Fragments From Floyd

Actually, they must have already arrived on Goose Creek.

I had seen the little green cardboard lures wired in bush or two along the creek and was curious if they were finding any Gypsy Moth males. It seemed unlikely. Weren't they more of a northern problem, anyway? Well, yes, they were introduced somewhere near Boston around 1900, but these forest defoliators are spreading rapidly south and west and are in our woods already. Our area is scheduled to become part of the zone that will be treated this summer to "Slow the Spread".

Hot dang. Just what we need on top of the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid is another insect pest of forest trees. It seems they will defoliate about a million acres this year in Virginia alone. So I'm all for retarding their progress into the Smokies -- and they would be there by 2015 without intervention. The treatment involves flying over our region (consisting of 36K acres according to the map I got in the mail) and releasing Gypsy Moth female sex pheromone that will lead males on a unsatisfying wild goose chase and prevent successful mating. There's a public hearing nearby in January. I see they have already addressed one potential issue of possible concern. They state...

"Due to recent events, additional steps will be taken to ensure aircraft and treatment product security".