War on moths too vital to be left to city

We humans have always had a knack for ramping up our killing sprees to an almost industrial level.

Perhaps we learned in past millenniums that unless we killed enough of our nemesis, then our nemesis — or at least his buddies — would be back with bloody vengeance in store.

Regardless, there was undoubtedly a sense of slaughter in mind as the evening death toll moved into the three-figure mark along Acadia Drive — the pleasant, poplar-lined street in southeast Calgary that borders the communities of Willow Park and Maple Ridge.

But the concentration involved and the accompanying sense of satisfaction was disturbed by an elderly lady’s friendly comment: “The city should be doing that.”

The “that” in question was the squishing and stomping of the satin moths, which, aided by their offspring of relentlessly hungry caterpillars, are threatening some of the wonderful old poplars that bring character to a neighbourhood that would otherwise look like an older version of Douglasdale. The caterpillars can strip a tree of its leaves in a few weeks. A couple of years of such attacks can be fatal.

Growing trees is never easy on the bald prairie, and at 40 to 50 years old, these majestic poplars are surely worthy of respect and protection from some imported flying bug intent on stripping them of their leaves and, eventually, their lives.

So sending a hundred or so to meet their moth-maker each evening seemed the very least I could do.

But in doing so, there was an upsetting of the natural order — not the one Darwin would have understood, but instead, the one our modern society has embraced. If there is a problem, then it is “their” job to fix it.

We demand governments and institutions at every level step up and solve all our issues. Our demands increase just as our respect for those same institutions moves in an opposite direction.

We used to admire teachers when they had no other role than to teach — when they could impose first order and then knowledge through a mix of fear and respect. Nowadays, it seems a hellish job which has become part social worker, part lawyer and part nurse. Do we respect them more? No, we just think they get far too many holidays.

On the civic level, it is the same. We demand bylaws for everything, from prowling pussy cats to noisy motorcycles. In turn, trying to sense society’s mood, politicians poll us constantly, yet never quite catching up with our growing list of needed fixes. Then we complain, relentlessly, about politicians.

Ald. Peter Demong, whose Ward 14 takes in the major chomping ground of these pernicious satin moths in Willow Park and Maple Ridge, admits frustration at such attitudes.

“It is part of the whole big government aspect. As soon as the city starts do- ing something, the citizens feel as if they don’t need to or shouldn’t. There is no reason we can’t be involved as citizens if we know that is the right thing to do,” he said.

Meanwhile, as expected, the city is doing something about the satin moths. They have been power washing the affected trees to knock the young caterpillars to the ground, thereby preventing them from feasting on the leaves, as well as encouraging the introduction of a parasitic wasp into the worst hit areas.

“Wasps seem to follow these infestations and the good news is that the wasp is getting established. There are thousands in the city that have laid eggs, so that is excellent news from our point of view. They lay their eggs in the caterpillar eggs themselves, so the wasps, as they hatch, actually use the larvae as their food source. We are trying to find several of these larva-filled wasp eggs and transplant them,” said Demong.

There is something surreal about an image of city staff transplanting wasp eggs at a time when Calgary is just coming out of a state of emergency due to the flooding.

But good on the city for giving it a go when its resources are no doubt stretched to the limit.

So, at the very least, we should do our part in ridding ourselves of this menace. As citizens, let’s step up to the plate. Or in this case, the tree.

My massacre of the moths will continue.