Off the topic- Gypsy Moths

[skeeter]

I was fishing last week in fulton co. and It is EXTREMELY apparent that the gypsy moth has done an absurb amount of damage to not only our state forest but also everything else. I was wondering if anywhere else in the state has seen it as bad as southcentral PA. They have done so much damage down here that entire mountains look like they are experiencing 'fall'. This year has been the worst I have ever seen it,. Just for some relevance to fishing, I am just wondering how just one season like this will affect our wildlife(acorn production etc) and our streams, early increases in water temp and overall water chemistry.

 

[ryanh]

I am sure that there are tons of studies. I would imagine that the mast production for the year would be 1/10th of what it normally would be. The side effect however would be that additional light hitting the forest floor would cause a ton of undergrowth that normally would not be present. This may off set some of the loss in canopy shade and mast production.

 

[Padraic]

I wonder if deer hunters are going to freak out about the cutbacks on gypsy moth spraying. Afterall, those things are defoliating the forests worse than deer. And the GC is managing the deer herd tight, meanwhile the gypsy moth spraying is cut back to save money.

 

[Wulff-Man]

It hasn't been so bad in southeast PA, from my observations. I did hear recently that this will be one of the worst years for them in about 10 years, and that it is a regular cycle.

 

[troutbert]

Has anyone seen many trout eat these things? In a previous infestation I was on a stream where there were gypsy moths all over, including falling in the stream, but they floated down unmolested for the most part.

 

[Padraic]

troutbert wrote:
Has anyone seen many trout eat these things? In a previous infestation I was on a stream where there were gypsy moths all over, including falling in the stream, but they floated down unmolested for the most part.

I saw a trout take one off the surface and spit it out. I guess they don't taste very good. :-?

 

[troutbert]

Padraic wrote:

troutbert wrote:
Has anyone seen many trout eat these things? In a previous infestation I was on a stream where there were gypsy moths all over, including falling in the stream, but they floated down unmolested for the most part.

I saw a trout take one off the surface and spit it out. I guess they don't taste very good. :-?

Probably not. And I'm not about to try a taste test!
Inchworms eat tree leaves too, but at least they provide good food for the trout.

 

[shipnfish2006]

Here in Perry and Cumberland counties they have just destroyed the leaves in the woods. If you look at the mountains you see brown almost everywhere especially at the top of the mountain, they didnt get the bottoms of the mountains too bad yet. Im interested in seeing how this affects the acorn crop. Will trees produce more because it doesnt have to use its energy on the leaves or less because there is less protection of them, or maybe the moths even ate the growing acorns??? not sure but it should be interesting come hunting season.