Your Mission Connecticut: Kill Spongy Moth Before They Kill Our Oak Trees

It's been a couple of years since Connecticut has experienced a Spongy Moth outbreak, and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection would like to keep it that way in 2025.

Before the Summer gets here, Connecticut Fish & Wildlife has just sent out a reminder/warning for you to do something for them: Kill Spongy Moths, formerly known as 'Gypsy Moths'. before they destroy Connecticut's native tree population and oak trees. The Summer of 2021 was the last time that the CT DEEP warned residents of Connecticut and Litchfield County specifically that outbreaks of this invasive pest threatened our trees, and after a dry Spring, the time is right to look around your property for those little white caterpillar tents in your trees.

As bad as it got in Litchfield County in 2021, it was even worse in New Hampshire at that time. My wife and I saw thousands of white webs teeming with life in the trees surrounding Lake Winnipesaukee. I had flashbacks to the Connecticut we lived in during the late 1970's and early 80's, when I followed my grandfather around the yard while he torched nest after nest with a cup of gasoline and his lighter.

Why should you check your trees and dispatch any you find? According to ct.gov, oak trees are the spongy moths favorite, but they will destroy most other hardwood trees in their path, and that leads to deforestation, with an increased risk of fire. Don't go out and burn like Grandpa did in the 70's, if what you discover is beyond your capabilities contact a Connecticut Certified Forester instead.