Wasp infestation feared
- Thread starter Teegate
- Start date
The interesting thing about that article for me personally is that I own another house and 56 acres of woods very close to the towns of Fulton and Oswego NY where these wasps have been spotted. In fact, I was on the faculty at SUNY Oswego for 9 years (where the article says they tagged 5 pine trees).
The thing is, pine trees are not particularly widespread in that part of upstate New York. In fact, most of the pines that you see appear to be part of overgrown Christmas tree plantations or some sort of ornamental plantings. On my own land there were maybe 3 or 4 acres of pines and spruces which were obviously planted perhaps 50 or 60 years ago. They were pretty unhappy because they are in a poorly drained area. Many of them have died off in the 22 years that I've owned the place. But in the past few years quite a few have died. Never looked very carefully, but perhaps these wasps killed them? They are mostly scotch pine and norway spruce.
Maybe 15 years ago I planted a few white pines, and maybe half of those survived and are getting pretty big. Neighbors later told me that the white pines don't do so well there because of some kind of disease.
The only old native conifers growing on my land are in a secluded grove of Hemlock trees bordering a swamp; they're beautiful and seem to thrive in the poorly drained areas. There are lots of very large maples on my land, by far the dominant species. Just last week someone called me wanted to cut them... no thanks!
But anyway... funny that you found this article about my old "stomping grounds." Hopefully those wasps won't care for the taste of the NJ pitch pines. Hey, I need to sell that place since I never get up there any more. Anybody want a real bargain?... real estate is very inexpensive up there compared to here. You could study the wasps first hand
The thing is, pine trees are not particularly widespread in that part of upstate New York. In fact, most of the pines that you see appear to be part of overgrown Christmas tree plantations or some sort of ornamental plantings. On my own land there were maybe 3 or 4 acres of pines and spruces which were obviously planted perhaps 50 or 60 years ago. They were pretty unhappy because they are in a poorly drained area. Many of them have died off in the 22 years that I've owned the place. But in the past few years quite a few have died. Never looked very carefully, but perhaps these wasps killed them? They are mostly scotch pine and norway spruce.
Maybe 15 years ago I planted a few white pines, and maybe half of those survived and are getting pretty big. Neighbors later told me that the white pines don't do so well there because of some kind of disease.
The only old native conifers growing on my land are in a secluded grove of Hemlock trees bordering a swamp; they're beautiful and seem to thrive in the poorly drained areas. There are lots of very large maples on my land, by far the dominant species. Just last week someone called me wanted to cut them... no thanks!
But anyway... funny that you found this article about my old "stomping grounds." Hopefully those wasps won't care for the taste of the NJ pitch pines. Hey, I need to sell that place since I never get up there any more. Anybody want a real bargain?... real estate is very inexpensive up there compared to here. You could study the wasps first hand
Boyd said:
Thats interesting Boyd, are you an absent landlord? Do people live in the house as tenants? What kind of woods, hardwoods? Is it flat land? Any room for camping on your property? What about bears?
bob
Nope, the place just sits there empty, gradually falling apart. Too bad... I just don't have the temperment to be a landlord, although people have inquired. It's nothing very exciting, an old farmhouse probably built in the 1920's and added onto later. I renovated the first floor myself. But the roof is in really bad shape now. It's over a 300 mile drive, used to go up there more often but the novelty wore off, especially after I got a nice place here.
The area used to be agricultural, but all the small farms have died. It's a couple miles from Lake Ontario, near Fair Haven Beach State Park. It's a nice area, not a whole lot of people left around there. But the local economy is shot, all the businesses are leaving so no tax base anymore. It's sad. But certainly off the beaten path.
No bears around there! Used to be coyotes and coy-dogs, but probably not so many these days. Mostly smaller animals like foxes, beavers, woodchucks, pheasants, grouse, wild turkeys, Canada geese, great blue herons. Yes, like I said above, mostly hardwoods. Some beautiful big maples. In one valley they are very straight and tall, maybe approaching 80 feet or more by now. The little logging companies have been after them for years but I always turn them down.
The winters are pretty rough up there... we only measure snow by the foot
I have several neighbors that keep an eye on the place, plow the snow, etc.
Without getting too specific, it's around the middle of this Terraserver page:
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=14&Z=18&X=113&Y=1498&W=3
Guy: thanks for observing all our local ordinances on Atsion Rd
The area used to be agricultural, but all the small farms have died. It's a couple miles from Lake Ontario, near Fair Haven Beach State Park. It's a nice area, not a whole lot of people left around there. But the local economy is shot, all the businesses are leaving so no tax base anymore. It's sad. But certainly off the beaten path.
No bears around there! Used to be coyotes and coy-dogs, but probably not so many these days. Mostly smaller animals like foxes, beavers, woodchucks, pheasants, grouse, wild turkeys, Canada geese, great blue herons. Yes, like I said above, mostly hardwoods. Some beautiful big maples. In one valley they are very straight and tall, maybe approaching 80 feet or more by now. The little logging companies have been after them for years but I always turn them down.
The winters are pretty rough up there... we only measure snow by the foot
I have several neighbors that keep an eye on the place, plow the snow, etc.Without getting too specific, it's around the middle of this Terraserver page:
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=14&Z=18&X=113&Y=1498&W=3
Guy: thanks for observing all our local ordinances on Atsion Rd