Gypsy moth spraying has begun

For the next two days, helicopters will be flying low over Ancaster, Dundas and the West Hamilton Mountain, as part of the city’s spray program to combat the gypsy moth infestation.

Choppers started this morning, dropping pesticide on tree canopies to mitigate gypsy moths and will continue tomorrow and Friday with a second round next week. This is something that’s done every 10 years when there’s a spike in the gypsy moth population.

In November the city approved $2.5 million to tackle the problem, which if left untreated, would have devastating consequences on our ecosystem.

“If we have repeated defoliation year after year, what ends up happening is that we start to deplete the nutrients in the trees, and those trees will start to die, and that has a huge impact on our urban forest canopy.” according to Steve Robinson, Superintendent of Forestry in Hamilton.

There have been some questions about the safety of the pesticide used, but Robinson, who’s in charge of the program says it’s harmless. The pesticide is called BTK, a natural organic bacteria that once consumed by moth larvae, kills them within 48 hours, but is non-toxic to humans and other wildlife.