AgAlerts 2001 From Griggs County
By John Swenson, Griggs County Extension Agent

Issue # 13, August 21, 2001

• Evergreen Recovery

• Thistle Caterpillars Being Attacked by a Virus

• Storage Moisture Contents and Estimated Allowable Storage Times

• A Skunk Remedy That Works

Evergreen Recovery

    Last spring there were a lot of winter injury to evergreen trees in the county.  I displayed pictures that were taken on April 16th.  I went out and photographed the same tree on August 20th.  Here are the differences in appearance between the spring and late summer.  (click on photo's to enlarge)

Before        After        Before        After   

    As the pictures show these trees have produced new grow and are on the road to recovery.  This could change if winter conditions are repeated this year.  To try and avoid problems for next year, it helps to make sure the trees are well watered going into the winter.  The tree will continue to uptake water until soil temperatures drop below 40 degrees.  Deep watering can be obtained by using a deep tree watering tool or by trickling water at the base of the tree for several days.  This process should be started in mid-September. 

Thistle Caterpillars Being Attacked by a Virus

    With all the concern about the damage to row crops from thistle caterpillar this summer, now the roles have changed.  Reports of thistle caterpillars being attacked by a virus.  Symptoms, the larvae turns color and when the caterpillar dies it turns to mush before drying into a shriveled cadaver.  In some cases the percent of infected worms with this has been greater than 50%.  We have seen some yellow, fuzzy cocoons near other caterpillar cadavers.  These are a parasitic wasp whose larvae have killed the caterpillar.  The following picture shows the symptoms observed.

Storage Moisture Contents and Estimated Allowable Storage Times

    With much of the small grain crop being straight combined and stored, be sure to monitor moisture levels.  The length of time grain can be stored without significant deterioration is determined by temperature and moisture content at which it is stored.  The following tables are the recommended guidelines.

 A Skunk Remedy That Works

    With harvest and hunting season approaching, the chances of getting sprayed by a skunk increase.  Here's a new way to "de-smell" pets or people who get into tangles with skunks.  Paul Krebaum worked in a lab in Lisle, Illinois, that uses alkaline hydrogen peroxide to scrub hydrogen sulfide from waste gas streams.  The alkaline hydrogen peroxide also destroys chemicals called thiols in certain situations.  One of Krebaum's colleague's cats had an unfortunate encounter with a skunk.  After trying the standard remedies, like tomato juice, the cat still smelled too bad to let back into the house.  As a chemist, Krebaum realized that skunk spray is composed mostly of low-molecular thiols, and suggested using a version of the alkaline hydrogen peroxide mixture to wash the cat.  It worked liked magic, and the cat was allowed back into the house.
    Tom McCutcheon, a biologist with the West Virginia Dept. of Agriculture who often got calls from people whose pets get mixed up with skunks, heard about the incident.  He went out and found a road-killed skunk, doused the entire animal with the same mix of chemicals, and ended up with a completely deodorized dead skunk.

Here's the potion:
        1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide (from a Pharmacy)
        1/4 cup baking soda
        1 teaspoon liquid soap
Mix together and wash, keeping the mixture out of the animal's eyes, nose and mouth.  Follow with a thorough tap water rinse.
Source:  Countryside & Small Stock Journal (Farm Show, Vol. 19 #4, 1995    

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E-mail: griggs@ndsuext.nodak.edu
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