OT - Bat Boxes and EABs

[TheBeav815]

Two things that are unrelated except for my backyard...bat boxes and the Emerald Ash Borer.

I saw that they've found EABs in Nebraska. If you have ash trees you want to keep, start treatment NOW and plan to keep it up.....basically forever. We got them out here and basically we have no ash trees left. Took them about 8 years to wipe all the trees out. If you have an ash that looks like it's dying from the top down and is suddenly popular with woodpeckers, congrats, you already have an EAB infestation.

I have one mostly dead ash tree in my back yard and I will probably leave the trunk because of where it stands. I want to put a bat box on it...anyone have experience with them?

 

[Soda Popinski]

This sucks. Lincoln is full of ash trees. Hopefully we can combat it effectively, but I'm not too optimistic.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Have a friend with a row of 10-12 y/o ash trees that he called somebody about treating. Basically, the cost of doing it year after year was way more than he was comfortable spending on "just a tree". Don't remember the exact cost (but it was jaw dropping), but he's going to just let them die and plant new (and different) trees. After talking to him about it I have to ask, why would you spend that much to save a tree? Now maybe you only have one, he has 8-10.

 

[TheBeav815]

This sucks. Lincoln is full of ash trees. Hopefully we can combat it effectively, but I'm not too optimistic.

Dunno how well it goes it you start preventative treatment. When we bought our house in 2014 the two ash trees in back were already in trouble. Had a couple arborists out, they said you could try to treat them but it's probably a waste of money.

 

[Soda Popinski]

Dunno how well it goes it you start preventative treatment. When we bought our house in 2014 the two ash trees in back were already in trouble. Had a couple arborists out, they said you could try to treat them but it's probably a waste of money.

I don't personally have any ash trees. I just know a lot of the older trees in town (specifically Pioneers park and golf course) are Ash. It's one thing to replace 10-year old trees. It's completely different to lose 60 100-year old trees in 5 years. Like I said, it just sucks.

 

[TheBeav815]

I don't personally have any ash trees. I just know a lot of the older trees in town (specifically Pioneers park and golf course) are Ash. It's one thing to replace 10-year old trees. It's completely different to lose 60 100-year old trees in 5 years. Like I said, it just sucks.

It does. I'm guessing most of the ones in my area were about 40 years old based on the age of the homes in the area. If you can cut a deal to invest in a tree trimming company, do it now! All the ones out here have all the work they can handle.

 

[anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi]

I have 3 big ash, and 1 white ash. When we bought our house 6 years ago, I rented a boom lift and trimmed them up. When chopping the wood into firewood that Fall... I saw these weird marks inside the logs. And then I found these "green wasps". I went inside after splitting the wood for the day and looked up the pictures of what I saw.... Emerald Ash Borer. I had heard they were supposedly "not here yet". I called a tree service and the guy basically laughed me off. Not sure what else he thinks I saw, but whatever. I would like to do away with 3 of the trees anyway. They have new growth every year, so it must not be that bad.

 

[TheBeav815]

I have 3 big ash, and 1 white ash. When we bought our house 6 years ago, I rented a boom lift and trimmed them up. When chopping the wood into firewood that Fall... I saw these weird marks inside the logs. And then I found these "green wasps". I went inside after splitting the wood for the day and looked up the pictures of what I saw.... Emerald Ash Borer. I had heard they were supposedly "not here yet". I called a tree service and the guy basically laughed me off. Not sure what else he thinks I saw, but whatever. I would like to do away with 3 of the trees anyway. They have new growth every year, so it must not be that bad.

The new growth is one of the the telltale signs of the infestation and the tree struggling to survive. They die from the top down, and form new chutes further down while the branches at the top no longer leaf out. I cut down one of the two I had last year and it was full of them, exactly what you described. The other one is almost totally dead, but still trying to sprout new chutes and a few leaves on it.

If you want them gone, I'd do it now before there's a 2-month waitlist everywhere and they jack up the price of removal.

 

[tro80]

Not much different than when Dutch Elm Disease went through the state in the 70s and wiped out huge percentage of all trees throughout Nebraska, including most small town canopies at the time. The American Elm was after all the state tree at the time, I believe. Unfortunately, most replaced their Elm Trees with Ash. It will take awhile, but they will be replaced. Again demonstrates the importance of planting a variety of trees.

 

[anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi]

The new growth is one of the the telltale signs of the infestation and the tree struggling to survive. They die from the top down, and form new chutes further down while the branches at the top no longer leaf out. I cut down one of the two I had last year and it was full of them, exactly what you described. The other one is almost totally dead, but still trying to sprout new chutes and a few leaves on it.

If you want them gone, I'd do it now before there's a 2-month waitlist everywhere and they jack up the price of removal.

Yea I know new growth is a sign of a tree fighting to survive. I was just pointing out they have been around at least 5 years.

 

[jflores]

I don't have any ash trees, and for that I am grateful.

 

[anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi]

The new growth is one of the the telltale signs of the infestation and the tree struggling to survive. They die from the top down, and form new chutes further down while the branches at the top no longer leaf out. I cut down one of the two I had last year and it was full of them, exactly what you described. The other one is almost totally dead, but still trying to sprout new chutes and a few leaves on it.

If you want them gone, I'd do it now before there's a 2-month waitlist everywhere and they jack up the price of removal.

I do my own tree work. Usually just with a dull butterknife. Takes about an hour to work up a 30 foot tree.

 

[TheBeav815]

Yea I know new growth is a sign of a tree fighting to survive. I was just pointing out they have been around at least 5 years.

Yeah, I think they said the EAB got to northern IL around 2006 and you can still spot a few that are not quite dead this year. The trunk is a beast to saw through even with a pretty good electric chainsaw. I got it in my head that I would cut it down with an axe for the novelty and the exercise. That plan didn't last long. Nor did my illusions that I'd be able to split the sections of stump.

 

[NikkiSixx]

There are a lot of them marked along the papio trail near the aksarben area, lining both sides of the creek with green ribbons on them all. Most are still in real good shape, but there are a few of them that are infected. It's a shame, that area of the trail is really nice right now.

 

[Soda Popinski]

Not surprisingly, where did this horde of infectious, diseased, foul, poisonous, corrupt insects come from, you ask? Iowa.

 

[anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi]

Yeah, I think they said the EAB got to northern IL around 2006 and you can still spot a few that are not quite dead this year. The trunk is a beast to saw through even with a pretty good electric chainsaw. I got it in my head that I would cut it down with an axe for the novelty and the exercise. That plan didn't last long. Nor did my illusions that I'd be able to split the sections of stump.

A maul and a solid base is needed for easier splitting. 18 inch chunks are manageable when it is really cold. The wood will snap in half at colder temps.

 

[TheBeav815]

A maul and a solid base is needed for easier splitting. 18 inch chunks are manageable when it is really cold. The wood will snap in half at colder temps.

That was part of my problem. I do have a maul, but it was warm, the trunk was not nearly as dead and dry as the limbs, and I didn't have a good base. The maul would just stick in the wood.

 

[anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi]

That was part of my problem. I do have a maul, but it was warm, the trunk was not nearly as dead and dry as the limbs, and I didn't have a good base. The maul would just stick in the wood.

Got to work with a nice hard wood. Sounds like you are working with a soft, mushy wood.

 

[Larry Hagman's Liver]

That was part of my problem. I do have a maul, but it was warm, the trunk was not nearly as dead and dry as the limbs, and I didn't have a good base. The maul would just stick in the wood.

Speaking of mauls, this is the best one you can find for cutting trees or cutting of any kind. The action is almost instantaneous.

Seriously though, the EAB is even uglier and more deadly than Darth Maul. Hope his wrath can be contained.

 

[Bill_Callahan2.0]

Dutch Elm Disease 2.0.

Let's try planting a variety of species this time so this doesn't happen again in 40 years.

 

[Bill_Callahan2.0]

Not surprisingly, where did this horde of infectious, diseased, foul, poisonous, corrupt insects come from, you ask? Iowa.

Illegal lumber supply from foreign countries.

 

[TheBeav815]

Got to work with a nice hard wood. Sounds like you are working with a soft, mushy wood.

 

[CheeseRunza]

This sucks. Lincoln is full of ash trees. Hopefully we can combat it effectively, but I'm not too optimistic.

This was in the paper last fall. Gonna be costly.

http://journalstar.com/news/local/g...cle_2518e238-34e9-5c47-9bbf-5e8e350b10fe.html

 

[GretnaShawn]

Two things that are unrelated except for my backyard...bat boxes and the Emerald Ash Borer.

I saw that they've found EABs in Nebraska. If you have ash trees you want to keep, start treatment NOW and plan to keep it up.....basically forever. We got them out here and basically we have no ash trees left. Took them about 8 years to wipe all the trees out. If you have an ash that looks like it's dying from the top down and is suddenly popular with woodpeckers, congrats, you already have an EAB infestation.

I have one mostly dead ash tree in my back yard and I will probably leave the trunk because of where it stands. I want to put a bat box on it...anyone have experience with them?

I haven't made a bat box yet, but it is on my list of 'to-do's.' We are building a house on some land that has a little pond next to it, so the mosquitoes are thick. Bats are supposed to be amazing at mosquito control. They eat s coul=ple thousand a night or something ridiculous.

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=icwdmother

 

[Charlie Marlow]

You can't stop them, maybe slow them down. It's over.

 

[sparky62]

I have a beautiful ash in my back yard but I've been treating it every year with Bayer advanced 12 month treat & feed . Hope this works. Supposed to keep away bores. It's only $26 from Ace.

 

[Mtnhusker]

I have 2 ash and they have the beatle. Living in Northern Illinois they are all over the place killing trees. Also thinking about putting up a Bat Box myself. I live on a river in a heavily wooded area and the skeeters can get bad in the summer. Wouldn't mind the bats taking out a bunch of them. We have quite a few that fly around our neighborhood. Actually had one fly in my house one night. Walked inside and left the screen door open so it decided to come in. Didn't know how to get rid of it so I shut off the porch light, left the door open and turned on all of the lights in the house. I put on a thick hooded sweatshirt and chased it around with a fishing net until it went out the open door. Glad nobody was there to see me do that because I am sure it looked pretty comical. Dam thing was dive bombing me and they are so quick.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

Had a good friend that moved to Harrisonville MO. when I was about 13 or 14 and I went to visit him. His neighbor (pardon the pun) is bat shit crazy. He actually fishes for bats. Ties a big noisy lure on the end of the line, lets out about 15-20 feet on line and twirls it around in the air under their street light. They live in the country, and his place has a light like you see on every farm lighting up the place and his area is loaded with bats that fly around the light. He'd swing that sucker around in the air and stab a bat with the hook once and a while and catch bats. True story, saw it with my own eyes.

 

[TheBeav815]

I have 2 ash and they have the beatle. Living in Northern Illinois they are all over the place killing trees. Also thinking about putting up a Bat Box myself. I live on a river in a heavily wooded area and the skeeters can get bad in the summer. Wouldn't mind the bats taking out a bunch of them. We have quite a few that fly around our neighborhood. Actually had one fly in my house one night. Walked inside and left the screen door open so it decided to come in. Didn't know how to get rid of it so I shut off the porch light, left the door open and turned on all of the lights in the house. I put on a thick hooded sweatshirt and chased it around with a fishing net until it went out the open door. Glad nobody was there to see me do that because I am sure it looked pretty comical. Dam thing was dive bombing me and they are so quick.

If you have them nearby, it should be easy to get them to move into the box if it's the right specs and location. In our area I think you're supposed to paint them a dark color so it will be around 100 degrees inside the box in the early spring & summer months. Sounds like morning sunlight is preferable, so if you can get it a southeastern exposure, that's idea.

Actually saw that our park district had one up when we were walking last night, but it didn't look like there were bats in it...no guano below that I could see.

 

[TheBeav815]

I have a beautiful ash in my back yard but I've been treating it every year with Bayer advanced 12 month treat & feed . Hope this works. Supposed to keep away bores. It's only $26 from Ace.

Hope it works for you. Evidently in Texas they've been breeding and releasing a species of Asian wasp that...wait for it...stabs through the ash bark with its stinger and lays its eggs in the EAB larvae.

They claim the wasps don't sting people.

 

[GretnaShawn]

Hope it works for you. Evidently in Texas they've been breeding and releasing a species of Asian wasp that...wait for it...stabs through the ash bark with its stinger and lays its eggs in the EAB larvae.

They claim the wasps don't sting people.

Skinner: Well, I was wrong; the lizards are a godsend.

Lisa: But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?

Skinner: No problem. We simply release wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.

Lisa: But aren't the snakes even worse?

Skinner: Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.

Lisa: But then we're stuck with gorillas!

Skinner: No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.

 

[TheBeav815]

Skinner: Well, I was wrong; the lizards are a godsend.

Lisa: But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?

Skinner: No problem. We simply release wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.

Lisa: But aren't the snakes even worse?

Skinner: Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.

Lisa: But then we're stuck with gorillas!

Skinner: No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.

I always think of the mongoose situation in Hawaii. They had rats in the sugar cane, and somebody got the bright idea that mongooses would eat the rats. I don't think they did, but they sure do still have mongooses...although I think their rampant stray cat problem has curtailed the mongooses a bit...

 

[rpappy3]

I don't mind bats unless they fly in my living room.As my back is against a wall with a tennis racket,the smart bats fly clockwise(im right handed).The dumb bats fly counter-clockwise,right in my wheelhouse.

 

[OkeyDokeyNU]

I have 3 big ash, and 1 white ash. When we bought our house 6 years ago, I rented a boom lift and trimmed them up. When chopping the wood into firewood that Fall... I saw these weird marks inside the logs. And then I found these "green wasps". I went inside after splitting the wood for the day and looked up the pictures of what I saw.... Emerald Ash Borer. I had heard they were supposedly "not here yet". I called a tree service and the guy basically laughed me off. Not sure what else he thinks I saw, but whatever. I would like to do away with 3 of the trees anyway. They have new growth every year, so it must not be that bad.

There is a different ash borer that looks like eab, but isn't. But I wouldn't be surprised if you had eab. The general rule of thumb is that once officially detected in a specific locale, the borer has likely been in the area for 5-10 years.

I did my graduate thesis on the topic back in the mid 2000s, and my graduate committee (architects and urban planners) basicaly laughed me off and questioned the legitimacy of the topic. They thought I had overestimated my $200 million estimate for removing and replacing the ash trees located ONLY on public property (row and city parks).