Egg Masses On Your NY Trees? Squish Them Before Your Trees Die!
Do you remember the Gypsy Moth? Of course you do! As recently as recently as January we were still allowed to call them Gypsy Moths. Today we are asked to refer to them as Spongy Moth because 'gypsy' is offensive to some. Call them what you want, they are still a problem for our New York State trees.
If you are starting to see the Spongy Moth's eggs on your tree, it's time to get to killing.
According to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, the Spongy Moth was busy making babies and those eggs are going to hatch this May! Now is the time to start scraping them off your trees but there is a process to it.
First thing you should know is that any tree infested with the Gypsy, I mean Spongy, Moth Caterpillars will become weak and could die. Look at it this way, either your tree will die or the moth. What do you choose?
- Quarter, butter knife, putty knife (anything that will be good at scraping
- Container to drop the eggs into
- Detergent in the container to kill the eggs and keep them from hatching.
It would be impossible to kill 10 acres of these eggs by yourself. Take 1 tree at a time. In addition to scraping them you could squish the eggs until they ooze. I suggest wearing gloves. Now you know what you need to do. Go forth and squish.