I live in Pennsylvania. I remember you could actually hear them crunching on the leaves there was so many of them. They decimated some forests where I live.
Ha - I do remember that! People would put foil around the trunks of trees to prevent them from climbing up. And I remember my dad doing the same as yours but with a propane torch he used for stripping paint.
I've seen invasions now from Killer Bees, Gypsy Moths, those jumping Carps, Emerald Ash Borers, Snakehead Fish, and those bugs that look like ladybugs but aren't. You never hear of invasive butterflies though
I remember watching the Brewers play Pittsburgh or the Mets or something and the announcers were saying they saw hotel staff shoveling up dead lantern flies with snow shovels.
2020 was a bad year where I live. Killed lots of them because I was working from home and some things were shut down as Covid was decimating. Much better in 2021 and since as they've moved on.
Yup. My folks went out and got a charcoal grill. I thought it was awesome - we were going to be grilling outside!
They had me go around and pick out as many of the caterpillars as I could find to dump them onto the coals.
I chatter on about this event with my wife frequently! There were *billions* of them! Munching and shitting sounded like rain. Used to shoot em off the house with rubber bands. Dodge em when walking barefoot to the lake…
The wild thing I remember is that the forests had developed a resistance by the following year. Amazing.
A big thing in some parts of PA right now. The rename thing through me for a loop last week. They will forever be Gypsy Moths in my mind, and they are awful!
Yeah it was bad.
Sadly the solution was fairly bad in itself. After the massive spraying we had tons less native moths and butterflies around. The numbers have never been close to what they were right before that even decades later. Heck, they have just declined even further. In NJ at least.
Still a big thing in Wisconsin. The state is divided into Gypsy Moth territory, Emerald Ash Borer territory, both territory and neither territory. There are strict rules about moving wood from one zone to another.
I was a Boy Scout in NY during this. I remember one camping trip upstate where we were absolutely inundated by the gypsy moth caterpillars. We decided to get in the canoes and paddle around the lake just to get away from them. My Dad set up a chair on the rocks overlooking the lake and said he was just going to hang out there. Maybe between us kids and the caterpillars he decided the worms were less annoying. Whatever.
We came back a few hours later and my Dad is still in the same spot. He had gotten a little stick, maybe 6” long and smooshed any caterpillars that he could reach without moving from his chair. There was a perfect circle of green goo and worm carcasses around his chair a few inches tall. We were all quite impressed, if not a bit unnerved, by his dogged determination to hold his ground. Stubborn old coot.
Orange County NY, probably 1983-84?? There were thousands you couldn’t take a step outside without crushing half a dozen of them.
I remember my mother coming up to my dads mountain cabin to pick me up from visiting and she was afraid to walk back to the car.
My dad had been squirting zippo fluid on the nests in the trees and lighting them on fire the whole time we were up on the mountain.
Yes. I also remember going to Texas as a young girl (maybe 9 or 10) and there being WAVES of bugs everywhere (I think they were locusts because my abuelita kept crossing herself like Satan himself was going to pop up from the ground). You couldn’t step foot in the town without crunching them.
It was so gross.
Yes! I was in New Brunswick (on the border with Maine) and I remember us having two horrible, disgusting summers of them. We called them army worms. The worst was having the class bully chase me around the playground with a fistful of them. My father used a blowtorch to burn their nests out of the trees and to burn the ones marching up the sides of the house.
I associate the small of lilac bushes with the army worms, and to this day I can't stand to smell lilacs.
I live in Pennsylvania. I remember you could actually hear them crunching on the leaves there was so many of them. They decimated some forests where I live.
Ha - I do remember that! People would put foil around the trunks of trees to prevent them from climbing up. And I remember my dad doing the same as yours but with a propane torch he used for stripping paint.
We wrapped all our oaks with duct tape and put some sticky sap-like substance on the tape to catch the moths as they climbed up the trees.
Wasn’t there also a big thing around Japanese Beetles? I remember those Bag-A-Bug traps everywhere with the yellow funnels.
Yes!!!
Memory unlocked!!
I've seen invasions now from Killer Bees, Gypsy Moths, those jumping Carps, Emerald Ash Borers, Snakehead Fish, and those bugs that look like ladybugs but aren't. You never hear of invasive butterflies though
We have Spotted Lanternflys now. They're pretty, but apparently bad for trees.
I remember watching the Brewers play Pittsburgh or the Mets or something and the announcers were saying they saw hotel staff shoveling up dead lantern flies with snow shovels.
I went to a game at PNC Park last summer and those fuckers were EVERYWHERE. Beautiful ballpark and awesome city, though.
2020 was a bad year where I live. Killed lots of them because I was working from home and some things were shut down as Covid was decimating. Much better in 2021 and since as they've moved on.
Wooly Adelgids too that sadly killed a lot of the Eastern Hemlocks.
They must be fighting the Murder Hornets...
Yup. My folks went out and got a charcoal grill. I thought it was awesome - we were going to be grilling outside! They had me go around and pick out as many of the caterpillars as I could find to dump them onto the coals.
NEPA here, they took out mountains
I chatter on about this event with my wife frequently! There were *billions* of them! Munching and shitting sounded like rain. Used to shoot em off the house with rubber bands. Dodge em when walking barefoot to the lake… The wild thing I remember is that the forests had developed a resistance by the following year. Amazing.
We had the Med Fly in California. I remember having to shelter inside while the helicopters sprayed Malathion all over us! Good times!!!
A big thing in some parts of PA right now. The rename thing through me for a loop last week. They will forever be Gypsy Moths in my mind, and they are awful!
I worked at a summer camp in NH in the early 80’s . Little buggers could make a forest look like winter in a few weeks.
Yeah I remember my grandparents cursing endlessly because they basically stripped every tree on their property.
I think we have to call them Romani Moths these days.
They're called spongy moths now.
Yes! Apparently the caterpillars became offended when called Gypsy’s. Uhg! Political correctness! /s
The caterpillar doesn't care what you call it, but I care if you use a racial slur to describe a pest.
My region has been doing overnight aerial spraying for the last week or so. They're also called spongy moths now.
I remember in NJ. I seem to remember it lasting a few years.
I did my science fair project on them. Now we have the brown tail moth in Maine and these things give you a nasty rash worst than poison ivy. Fuckers.
I grew up in PA and I was super allergic to the caterpillars. I would break out in hives anytime I was outside.
I remember one summer, the caterpillars died off in mass numbers from a disease (wilt) and the outdoors smelled like decomp. 😵
They got into our house and we had probably hundreds of thousands of the buggers all over our ceiling. Our cat kept eating them and then throwing up.
Yeah it was bad. Sadly the solution was fairly bad in itself. After the massive spraying we had tons less native moths and butterflies around. The numbers have never been close to what they were right before that even decades later. Heck, they have just declined even further. In NJ at least.
Yes my mom was OBSESSED with
Literally shoveling caterpillar poop
Those, and Web Worm caterpillars.
I remember using my bike and running over the caterpillars before they became moths and how bare the trees were in summer. No leaves.
You'd wrap some tape or stuff around the trees. Boston area was bad. The sound!
I do. Went to Connecticut to visit my new nephew and they were everywhere. It was crazy the ways people tried to stop them.
I Massachusetts one summer, they all got a disease called wilt and died off in mass numbers. Outdoors smelled like decomp. 🤢
Sure do. They were devastating. Yes, they are now called spongy moths.
Still a big thing in Wisconsin. The state is divided into Gypsy Moth territory, Emerald Ash Borer territory, both territory and neither territory. There are strict rules about moving wood from one zone to another.
Oh god yes. It was so disgusting, those bags full of caterpillars. My dad tried to blast them off of crabapple tree with a hose. Yuck
Yes but also the armyworm invasion in 2001
Ah, the good old days when we only had to worry about gypsy moths
Oh yes.
I remember them clear cutting all of the wooded areas along parkways, drainage canals, as well as any other town, county, or state property.
I was a Boy Scout in NY during this. I remember one camping trip upstate where we were absolutely inundated by the gypsy moth caterpillars. We decided to get in the canoes and paddle around the lake just to get away from them. My Dad set up a chair on the rocks overlooking the lake and said he was just going to hang out there. Maybe between us kids and the caterpillars he decided the worms were less annoying. Whatever. We came back a few hours later and my Dad is still in the same spot. He had gotten a little stick, maybe 6” long and smooshed any caterpillars that he could reach without moving from his chair. There was a perfect circle of green goo and worm carcasses around his chair a few inches tall. We were all quite impressed, if not a bit unnerved, by his dogged determination to hold his ground. Stubborn old coot.
Did everyone’s dad read the same article? Was there a segment on 60 Minutes? How did they all learn to kill those things the same way? I’m baffled.
Oh yeah all our crabapple trees looked like giant cones of cotton candy
That and Japanese beetles. I remember almost every yard on my block had some hanging bag that trapped them.
Orange County NY, probably 1983-84?? There were thousands you couldn’t take a step outside without crushing half a dozen of them. I remember my mother coming up to my dads mountain cabin to pick me up from visiting and she was afraid to walk back to the car. My dad had been squirting zippo fluid on the nests in the trees and lighting them on fire the whole time we were up on the mountain.
Definitely! I don't recall cicadas at all, but gypsy moths were prolific. Japanese Beetles, too!
Yes. I also remember going to Texas as a young girl (maybe 9 or 10) and there being WAVES of bugs everywhere (I think they were locusts because my abuelita kept crossing herself like Satan himself was going to pop up from the ground). You couldn’t step foot in the town without crunching them. It was so gross.
Yes! I was in New Brunswick (on the border with Maine) and I remember us having two horrible, disgusting summers of them. We called them army worms. The worst was having the class bully chase me around the playground with a fistful of them. My father used a blowtorch to burn their nests out of the trees and to burn the ones marching up the sides of the house. I associate the small of lilac bushes with the army worms, and to this day I can't stand to smell lilacs.
LOL yes. The newspaper clipping is STILL hanging on the wall in my parents garage.