Have Gypsy Moths Killed Your Trees?

Have you ever stood underneath a tree and heard the sound of Gypsy Moths eating the tree leaves? It is such an eerie sound! Last year as I stood under a tree I thought "what is that noise"? It was the Gypsy Moths munching away on our tree leaves. It really was creepy!

The Gypsy Moth often targets hardwood trees. On our property they preferred the taste of our maple tree leaves. Last year we did not do anything to attempt to control or prevent the Gypsy Moths from damaging our trees. We did not realize they were such a big problem until it was too late.

This past Spring it felt like the Gypsy Moths were everywhere at one point. They were climbing on all different types of objects in our yard, like patio furniture and even on our barbecue.

Another common problem reported was the rash these little creatures left on human skin when their tiny hairs came in contact with human skin. The rash appeared similar to poison ivy and was extremely itchy! I know from first hand experience and it was not pleasant!

We decided we needed to take a proactive approach in the Spring to help prevent the same problem from reoccurring and killing our maple trees. Check out the video below to see what we did this past Spring!

The above method worked extremely well for us to help catch some of those tiny Gypsy Moths that were venturing up our maple trees. Now that August is here the next step is to remove the tape from the trees.

Not only does the tape need to be removed but the remaining Gypsy Moths and Gypsy Moth egg masses also need to be removed. Check out our video below to see exactly how we completed this next step.

We can only hope that next year fewer of these little pests will be in our area. According to the Ontario Government website, an outbreak can occur approximately every 7 to 10 years. Let's hope the worst is behind us and next summer we will be able to enjoy Spring with fewer Gypsy Moths.

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