A picture of a caterpillar on a person's arm and a picture of a caterpillar on a leaf, both taken outdoors in RI.

Outdoors in RI: Pond weeds, nail polish, Brown Tail Moth scourge – Jeff Gross

July 14, 2023/Jeff Gross

by Jeff Gross, contributing writer

The RI Division of Environmental Management (RIDEM) will be de-weeding Shippee Saw Mill Pond, Carolina Trout Pond and Breakheart Pond. Of the 3 ponds, Breakheart has the worst weed density. I fished both Carolina and Shippee and felt that they were not bad. Breakheart is weed laden, though. Looks like Breakheart will need to be done every 2 years as it was done 2 years ago, and it needs de-weeding already.

Since it is the summer doldrums trout won’t be biting in any of the mentioned ponds, so the DEM recommends not eating any fish out of those locations for at least 30 days. When fishing any pond take note of any weeds when your watercraft is removed from the waterway and throw any aquatic weeds in the trash. Maine is becoming very concerned about milfoil contamination and gave this writer numerous inspections over the last 2 months, practically with a magnifying glass.

Ladies, looking for a new style to replace the now outdated French manicure? (Joanne Gray and Brittany Ashe take note) Style your nails up with color schemes that are found on fishing lures and fishing spoons. Date night? Do up a pedicure or manicure and see how long it takes him to notice. Given the flashy colors of today’s lures I give it about 1 minute. Fishing lure nails are the latest trend, and it will be interesting to see if the trend makes it to the NYC designer studios.

Gentlemen: Fishing lures can be touched up with nail polish. And for you married guys, it is likely there is an abundant supply of colors on your wife’s bedroom hutch. When you touch up the lure or repaint the lure, add a coat of clear coat to ensure the new color lasts longer. Just remember to seal up the bottle so it is available for future use.

I hope the RI DEM takes a proactive approach to any possible Brown Tail Moth potential infestation as the state of Maine is doing just the opposite. After seeing a lot of bureaucratic paperwork on Maine’s website which for all intents and purposes is useless, I called the Maine Governor. My goal was to persuade the Maine Governor (Janet Mills) to take actual physical action and destroy the moths and caterpillars. Unfortunately, my numerous calls and voicemails detailing why I was calling went unanswered.

Using insecticides of chemical or biological nature is the only sure-fire way to defeat these horrible pests. The website only gives a lot of useless data and some incoherent information on a small sum of money available to towns to combat this insect invasion. In 3 short years the Brown Tail Moth problem has gone from unknown and misdiagnosed to severe. Maine can save its forests as these bugs are attacking Black Oaks and some White Oaks with a heavy bombardment of insecticides. Maine can also save its human population, and its tourism, by this same treatment. I, for one, am unlikely to return in 2024 unless solid corrective action is taken.

Currently the Moths are from Portland to Bar Harbor, Maine to as far north as Dover Foxcroft. I am sure the tree huggers will have issue with this pesticide treatment as they always do. In this case the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few as this infestation affects all humans in various negative ways. The impact on wildlife will be short term while the untreated negative impact on humans will be decades. I broke out 5 times from June 15th until July 8th. Two of the breakouts were severe. A new friend, who owns property in Bar Harbor, has broken out the same number of times. Just like Poison Ivy these caterpillar hairs can infect some very horrible locations on your body. One severe breakout time I ended up in the hospital. Hell – even my Golden Retriever puppy, Abby, is showing signs of skin irritation thanks to those harmful bugs. Worst of all, if inhaled these toxic hairs can cause respiratory inflammation and can last in the environment for 3 years. Janet Mills – if you are reading this and I am sure you are, if you won’t destroy the invasive Brown Tail Moths for the benefit of humanity, then please do it for man’s best friend.

See you next week.

Editor’s Note: The brown tail moth is prevalent in parts of England – this article notes that the hairs can be especially toxic to dogs – “According to Bulldogology, there are insects, like the Brown Tail Moth caterpillar, that have toxins or poison that act on contact or ingestion. These can cause some serious discomfort to your puppy through tummy aches, diarrhea or even lesions – making the caterpillars potentially toxic to man’s best friend.

However, if your dog picks up one of the creatures on its body, non-haired areas of the body can be affected by rashes or dermatitis, in areas such as the abdomen, muzzle or shaved udders.”