How to CONTROL GYPSY MOTHS - Ep. 032

It's a really bad gypsy moth year and even though we can't save all of our trees from this invasive, defoliating, hairy monster-we're making a valiant attempt to control the gypsy moth from some of our prized trees. Here are some tips on how we're doing it.
If you have other methods you are using, feel free to share them in the comments below!
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[@nadinecartwright1979]

That song with the slo mo was perfect.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

That's Summer Rayne's music selection for you!

[@LaviniaDeMortalium]

Sander picking up on more and more plant knowledge has been so fun to watch.

[@greatmarloes]

It's good to hear ya Sander😁👍

[@dagmarcirlan440]

I love how the flock videos are getting also funny 😆

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Glad you like the humor! We're having fun (as you can tell)!

[@greatmarloes]

Love your creative ways of limiting the damage! It's inspiring to look for alternative ways instead of using pesticides. We've been having a lot of snail problems and are still thinking about how to work with/around them

[@az77429]

Buy a roll of insulation that is 4” thick with a paper backing. The insulation comes 16” wide and can be cut in half. I’ve put a 6” wide piece around the tree and no caterpillars have gotten pass this barrier.

[@JeraldBaliteTV]

loved the music you used hahahaha, its so theatrical :P , those are so itchy in skin

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Yeah that's an SRO music selection. She's good at choosing the tunes.

[@jeffreykeomany8447]

Watching gypsy moths go flying away is oddly satisfying

[@FlockFingerLakes]

We couldn't agree more!

[@sanjananafday5317]

Poor gypsy moths 😂! Editing on this one was A+

[@2prettyfunnythings736]

Great video. Learning and laughing 😝 what can be better. Another great music choice😂 🐛 😵‍💫☠️

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Glad it was educational. And the music-that's Summer Rayne's selection. She's good at the tunes!

[@gregyerby5300]

I never knew a video about caterpillars could be so entertaining!

[@fulfordpoint]

Perfect timing for this video. I just discovered the caterpillars on my dear Oak yesterday. I killed as many as I could find and discovered how much the ants love the carcasses. I am going to follow your directions and collar the tree. I think I have been lucky as there are not many compared to north around the lakes. Cottagers say there are so many in the trees the excrement actually hit the roofs and cause sound. It is a bad year for the Gypsy Moth. Thanks for bringing knowledge!

[@FlockFingerLakes]

The hilltops here are absolutely denuded. (And the hilltops are primarily oak-hickory). It's a sad, sad sight. Let us know how the collaring works for you!

[@sofiasalemi4260]

Love all the questions that Sander asks !! :D

[@lindylou3519]

Pests can really ruin the pleasure & pride we feel after planting a new tree or shrub. I’m finding the leaves of the young trees I planted early spring are getting munched on by something… & they were doing so well, sheesh!

[@FlockFingerLakes]

We were glad we limited planting this year with the bad gypsy moth year. Looks like Fall will be a better time to plant!

[@cefcat5733]

We used a stick to catch and gather them at our new country house in jars as kids. They were mostly in one place, hundreds of them. I guess we wiped them out in our yard, just due to our kids' curiosity. That was before we planted trees there. Hey, we did something right. Good luck! Now I can look up the Gypsy Moth and see what they are.

[@riawhetstone3725]

Haha! Just saw one of these while hiking in NH last week but we couldn’t get a positive ID bc we didn’t have signals on our phones. I actually pointed at it & said “It’s your lucky day!” bc we spared it 😅

[@monicareid8858]

Soooooooo satisfying to watch-hahaha!! Too bad you don’t have chickens to gobble them up ☀️

[@angygvalmo3342]

6:58 Gypsy moth attack from the back!

[@alaaaaaaaaaaaan]

I'm in the Catskills on a 22-acre property, and we have so many of the same issues here. These videos have been so informative and relatable. There are a bunch of things I am learning for the first time about the woods around me, or in this case, commiserating in some of the common pests problems.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Yeah probably lots of synergies between here and the Catskills. You're not too far away! Glad some of this is educational.

[@parihav]

Eventually, predators will adapt to go after these invasive species. But until then, we have to be creative in using techniques like you've shown to catch these pests using organic solutions.

[@thaifromthailand8808]

Here in Thailand, I have the same problem on my 8 hectare farm but with termites. The local university gave me great ideas and solutions. Btw, Sanders have such beautiful blue eyes.

[@Banano91f]

They almost destroyed an oak forest here in Sardinia, thanks for sharing

[@FlockFingerLakes]

you're welcome. Hope the oak bounces back. They seem to really like the oak and beech family. Maples not so much.

[@billinct860]

The last and only infestation in my area was around 1981 I believe. I put masking tape on the trunks of trees on my lawn coated with Tanglefoot... a substance that is used on fly paper. This worked well for trees isolated from other trees. The remainder of trees that bordered my property were in contact with woods. That made banding useless as they just crawled from the trees contacting mine. For them I used Liquid Sevin, a garden insecticide. Connecticut did aerial spraying on selected patches too. All of the trees in the woods and in my town were stripped bare but those surrounding my property as high as my sprayer could reach remained green from the poison. By July it had ended, and it seemed every tree trunk and even houses had egg masses on them. A tiny parasitic wasp had been introduced that year along with other measures. I don't know what was responsible... but the Gypsy Moth never materialized the next year. All of the trees re-foliated by August as if nothing had happened.

[@audreyjudd8196]

The cheery song as the moths are being flung off. 🤣

[@cascadeserenity3484]

Cinnamon works also to keep them from completing killing the tree. I sprinkle lots all around the base and then kill them as I see them.

[@caroljohnson4723]

So sorry you are experiencing this! Must have been devastating when you came back and saw the trees defoliated!

[@edsterjune5607]

I feel you guys! My orchids were totally destroyed by rats for the past few weeks😑pests are such a pest..

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Oh man that is a total bummer. Summer had a mouse issue in Brooklyn, which was consuming her plants. Or at least nibbling them.

[@lalop123]

I used to work my dad and his landscape business. Gypsy caterpillars sucked! We would knock them off with a metallic rake. It was flexible and would get a lot of the caterpillars off. Since the tree was defoliated, it didn’t matter that the rakes made the tree look weird. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Burned wood chips around the tree could help put off the caterpillars on the ground.

[@glwing1200]

Hi from South Jersey. In high school 79-82 found a nature book in the library, it said Gypsy moth has a 7 year growth and decline control by Blue birds nesting. Low years Blue's lay 3 egg no food "Gypsy Low" then Gypsy go up Blue's Lay 7 eggs, lots of food for babies. No Pesticides just Birds House for Blue Bird.

[@jsaysyay]

gosh i remember a few years ago the were that dense on every vertical surface they could find, the last four years or so they’ve been in huge decline in my state from disease and such, makes sense in a way, it’s where they started, hopefully soon your moths will befall the same fate! which mind you, is a very weird thing to say if out of context lol

[@Fabdanc]

Do any birds eat the caterpillars? I am assuming that most do not like them because they are hairy... but that's invasives for you... lots of bugs to feed the birds, but none of them are tasty :-/

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Doesn't seem like any bird will touch them but we found out the fish in the pond like them. Now only if fish flew!

[@botanyboy5454]

This means WAR ! Carry on brave soldiers ! 🤣

[@jasminush]

Guys, you should use my grandma's secret :)) apply lime on the trunks in the spring.

[@fleigh2482]

I understand that munching sound is actually them pooping and it hitting the leaves. Literally raining poop. They typically last for 2-3 years before bacteria starts to kill them off for another 10 years or so. Also in the Finger Lakes area.

[@mayakiruluta2084]

Omg 😳

[@thenorthernpalace261]

Yay, more screen time for Sander!

[@suekuly4723]

When I was a kid I used to LOVE climbing the trees and collecting these bastards…..now you won’t even get me near a tree with them in it! hahahaha

[@arunbangera2]

Our next MIB (Men in Blue!!) sequel featuring summer and sander fighting alien moths 😎😎

[@tanyal7122]

The music is awesome. We have had many battle with those guys.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Summer Rayne's special selection of music.

[@brianandtamiolson2330]

Summer, will these caterpillars 🐛 choose any type of tree or are they tree specific?

[@kindashin]

watching they clump tgt is the most unsatisfying thing ever

[@marciloni12]

There's an infestation of them in Canada, I'm in Ontario and they start off as ant size, black catterpillar. They haven't defoliated any of our trees but we have leaf and flower bud damage.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

We hope it's not as bad as here. Halfway between us though (Syracuse) it seems to be the worst.

[@FlyingFrog87]

Is there anything that eats them? When walnut caterpillars started defoliating our pecans a roadrunner showed up and started helping out by munching on a bunch of them. But then again, I don’t think walnut caterpillars sting.

[@suebouchard8198]

They wiped out my raspberry bushes

[@astridekko9229]

Keeping you busy! So many things to do…

[@kate481]

Fun music! Haha!

[@janetwisecarver7804]

Why aren’t you spraying the Bronner mixture into the tree to eliminate the critters?

[@janetwisecarver7804]

Will any sent of Bronners soap work? Does it need to be a certain one? Ty

[@peterkovachevich]

i feel your pain!

[@m.k.9405]

That was very entertaining 🙂👍 I got a question about prescribed burns. Are you going to apply prescribed burns on your land? Why or why not? Just curious. I know there are some benefits to it.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Likely not much need to. We'll be managing our future meadow with mowing 1X / year and the forest will be more in recovery/regeneration phase. The only burning we've done so far is on the invasive bush honeysuckle and multiflora rose.

[@BearMeat4Dinner]

Will I have to worry about this up in Malone? Are you guys at Finger Lakes? I'm moving soon. Gotta keep an eye on this if I gotta deal with it with the 15 acres I have... :/

[@FlockFingerLakes]

They seem to be affecting the Finger Lakes fairly badly but not compared to other years.

[@DeeCM58]

I can tell in this episode, Summer you trimmed your hair.

[@YunaOnHome]

Is there a good predator for them?

[@viettrung7822]

Poor lil beeches :D

[@kindashin]

i tot u were politely cursing when u say beech then realise its the trees name

[@princyjoseph2729]

They infest the Moringa trees every year in India and all we use is mix water and detergent and spary or pour it on the tree trunks and they are gone.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Didn't realize they were in India too. How did they get there, because they aren't native, are they?

[@princyjoseph2729]

@@FlockFingerLakes I don't know about their nativity .. they are called Kambuli poochi in Tamil( our native language in Tamilnadu, South India) or Blanket worms and I remember they are in India for more than Two Decades because once on my way to school this insect fell on my neck from the tree and it kept itching and started to swell behind my neck and a friend of mine found this on my school uniform collar. Since then I have always been careful to stay away from the Morniga trees during the months of March and April. Actually the sight of these insects covered on the tree trunks will cause me goosebumps . I'm 37 years old now.. maybe they have their roots here in India too... It's a menace but still its nature.. even these tiny creatures have some role in our eco system which could be beneficial. Happy to see the response and Love what you do at the Flock Finger Lakes.

[@kindashin]

maybe put some ductape the other way round too above of that ‘blocker’ too so they if they manage to climb theyll stuck on the ductape ahhahaahahahahahahah

[@kareharpies]

Can chickens/guinea hens eat them? I'm surprised you guys flick them off (giving them the chance to go elsewhere) instead of exterminating them.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

As you see, when you flick them, they all go back to the same tree and try to crawl up it. When they congregate there, we spray them with the Dr. Bronner solution. But from our experience, chickens won't eat them. But the fish in the pond will!

[@mariafolch8067]

@@FlockFingerLakes if you spray them while on the tree, would the Bronner soap affect the plant?

[@mayakiruluta2084]

Eeeee this reminds me of when we had tent caterpillars on our cherry blossom tree. Why can’t butterfly caterpillars do this instead of moths 😩

[@FlockFingerLakes]

But at least some of our native birds eat the tent caterpillars. We *may* have seen a bluebird attempt to eat a caterpillar today, but not sure if it dropped the caterpillar aftering biting into it or not.

[@broomdog1214]

Those stuffs are nightmare! They killed one of my rose plant.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

So sorry to hear. They weren't really interested in the roses here.

[@BoldlyGrowHomestead]

Can you let chickens out around the base after knocking them down?

[@kareharpies]

That's my question too 🤔

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Chickens don't seem to eat them, but our fish in the pond do!

[@sandylee1717]

Hate those dang things

[@MsCaterific]

💜

[@jasonthurston799]

you need a soapy pressure washer

[@hightower2537]

just put chickens around the base of the tree :)

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Chickens don't seem to want to eat the hairy caterpillars.

[@Christian-S]

Why are they called Gypsy moths?

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Not sure of that origin.

[@DeeCM58]

Why aren’t you guys wearing hats?

[@kareharpies]

Heres a reasonable solution for homemade bait trap to lure them to you instead of your tree: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/emGVkGdofNmWi5o

[@mwmsjuly19]

🥴

[@ysb362]

Doesnt work, there's millions

[@RayMirshahi]

The infestation is the worst I have ever seen this year in Canada. BTW some people prefer the name "LDD moth" because it's not offensive.