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Grasshopper/ fruit trees

Will L.

Will L.

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Location
Boulder City Nv
About every 10 years we have a big migration of grasshoppers. 1998,2008, and now 2019. The other years there is very few around.
Kinda funny to hear everyone talk biblical plague, and Vegas is sure deserving of it more than most areas- haha

But I just trans planted 2 fruit trees less than a year ago, about 5’ tall that I couldn’t afford to replace if them critters chomp em. Other than pullen the head/guts out and roasting on the campfire, I have no idea what to do to protect the trees. Any suggestions from you farmin, bug dealin with pros out there?

The local places have no clue even in the plant nursery places other than saying make sure to turn off lights at night, or start planting other stuff they dont like around the trees.

They should all be gone in 2-3 weeks

I was thinking if they get bad in my neighborhood drape a white bed sheet over tree?
 
There is a couple small hardware stores here in town that sells the screen. If they invade, I’ll go grab some.
Great idea, thanks.

These are only about 2-2.5” long here. Here if you eat them, ya have to pop of head and guts because there is some kind of bacteria or something that can wreck the human brain. So you get a hand full of them and on a stick for skewer and roast over the campfire.

And it’s great with them chirping and the cicada are here chirping it up too. Their sound blends into the tinnitus in my ears - haha.
 
I like the screen idea and malathion. I don’t know but some bugs are drawn to light colors thinking they are flowers. So a bit hesitant about the white sheet unless you know grasshoppers don’t like the white background and they feel exposed.

Don’t know if there is something like citronella oil you could put in cups around plants.

I get some stuff from the do it yourself pest control sites and stores. I use talstar P but it’s not for gardens could be used on ornamentals. Looking at their site they have Carbaryl liquid (Sevin dust ).
 
The hopper invasion has the tourist talking about it.

Hang in there @Will L. I think the hoppers are going further north, maybe most of them will die soon and not damage much stuff. I bet they will be birds and other critters having a feast.

www.ktnv.com

Grasshoppers go viral after swarming Las Vegas Strip

Thousands of grasshoppers were seen swarming popular parts of the Las Vegas strip on Thursday night. Now, Nevada's state entomologist is warning predator activity could increase after the swarms.
www.ktnv.com www.ktnv.com
 
Yeah, radio DJ talked about it on my local radio. The video's of the swarms are impressive.

Here we have skeeter meter's low = nice day for a walk, Full scale = Don't open your mouth.
The video's look like you can't open your mouth. Birds will have eaten them so much they'll be sick of 'em. My chickens would be like a hungry baby at a topless club they wouldn't know which hopper to try and get first.

Anything will get old you eat enough of it.
In colonial days it was considered cruel punishment to serve lobster more than 3 days a week to prisoners in the Boston area iirc. But I imagine they weren't the freshest lobster nor nice size that were sent to the jails so it was a two fer. Give a hungry man something labor-intensive low yield to eat and its like torture especially if it's not appetizing anymore.
 
They are so thick they show up on weather radar- haha

I’ve only seen about 15-20 at a time at my house so far and they haven’t messed with anything.

When the hawks start hunting grasshoppers like a sparrow would, only using the technique of a whale eating plankton- haha.

Because this is after a wet winter, the other critters population is high, which means more coyote food. We wont see the coyotes because there is so much food out there now. A few months from now the excess supply will be gone with only top food chain predators left- then we’ll see them walking the streets. They will never get to the strip, but in outlying neighborhoods. The convention authority and other tourism groups will keep that squashed like normal to not scare the money (aka people) from coming.
 
Will L. said:
They are so thick they show up on weather radar- haha

I’ve only seen about 15-20 at a time at my house so far and they haven’t messed with anything.

When the hawks start hunting grasshoppers like a sparrow would, only using the technique of a whale eating plankton- haha.

Because this is after a wet winter, the other critters population is high, which means more coyote food. We wont see the coyotes because there is so much food out there now. A few months from now the excess supply will be gone with only top food chain predators left- then we’ll see them walking the streets. They will never get to the strip, but in outlying neighborhoods. The convention authority and other tourism groups will keep that squashed like normal to not scare the money (aka people) from coming.
Click to expand...

When I drove through Vegas in 2006, I saw some people living in cardboard boxes along the streets, yelp I know I was on the rough side of town, I saw none of that on the main strip.

Question is what will those people living in cardboard boxes do when the hoppers swarm them? Maybe a tasty treat in the frying pan or pot?
 
Most the homeless are sedentary during heat of the day out of need to not overheat. Grasshoppers are the same. So just stay still 1 minute and they quit flying and hoppin around.

Vegas is basically 2 overgrown ant hills imo (Black and red ants). When the hoppers die, ants get them within hours- free chow and they disappear back underground.
 
We had them bad from 98-02, 02 was the worst. They ate the paint off of buildings even Rhubarb leaves which I was always told were poisonous. Wet weather eventually will do them in, they get a fungus I was told. Maybe spraying with a water hose would keep them off the trees. Spraying with Sevin or Malathion should kill them.

Last fall they were getting thick and they just disappeared, Hornets ate them, never seen so many Hornets, one guy told me he seen them pull a big blue Dragonfly down a hole in the ground.
 
Glad they don't seem to be messing with stuff. Might take a while to reveal their damage because it is a small bite at a time. How long have they been there and expected to last?

Just thinking about it I wonder if.... What NVW posted about them eating maybe a poison plant supports this thought. There are so many even if just one takes a bite of a plant and dies there will still be a lot of damage to the plant (from one bite at a time). Its like fire ants you would have to treat a very large margin around your yard to keep all them away. So if they decide to start eating poison might not do much if the plant is tasty.

Keep us posted I am curious.
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