Tie a Burlap Sack Around the Old Oak Tree .....

So those aren't the most romantic words you could set to that song, and it's certainly not the most attractive feature of our landscaping, but we're at war here - and this is the enemy:


That's the highly-destructive gypsy moth caterpillar. They invaded Green Bay about five years ago, and since then we've been killing them by the hundreds every summer. Their favorite food is the leaves on oak trees, and they can totally defoliate a whole tree if left unchecked. The city forestry department started bagging all the oak trees in the parks right away and encouraged all homeowners to do the same. The caterpillars come down from the top of the trees during the day to hide from the sun under the burlap, so you can ambush them when you get home from work every day.

Supposedly they will die eventually if you put them in a bucket of soapy water, but we just use a small scissors to cut their little heads off and watch them ooze green slime as they fall off the tree. EEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW, it's totally gross but extremely satisfying to watch them die, because they are EVIL!!!!!

The DNR has been spraying now for the last two years so they are almost gone. We've only been finding a few here and there this year compared to dozens a day last year. Most people didn't even bother to bag their trees this year, but not my dad. Until we are caterpillar free for a whole week he's not taking that burlap down. He may be retired from the Army, but he still lives by the warrior ethos:

I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit.