Damn!!! What happened to fall!!

[Chris-380]

They are on a about a 10 yr cycle and up at our cottage it was insane. Our oaks were about 90% defoliated by the time the caterpillars were done. A few leaves grew after the caterpillars had turned into the moths, but it was nuts.
Here is what one tree looked like in June. It got worse, but I don't have a picture. This is normally a very healthy oak and you would not be able to see sky through the leaf cover in mid June. The second picture is what the caterpillar droppings on the car sitting under that tree looked like after a couple of hours. Silver lining is there were far less leaves to rake up this fall, I guess.

View attachment 94666 View attachment 94667

WOW, thats crazy

 

[sbw1]

Gypsy Moths can be controlled with aerial spraying of BT. However, it is probably not necessary unless this is a yearly event. Oaks that are healthy can withstand defoliation as long as it is an isolated event. We had our Oaks sprayed once in 46 years. That killed all of the moths and they never returned again.

 

[Creekwood]

Gypsy Moths can be controlled with aerial spraying of BT. However, it is probably not necessary unless this is a yearly event. Oaks that are healthy can withstand defoliation as long as it is an isolated event. We had our Oaks sprayed once in 46 years. That killed all of the moths and they never returned again.View attachment 94669

The Town sprayed the forest behind our house with BT in 2019 and it really controlled the gypsy moth caterpillars around our home, but they were still there. The cottage is a much less urban area with large forested areas so the township there can't really spray in a cost effective way. We have owned the cottage for 21 years and it has never been as bad as this past summer. Not even close.

If they are bad again next year, I may see if a few surrounding neighbors want to share the cost of an aerial spray. It isn't cheap, as you probably can attest.

 

[sbw1]

We had our woods sprayed along with 15 or so neighbors when we did it. It was somewhat reasonable price wise, although as you say was not cheap. We have a local guy who does the blueberry fields nearby and he swung by our neighborhood in his Piper aircraft using GPS for the exact location. It was pretty interesting and exciting to watch his pattern which was a series of parallel, low altitude runs over the target area. The entire time over our home was less than a minute. Within a week there was a noticeable effect, mostly not hearing the droppings come down. The next year, and every following year, our trees looked great.These guys really know how to handle an airplane.
As an aside, Grand Haven and Spring Lake had Gypsy Moths for 2 or 3 years in a row and the townships collaborated on spraying about the same time we did our work. That was the key to controlling the problem. It has been probably 30 years since I've even thought about the issue. Maybe you can drum up some interest in getting the local governments to look at doing something. Good luck with the problem.

 

[Espos4]

Screw the leaves and acorns, we’ve had the nicest 5 days here in NY. We’ve been out nearly every day on the water.

68-75° and full sun since Friday.

 

[Gofirstclass]

After two days of below freezing temps in the morning, then two days of sprinkles and drizzle, and winds in the 12-15mph range, today is sunny, partly cloudy, ZERO wind and 36*. It's supposed to get up to 44* today.

Good day to get the lawn tractor out and pick up the rest of the leaves.

 

[Creekwood]

After two days of below freezing temps in the morning, then two days of sprinkles and drizzle, and winds in the 12-15mph range, today is sunny, partly cloudy, ZERO wind and 36*. It's supposed to get up to 44* today.

Good day to get the lawn tractor out and pick up the rest of the leaves.

Was 72 in Toronto yesterday and about 60 today. Normally would be about 40 to 45.