Joan Swenson: Readers share tricks on caterpillars and cats
| Tuesday, Sep 09 2008 05:58 PM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 06:01 PM
Readers are writing, about caterpillars and cats.
The redhumped caterpillar, which I haven’t seen in years, is a summertime problem for folks and their liquidambar, redbud and apricot trees. Following a column about the worms two weeks ago, I heard from several people who have the pest, a yellow worm with black stripes, a brick-red head and a red hump on its fourth section. They’ve found ways of limiting the damage done by this leaf-eater.
Pat Marshall writes: “Every year I am challenged by the caterpillars on my redbud tree. I have a less violent way of dealing with them, (I find it extremely icky to smash or squash!) Just last week my husband helped me cut four branches off, which were loaded with all sizes of the varmints and we disposed of them in our green can. I also check leaves for new eggs and pick them off. In previous years my grandchildren have enjoyed playing with the caterpillars prior to their being disposed of in the green can, where I think they get too warm to survive.”
Dwight Walsh’s apricot and redbud trees have been the target of the worms. He writes, “I managed to catch the new ‘hatch’ on my redbuds and a freshly planted apricot tree several times this summer and was able to prevent the skeletonization, for the most part.”
Kent Bolton used a systemic pesticide against the worms. He writes, “I have a liquidambar tree that became infested with the redhumped caterpillar at least five years ago. I could see how bad they could make a tree look in a short period of time because they have so many life cycles in one season. I bought an expansion pole with a cutter on its end so I could clip off branches higher than I could normally reach so I could slow down the destruction. This worked fairly well until the moths started laying eggs out of my reach.
“My tree is about 50 feet tall, so I couldn't afford to have a hoist come around once a month and spray for worms. I was also afraid that I might affect birds that lived in the tree. Then I discovered the best solution for me. The garden stores have a product made by Bayer Advanced called Tree and Shrub Protect and Feed. The common name for the chemical in this product is called Merit. You apply this chemical around the base of the plant and the plant absorbs it. When the caterpillars eat the leaves they get sick much like you described using Bt. If an animal doesn't eat the leaves, they are not bothered.
“The bigger the tree, the more product you use. It's supposed to last for a year, but with my large tree, I've had to keep applying about monthly. For me, it has been the easiest chemical to use and it has been the most effective. Perhaps this information can help some others that have the same plight.”
MORE ON CAT CONTROL
Brent Andrews writes to add another suggestion to the list of cat control agents, “I used a product off of the Internet called Shake Away with great success (coyote urine). Can be pricey but it worked.”
(Shake Away, according to the company’s information label, contains coyote, bobcat, wolf, cougar and fox urine. Where one obtains the urine of these animals is a mystery to me. Here’s the Web site: critter-repellent.com/)
