One minute you are happily collecting a caterpillar family with your six-year-old on a hike, marveling at their cuteness. The next, you are having the evils of the Gypsy moth larvae explained to you at the elementary school playground.
A French scientist brought their eggs to Massachusetts in 1868 as part of his silk spinning research. During his work, some of the caterpillars got loose and have been systematically decimating millions of acres of trees in the northeast ever since.
Charming Baby took the creatures into class for sharing last week and then asked me to hold them for him after school while he played with his friends. Thankfully, the treasurer of the PTA peered into the plastic bin and gave me the low down on the invasive species we were hoarding.
“Oh, yeah, they are a huge problem. They multiply really fast and are a very tough pest to control.”
I thanked her profusely for saving me from an indeterminable fall from grace. With the hot weather and stuffy little enclosure we had them in, I was planning to let the bastards loose later that day!
Flashes of barren, rotting trees and the sound of caterpillars chomping away in the night will serve as a constant reminder to be more vigilant about who we invite back to the house.
As much as I hate to admit it, we never would have ended up harboring criminals if I had abided by the scout hiking rule: “Leave only footprints, take nothing but pictures.”
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