Harold's Anti-Caterpillar Invention

If you recall in my last post, I mentioned how we have those awful tent caterpillars and we cannot use pesticides because of our honey bees.  Well, my "redneck genius" husband rigged up something that really works!!!  No caterpillars in our apple tree now, and no worry about using pesticides.    Check out the photo below.  He took a plastic gallon jug, like from milk or water, and cut it in half.  Then he split the side and punched holes on each side of the cut (like shoelace holes).  Then he wrapped some 1/2 inch foam around the tree (like a piece of carpet underlay)  and secured it with a piece of tight wire, with ends long enough to lace through the holes in the jug.  He fit the jug real tight against the foam, but the foam will give a little as the tree needs to grow.  Then he sealed up all spaces with PL400.  So - the caterpillars climb up the tree from the ground (that's how they get there from elsewhere), they hit the curved part of the jug and cannot figure out how to climb back down and around and over the jug!  They get stuck in the little space at the top of the jug and fall back down.  Meanwhile I have seen birds eating them off the ground.   Unfortunately I can't save my raspberry bushes this way, but at least we saved our apples!  Before we put this jug thing on, we used a strong spray jet of water to wash them all off the tree (the tree is small enough at this point that we can do that).  So I guess we are smarter than the average tent caterpillar, eh?  That's why we are at the top of the food chain. ........
     Spent several hours today mowing with my new mower/tractor.  And worked in the garden.   More than 5 hours total in 84 degree heat.   Uff da.

Redneck Caterpillar Trap - it really works!

Happy mower Patty - smiling, like she had good sense or something.