@#$%&! Bagworms
There are these parasite insects what I believe are called bagworms. They make little cacoon-like nests that hang
down from branches and the evergreen equivalent of tree leaves. One way they hang their cacoons is to wrap
their "web" around the branch - obviously this is bad for the branch. Also, the cacoon is made of
small pieces (needles, if you will, though Junipers technically don't have needles) so they can be a little hard to see.
The cacoons can be from a fraction of an inch (¼ or less) to almost two inches. Here is an example of one:
We have this Juniper bush at the end of our sidewalk. In this picture, for reference, it is seven or so feet tall, and
seven or so feet wide. If you zoom in (if you want), you can see the bagworms in this picture - there are hundreds, if not
more than a thousand of them:
If you choose not to zoom in, here are two close-up shots:
These little @#$$%&'ers just engulfed the bush. I spent two hours picking off the cacoons. I found the most
effective way to kill the little @$%^&s was to squeeze them between two fingers while pulling them off (yes, I wore gloves).
I found that 95% or more of the cacoons were indeed occupied (use your imagination to figure out how I knew). This is the
result of the plucking (and this isn't all of them):
I then sprayed the bush with a pesticide. Hopefully I will be able to help at least one person save a bush or a tree.
Watch for these destructive little @$%^&*s. They must be removed and killed. I also recommend spraying as well.
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