Greetings and welcome!!
I don’t know very much today. I have been having some medical issues and had significant surgery late May. I have spent the past month mostly homebound working on recovering, but I will share what little that I do know.
The big deal right now are the gypsy moths. They are insanely thick, and they are all over everything. We are having a major, major outbreak of them. Even areas that I sprayed a month ago were covered with them. Trees are actively being stripped and the furry little worms have no mercy.
Most oak trees in the area are totally stripped clean. The ones here that I sprayed aren’t far behind.
Because of my medical issues it took a while to get out and re-spray for them. Our fitful weather has not helped, it seems to rain every other day with strong winds on the days in between. When I did spray my trees had been attacked but still had at least half of their crown left. I sprayed around the base of the trees and up the trunks as high as I could reach with the sprayer. Once I sprayed there were dead gypsy moth caterpillars everywhere.
I am wondering where DNR has been with this gypsy moth outbreak. The northwoods is being stripped of leaves by a non-native invasive species and there is no substantial action being taken.
Right now it looks like the rain has knocked them down, but it is far too late. All of the oaks have been stripped to sticks.
The grass needs cutting again. With all of the rain it has been growing like crazy.
There are tons of wildflowers and flowering trees and bushes right now. This week the big player is the white daisy. It is a great time of year for a ride around wild areas with a camera.
The deer have been having fawns, and it it not out of the question to see one of those absolutely adorable wobbly legged fawns.
People are seeing just tons of bears, and many of them have 3-4 cubs. Keep an eye on your birdfeeders, food, and garbage.
We have had a lot of rain this summer. The whitewater rafting is veryy good right now. The Peshtigo is running at +6”, a great level for 4th of July. There will be some mud on the ATV trails, and trout streams are swollen.
Here is what I have so far for 4th of July celebrations-
It looks like Wausaukee is celebrating on the 6th. https://fourth-july.com/event/independence-day-celebration-eid4a7e2u8voi
Crivitz is on the 4th- https://www.facebook.com/events/736589758557874/
Townsend is on the 4th- https://local.aarp.org/event/townsend-annual-4th-of-july-celebration-parade-2024-07-04-townsend-wi.html
Mountain is having fireworks on the 6th- https://www.ocontocounty.org/events/
That’s it for today. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!!
RJB
PS- Here is more July 4th stuff..
