LOVELL, Maine — After contacting the town and the state, Roy Butler of Lovell is nearly at his wits end on how to combat a severe spongy moth caterpillar infestation.
At the Butler’s home in Lovell, spongy moth caterpillars, which were previously called gypsy moths, are everywhere.
They are littered around the yard and cover all sides of their house and have become a rather scary nuisance, according to Roy’s wife, Geri Butler.
“I honestly feel that with the sheer number of them, they’re going to come in at night and smother us,” she said.
The overwhelming presence of the caterpillars has made it hard for the Butlers to do much of anything around their property,
“They’re falling in your food and everything else. The trees, the leaves and everything on my property are completely gone” Roy Butler said.
This is the couples third go-around with this caterpillar problem that has left their trees nearly bare. The Butler’s claims to have spent around $6,000 taking down trees and tending to other damages.
Geri Butler noted that just a couple weeks ago the trees were green, but now they are mostly bare because of the ravenous larval insects.
With the problem growing worse, Roy Butler said he wants the state to “step up.”
“[The state has] to do some spraying here” he said.
The state of Maine does not have plans to spray the Butler’s home, according to officials, because of the amount of labor it would take and the nearly insignificant impact that spraying would have at this time of year. Forested areas like where the Butler’s live would require crews of trucks to spray a large swath of trees to be truly effective.
Roy Butler said that when he looked into the cost of treating his property with pesticides, it could cost him $40,000 or more to start battling the creatures.
