to control the weather or the tides) - they don't just eat the caterpillars they want them to eat - they kill them ALL - good - bad - doesn't matter. Then next year, they will be crying "there are no Monarch butterflies any more". No kidding dorks, you killed them off with your attempt to "control" these other species. Of course, they won't figure that out, they'll blame the loss of the rest of the butterflies on Global Warming and Genetically enhanced crops.
The best thing to do is NOTHING. Like everything else in nature, they run in cycles. A few years ago in MD, EVERY Cherry tree was infested with the tentworms (Malacasoma americana and M. disstria). This year, there are almost none. As with all inconviences, deal with it....don't ask the government to fix it - they'll just make it worse.
BTW - Those Cicadas make AWESOME necklaces!
54
posted on
06/21/2005 6:50:17 AM PDT
by
KeepUSfree
(WOSD = fascism pure and simple.)
To: Cincinatus' Wife
To: texson66
Too bad they dont eat US Senators from MA! You silly!
Moths eat leaves...maggots eat sh-it!
56
posted on
06/21/2005 7:13:01 AM PDT
by
MamaTexan
(I am NOT a *legal entity* ......... Nor am I a 'person' as created by law!)
To: KeepUSfree
Thanks for the post.
We've been here for close to three years - up from TX - before that AZ.
We arrived ducking the sniper, shoveling record snow and then experiencing the cicadas.
You're right, "experts" need to back off and let nature take it's course. Like burning areas off now and then.
To: KeepUSfree
The USDA destroyed HUGE populations of both moths and butterflies up and down the east coast years ago attempting to "control" the Gypsy Moth. As usual, they did more damage than good. Like the bugs they are releasing to "control" them now (Control is mostly impossible, it's like trying to control the weather or the tides) - they don't just eat the caterpillars they want them to eat - they kill them ALL - good - bad - doesn't matter. ROFLMAO!
The LCRA does the same thing at the Lakes....a couple of years after they release *something* into the lakes to CORRECT a problem, that *something* BECOMES the problem.
You'd thing they'd just leave it the heck alone!
58
posted on
06/21/2005 7:17:49 AM PDT
by
MamaTexan
(I am NOT a *legal entity* ......... Nor am I a 'person' as created by law!)
To: happinesswithoutpeace
Yea I remember the Gypsy Moths invasion from when I was a kid here in MA in the early 80's. It was NASTY! At night you could hear millions of them chomping on leaves. It sounded like it was raining out. We used to have fun by collecting a bunch of them in jars and lighting them on fire. Another fun pastime was stuffing like 50 of em into the sparkplug hole of our lawnmower then starting it up. Also if you tapped them just the right way with your shoe they would make this loud popping noise. Great fun!
Oh yea almost forgot about the wonderful feeling i had while torching their nests with cans of hairspray and a lighter. :)
59
posted on
06/21/2005 9:16:07 AM PDT
by
mowowie
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