'It's not bearable': London homeowners on the return of Gypsy moths

Another spring, another pest.

Byron residents are faced with a recurring spring challenge: gypsy moth caterpillars taking over their properties.

For Michelle Pace, this is her second encounter with these larvae that tend to defoliate their host tree and cause residents countless headaches.

It's not bearable. We can't go outside.- Michelle Pace, Byron resident

Jill-Anne Spence, London's manager of urban forestry, is no stranger to gypsy moth caterpillars. She said the easily identifiable insects, that carry a set of five pairs of blue dots and six pairs of bright red dots along their backs, are common in Ontario.

Spence said these insects thrive in certain tree species such as oak, birch, poplar and maple trees; three of these species surround Pace's property.

"It's not bearable. We can't go outside. If you go outside, you either have caterpillars on you or you're hit with caterpillar feces that are falling from the trees," she said.

For Pace, her son and their two dogs, springtime has not been pleasant.

"I can't even use my barbecue because whenever I open it, caterpillar feces are falling on it and no matter how much I clean it, it's going to fall into the food," Pace added. 

This past weekend, Pace spent seven hours power washing her backyard, but nothing seems to help get rid of these invaders.

"It's disgusting and they're everywhere. There's hundreds of them," she said.

Pace has spoken to several private tree companies to find a solution to her problem. She was given two options: pay for a tree injection to get rid of the pest for a couple of years or pay to have the trees cut.

Neither option is feasible for her.

"There's no point in injecting my trees. For it to work, I'd need to inject all the trees around my house because some of their branches extend to my backyard. But to do that, I'd have to spend at least $3,200 and I don't have that kind of money," she said. "I can't cut the trees either because I'd need a city permit for that and they wont give me one." 

Under the city's Tree Protection By-law, certain trees are protected from being injured or destroyed regardless of being on private property, leaving Pace with no option other than to ask the city for help.

I'd like to see the city step up-Michelle Pace, Byron resident

"I'd like to see the city step up and do an aerial spay. It's obviously a huge problem that is just coming to fruition with everyone coming out now and letting everyone know that they have the same problem as I do," she said.

Marsi Breemhaar lives just a few a blocks from Pace.

This is the first time the Breemhaar family has encountered these types of caterpillars and she said the experience has been awful. 

"Honestly, I started looking at houses yesterday. I can't handle this. It's ridiculous...There are so many [caterpillars] and it's disgusting," she said.

Breemhaar and her husband spend at least an hour a day cleaning their yard in an attempt to control the situation.

The couple power washes, vacuums, sweeps, and uses insecticides, but nothing has been able to get rid of the caterpillars, she said. 

"The kids haven't been able to enjoy the backyard for the past two weeks. Me and my husband don't go out there either. There's just too many caterpillars. They're all over the place - on the chairs, under the table, on the roof, and on the walls," she added.

This isn't the first time the Byron area has been infested with these insects.

Back in 2009, the area experienced a huge outbreak of gypsy moth caterpillars. After a lengthy monitoring process, the city used aerial spray to get rid of the infestation.

For now, Jill-Anne Spence, manager of urban forestry for the city of London, said it's too early to tell if the city will resort to these measures again.

"Right now we're going to monitor the situation. We need people to contact us, so we can go out and verify it's gypsy moth and then come up with a treatment plan...but for now it's up to the residents, unless we're directed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency."

For now, Spence is encouraging residents who think they have gypsy moth caterpillars on their property to contact treeprotection@london.ca