On the way to town last week, I got a sense that something was not quite right. I was on the gravel road, getting ready to turn onto the county blacktop road down by Mailbox Row. You know how your eye catches something that is different, even if you are daydreaming and not paying attention to your everyday surroundings.
A glance to my right assured me that I was not yet ready for a chorus of crazy temple twirly fingers. Indeed, something was amiss. Something bright red, where no bright red should be.
I took a picture through T-Hoe's window:
What in the Not-Heaven??? It looked like a not-very-sophisticated purse stapled to a tree. There was writing on that purse. A person's name, perhaps? Nope.
That was no purse!!! It was an INSECT TRAP! Did you ever hear of such a thing? I think of a trap like a heavy metal snapper designed to catch bear paws. Or a cylindrical clear mini-barrel with a funky opening in one end to trap minnows. Neither resembles this purse-like 3D plastic envelope.
I suppose there are holes in it somewhere, to let the insects in. Maybe something sticky to hang onto them so they don't get out. Apparently, signs saying PRIVATE PROPERTY do not deter insect-trappers.
Not saying it's a conspiracy... but their little purse flat-out claims they are government workers.
It's for gypsy moths. We've had them in the St. Louis area for years.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that info! If you have them, we probably have them. We're about 60 miles south. I did a little research, to get more info.
Deletehttps://agriculture.mo.gov/plants/pests/spongymoth.php
I figured there would have been a name change, for political correctness! Can't have anybody being offended because of a moth name.
Insect traps come in all shapes and sizes, this one looks like it might trap a crawling kind of insect, something that might cause damage to certain trees in the area. "no-one" once had a fruitfly trap hung in one of her trees because there was an outbreak in her side of town and people were urged to not share tomatoes nor fruit from their stone fruit trees. Which meant she didn't get any peaches or tomatoes from the neighour that year. There's nothing worse than cutting or biting into a sweet peach and finding it crawling with mini maggots.
ReplyDeleteYou win! There could be nothing worse! Before reading this, I thought the worst was picking a fresh tomato, feeling your fingers squish into the back side, and turning it around to see a tomato hornworm.
DeleteIf it is indeed to trap gypsy moths, which harm trees, I suppose it will catch the caterpillar stage.
I have never seen a trap like that or even knew they existed. I suppose I thought people with nets caught bugs for science and the government.
ReplyDeleteSame here. Before I got a clearer picture, and zoomed in, I thought it might be a kid collecting bugs. I figured bug people just chose an area, and went out with collecting tools and capture containers to harvest what they could find.
DeleteThose come from the department of Natural Resources. Remember when the Ash bore beetles were killing all the trees? They came to the campground and put them out. They did stop at the office first, but I got the impression that refusing was not an option.
ReplyDeleteI do not remember that. This was not "our" land, but the land of the guy next to it. He MIGHT have given permission, but I don't know how they would have figured out the owner, that land bordering our gravel road, with the "trespassers" sign on a tree across from it.
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