WAG - And then there were…
Today I finished my experiment to see if I could pick up 500 traps in 5 work days, interspaced with a 3-day weekend of course, because this is the pace I’ll have to match my last week of work before I return to Mizzou..
The trial was a success and I’d like to say everything is looking good and being wrapped up just as easily.
But I can’t…
Remember how I said I was reluctant to tell most stories before they were finished?
About the moths…
In combat, one of the greatest dangers is not the enemy itself, but the underestimation of the enemy.
When you let your guard down and start cruising on auto-pilot that is the time when you’re most vulnerable… and when you need to work the hardest to get back on track.
I have made the mistake of letting myself go from “attention” to “at ease,” but I also rose to the level of the onslaught that was provoked by my hindsight.
Yesterday I found 4 suspect moths in 3 traps.
For those of you playing the home game, if they’re confirmed, that could bring my total up to 7 moths trapped.
Three other moths have been trapped in the St. Louis area but they were all in a concentrated area.
I’m beginning to get a reputation for finding moths spread out throughout the state in random, disconnected places. So far, I’ve only had one set of suspect traps that bordered each other’s grid. The others are dozens of miles apart.
Numbers still aren’t very high overall, though they seem guaranteed to top next year. I’d be worried that I blindly overlooked any moths I may have had last year, but at the end someone goes through all the turned in traps to make sure that didn’t happen.
Returning to my standard “in-the-trenches” mentality, the war against the moths lumbers on. Despite unexpectedly high numbers, the troops are determined to triumph over their depraved, heartless buggers.
The number crunchers say the odds are against us. The front wave of gypsy moths has been gaining ground for several decades, and the recent surge at the frontline makes people think that it may reach Missouri by 2015 (which is the earliest estimate. Others say it may be as late as 2030).
Projections are meaningless, however, when you’re staring the enemy in their multi-faceted eyes. Those on the ground are pledged to do whatever they can to stave off the threat and highlight spot population flare-ups.
We expect no accolades.
We need no encouragement.
We are moth hunters!
And though the enemy outnumbers us thousands to one, we believe we can triumph and we’ll never stop crusading until we do!
Or until the summer internship runs out…
Whichever comes first.
'Either_way_the_moths_now_live_in_fear'
