ArlVa’s Recent Comments

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  The obvious solution to this conundrum is to eat seasonally and locally...strawberries shipped 3,000 miles in December are unsustainable; ditto for lettuce, which is easy to grow anyway.  Don't even get me started on East Coasters eating California peaches when we've got phenomenal peaches (not to mention berries, apples, pears, cherries etc) here all up the Eastern seaboard!  If more people focused on eating seasonally and paid more attention to where their seasonal food is grown, then perhaps some pressure could be relieved from California's drought-stricken areas (and the chain reaction that follows).

   

  On Drought, fish, and our fruit-and-veg problem posted 6 months, 2 weeks ago 3 Responses

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  What purpose do tent caterpillars serve?!

  I'm all for letting flora and fauna and bugs and such alone, no matter how icky if they serve a purpose in the earth's cycle(17 year cicadas come to mind, which the birds and squirrels think are delicious), but can someone please tell me what creature actually eats tent caterpillars?  I have a balcony in N. VA that backs to woods, where the wild cherry trees (T.C.'s favorite roost) have been increasingly colonized by tent caterpillars over the past 6 years.  I also have a number of wild birds, squirrels, fox, and have even seen a deer in the narrow woods corridor between condo developments.  However, I have yet to see any bird or other critter feasting on the plethora of tent caterpillars.  Not even the starlings...As far as I can tell, they're just weakening the wild cherries.  Anyone have a thought as to their larger purpose?On Umbra on tent caterpillars posted 1 year, 6 months ago 14 Responses