You guys, this is getting serious.
(Side note: check out Cosmo creeping in the photos)
It has been almost 3 weeks of these little buggers hanging around. It feels like they fall straight from the sky like paratroopers. 24/7. All they do is eat and eat and eat. All the poor birch trees look like they lost all their leaves. Unfortunately Cosmo couldn’t care less, so he is virtually NO help in this unfair battle against them. We have done some research on these critters and here is an article from a few years ago that describes these invaders: Army Worm Article
Initially, we just let them be. No harm, no foul. But then Travis decided we needed to do something. After he hand plucked close to 800 into a bucket of soapy water and it didn’t even put a dent in the crowd, we have resorted to sucking them up in the shop vac multiple times a day. The platform just outside the door is littered with army worm bodies. They are harmless, really, just incredibly invasive. When you hang laundry out, you spend a good 15 minutes “debugging” the clothes before bringing them in. Its getting ridiculous. We are constantly picking them off our clothes and gear. I hardly notice them anymore, actually.
However, I think the tide has turned in this battle. They have started to slow down and we may just win the war. It ain’t easy out there, folks.