[6/12/05] If you don't read the Watertown Daily Times or watch Channel 7- WWNY, you don't know about the caterpillar devastation plaguing the North Country. We at Sylvia Lake, can be proud that we had the foresight and property owner support to avoid the kind of infestation that other areas of the North County are experiencing. Kudos to all of us!!

The Caterpillar Diaries...

[5/9/05] People around the lake are beginning to see signs of caterpillar activity but leaves are minimal. Jeff Duflo is aware of activity to our north and to our south. Spraying seems inevitable. Please contribute. Read the letter that was sent to all property owners.

[5/10/05] We have raised $1,600.00 in 10 days. It will cost $6,000.00 to spray our 400 acres. The current balance in the fund is $4,200.00. Please contribute if you have not already done so. If you have contributed, thank you. Would you like to send more??

[5/16/05] The notification signs are up around the lake. Jeff Duflo will be out of the area the first part of this week. He has to wait till the leaves are bigger and it's warmer. Lea Dickson (next year's Association president) and I (as reporter) went to New Bremenn last Friday. Lea took a cutting from a maple with a clot of small caterpillars on it. (a little over 1/4 inch in size)

[5/24/05] Jeff Duflo has been up since 3 this morning studying the weather patterns. He may spray as soon as tomorrow - the material needs about 5 hours to dry on the leaves and then would withstand light showers for a few days. The legal notice was in the Watertown Times yesterday and today.

[5/26/05] Received a call at 7:30 this morning...Jeff was in the air and on his way. Pretty soon, we heard the plane. This was IT...or so we thought. The phone rang again. It was Jeff Duflo's daughter who said, "Dad called from the air. The winds at tree top level are at 14 mph. He won't spray in those conditions." And the plane flew off.

[5/27/05]- SPRAYING Got the call this morning at 6:30... Jeff showed up about 5 minutes later. (Gotta love cell phones.) Picture taking was dicey, but I did get a couple of shots which I may post later. But it looked exactly like last year. Right down to the exact date, one year later. (see below)

Jeff made many passes, and this year, we could smell the BT solution and even see it on the cars. I hope the application, along with the natural cycle of the caterpillars will eliminate the threat so our forest can regain its health.

[5/29/05] Many folks were at the lake this Memorial Weekend. And I'm sure they saw the dead caterpillars on the ground. No pictures are necessary. The wind and weather was cooperative and we thank Jeff Duflo for his services and for giving us a discount. If you haven't done so, please send in your contribution. Last I knew, we had not reached our goal. We did a good thing for our trees to spray.

We learned that in addition to his being a pilot and certified applier of agricultural products, he is an entomologist...a bug guy. He said the caterpillars were too small to spray, but as soon as it warms up, they would be munching and he would be here to spray. Probably this week, depending on weather.