Spongy moth caterpillars feast on oak trees

MARTIN, Mich. (WOOD) — Oak trees can be the perfect meal for the hairy spongy moth caterpillars.

The Morse family has taped off their oak trees, but the leaves are still being eaten by the furry caterpillars, making them worry about the trees’ health.

“They are getting thinner by the day,” Pam Morse said.

Pam and Terry Morse spend two hours each morning tending to the more than 50 oak trees on their Martin property.

“I come out at 5 o clock in the morning,” Terry Morse said.

“He is sweeping down the trees,” Pam Morse said.

Duct tape creates a barrier to trap the spongy moths from worming up their trees and eating the leaves.

“We have to clean everything every day. We have to spray the cement, spray off our cars, spray off everything. Spray off our decks morning and night. It’s just getting to be like a job,” Pam Morse said.

The invasive spongy moths caterpillars are common in Barry, Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The caterpillars eat thousands of acres of leaves and are a nuisance for the Morse family and others.

“They start to go up around 4 or 5 o’clock (in the afternoon). Start to go up to feed for the night,” Pam Morse said. “They come down on their webs during the day and morning.”

It may be too late in the season to spray for spongy moth caterpillars , which not only get on trees, but also furniture, homes and even on you.

“Just be aware this isn’t going to last forever,” Joanne Foreman, a DNR invasive species communication specialist, said.

The DNR said a disease or fungus should start to kill off the spongy moth caterpillars.

“It’s important to know that if your tree leaves do get eaten by spongy moth, your trees, if they are healthy, they are going to get relief yet this summer. So it won’t kill your trees. But what you want to do is be super nice to those trees though. Make sure you are getting water on them,” Foreman said.

“That is excellent news. Then we can enjoy outside again,” Pam Morse said.

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