If you’ve been ‘icked out’ by all the cankerworms, you won’t have to put up with them much longer.
The city’s treatment program is about to end because the worms are at the end of their life cycle.
“We’ll probably see them hang around for the next four or five days,” explained Ken Nawolsky, head of Winnipeg’s Insect Control Branch. “They’re going to stop feeding within a couple days which means our program will conclude because they need to ingest the bacteria in order to die.”
Forest tent caterpillars are also hitting the end of the road.
“On the weekend, they already started cocooning, so that means they’re preparing to be an adult moth,” Nawolsky said. “When they start hanging down from the trees, that means that’s the end of their life cycle. People will start seeing less and less of those caterpillars around.”
With these spraying programs ending, the city is gearing up for the annual fight against mosquitoes, which Nawolsky said has been going very well so far.
“We’re having one of the best years we’ve had in a long time. Lower precipitation has really helped us out. If we get 20 millimetres, that’s great. It’s when we get these downpours of 50-60 millimetres, that’s when the challenge comes upon us.”
Trap counts are at or near zero around the city.