Mothra

Just like you'll find in a Japanese sci-fi flick from the 1960's I sometimes feel like I'm playing the role of Godzilla battling Mothra.

Only it's Swamp Gas vs. the Gypsy Moth.

An escapee from an experiment gone bad back in 1868 the Gypsy Moth has been steadily advancing westward from New England.

Its presence in Wisconsin's eastern counties was discovered in the 1990's.

The larvae love oak. And if an outbreak gets serious enough they can defoliate an entire stand of oak stressing the trees and making them vulnerable to other pests and diseases.

Late winter and early spring is a good time to look for egg masses.

If you spray them with ordinary cooking oil laced with Volck Oil Spray the eggs are suffocated and killed. It's impossible to eradicate Gypsy Moth - but you can suppress them.

Each mass represents anywhere from 500 to 900 caterpillars.

I sprayed about four dozen over a couple of days.

Death to Mothra!