Worm warfare in the North End

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/06/2019 (2323 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Every so often, I have the worst time coming up with something to write.  

It was already past my noon deadline and the only thought I had was to write about the Canadian flag. I did some research and although I learned some new facts, my heart wasn’t in it. After notifying my editor, I went outside to my front steps. Sometimes you just have to get away for a while.  

It didn’t take long before I realized that my house was being taken over by tiny sticks that moved. 

Do you know what I’m talking about? 

Skinny, brown (and sometimes green) caterpillars that move like inch worms and dangle from silken strings. Ewww!  

I’d never seen these until just last year, when I was helping at my church in the Fort Rouge area with spring cleanup. Now they were in my own front yard. 

I went back into the house for some paper towel and a grocery bag. The squishing out of bright green guts began. Two sheets of paper towel were insufficient. I went back and got the whole roll. It was while I was both gingerly and gleefully doing damage, that my mailman arrived. He was so grateful that I was trying to deal with these lovelies. He was also kind enough to tell me that there’s a $40 spray available in pest control retail outlets that immediately immobilizes them.  I thanked him for the tip.

Being a North Ender, my first thought was, “How can I make my own spray?”

I went on the internet. The first step was to attempt to identify the type of creature I was dealing with. I’d only heard of canker worms and tent worms. My hypothesis was that salt water would dry them out (like with slugs) but I noticed that dish soap was mentioned a few times in relation to killing eggs especially, but also larvae.

I didn’t have a spray bottle that I could make soapy, so I settled for a yogurt container. I grabbed my straw broom as well. My strategy was to either dislodge the caterpillars and catch them in my container, or simply pour the water directly on them. Both were effective at killing them eventually, and much less messy (and more environmentally friendly?) than my previous method. After dumping out the water and the worms on a patch of ground, I happily went inside — to write about it! 

I realize that this type of guerilla warfare isn’t for everyone — perhaps it’s my rural upbringing mixed with my North End hardiness — but I thought I would share my story to encourage any readers that want solutions for their own “stick caterpillar” infestations.  Or, just to laugh.

 

Sonya Braun is a community correspondent for the North End. You can contact her at sonyajoy@gmail.com