SATCHEL PAIGE: Jim Pringle of Vineyard Haven, Mass., passes
along a belated birthday greeting. He writes, “July 7 was the 103rd
anniversary of the birth of Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige. I remember him
barnstorming in Bradford probably in the mid ’50s. If I remember
correctly his team played against The House of David which was a
bearded religious order known for its baseball teams. I wonder if
anyone else remembers this?”

THOSE MOTHS: Kevin A. Umpleby of Smethport has a follow-up on
our recent report about caterpillars, particularly the one produced
by the gypsy moth:

“I was reading Round the Square and saw Andrew Sidelinger’s
forester for Elk State Forest article on gypsy moths. Currently, I
have been studying forest management through my conservation
course. There is an couple chapters relating to gypsy moths.

“The gypsy moth or Lymantria Dispar originated in Europe and
Asia. As Mr. Sidelinger said in the June 20 edition of the Era, it
was introduced into the United States. They were introduced in
1869, and we had our first outbreak in 1889. They do prefer oaks,
mainly white oaks. In late summer, they lay eggs – brown fur-like
masses, quarter size. They are noted for laying eggs on the
underside of vehicles. Certain states have quarantines that you
need certificates guaranteeing that your personal belongings are
free of gypsy moth egg masses.

“A unique fact – female adults cannot fly.

“There are several ways to try to control populations of any
living organism. One, relating to gypsy moths, is biologic control.
This consists of living insects that are predators to the target
insect. An example would be the ichneumon fly, which lays its eggs
on the larvae of the gypsy moth caterpillar. The flies hatch into
maggots. They parasitize (feed on) the gypsy moth caterpillars. The
flies cannot, for some reason, control the huge population of gypsy
moths.

“The best course has been using the nuclear polyhedrosis virus,
also known as the Wilt Disease. It takes time for it to work, but
is rather effective and can be used to prevent future population
increases.

“The problem is if you don’t have someone trained extremely well
in this field, the biologic control could grow too large and
produce more problems for our forests and environment.

“So that puts our current foresters and future foresters in a
huge bind. Is it worth the risk and money?”