Nettle Cats

I noticed the other day that I had not written a blog on Beyond the Sail since the end of February. (Diablo has written several at SouthBoundCats.) I resolved for the New Year to write three or four a week. I’m hardly upset about it. I’ve been plugging along in my book, so the keyboard efforts are alive and somewhat well. I say somewhat because I reread something I wrote in mid-Feb. What a piece of crap.

But this morning my writing routine was postponed due to an urgent mission to search and destroy the Stinging Nettle Caterpillar. As I write, I fight an urge to scratch a tormenting itch on the back of my hand.

A couple of weeks ago I discovered my ti plants and areca palms were vanishing nearly before my eyes. Some unknown pest chewed the leaves to the stems. Two years ago snails made dinner of my ti plants and last year little worms built nests from the leaves they chewed. After some research and discussion with the kids at Ace Hardware in the middle of the pesticide aisle, I significantly reduced these two invaders. It wasn’t all pesticides that helped. With the vigilance of a North Korean solider on the DMZ I patrolled the garden, examined foliage and earth for the insurgents. The organic approach was tedious, but I enjoyed pushing through the mini-jungle to find the foe. The snails were either flushed down the toilet or tossed over the fence to die in the middle of the busy road. The worm-leafhouse bugs were crushed under foot. I proved to be formidable predator, proud of my top-of-the-food-chain intellect and cunning.

When I discovered the caterpillars among the stalks of once green leaves I knew I had found a new enemy. I recalled a brochure the condo association sent out a couple of years ago on a particular caterpillar with a sting. I paid little attention to this information, for at the time, my areca were about two feet tall and my daily pest patrols yielded no caterpillars of any sort. Plus I was under the impression that these imported pests from Indonesia were on the Hilo side.

Yesterday while I reviewed the decimation and culled through the remaining foliage for the caterpillar, I accidently made contact with one of these spiny bugs. I cussed out loud in pain. With a sharp flick, the caterpillar sailed off the back of my hand. Its spiny hairs caused an intense pain, far greater than the “fiberglass-like” irritation described in the brochure I down loaded from the internet.

This morning my hand is slightly swollen, has a series of small blisters and madly itches. I called the agricultural hotline for invasive species to report the infestation. Expecting they would send out the National Guard and require an ten acre evacuation zone when they doused everything with chemical insecticide, I was disappointed when told they would make a note. A note? No wonder the coqui frog is hopping all over the island. I was told that Neem Oil might be a good non-chemical way to eliminate the caterpillar.

I bought Neem Oil from the same kids at Ace Hardware (one claiming he played with the caterpillar as a kid. My first thought was no way. But second thought he could have been a kid when this first arrived in Hawaii in 2001.) I tested the natural oil on a few captured caterpillars. They flinched. They later died.

Dressed in a sweatshirt, hood pulled over my head, a bandana over my face and gloves I entered the battle zone, spray bottle in hand. The spray smelled like dog shit. No, I don’t mean it smelled bad, I mean it smelled like dog shit. Hours after I finished the odor still drifts in the air. Just, terrific. I await the results.

Now, there is a whole other issue of the illegal plants in the back yard. That’s another blog.