Hurrican Katrina Mulch

[Jim Frye]

I put this here instead of the home improvements as I thought it might be seen by more folks.

If you use mulch around your house be very careful about buying mulch this year. After the hurricane in New Orleans many trees were blown over. These trees were then turned into mulch and the state is trying to get rid of tons and tons of this mulch to any state or company who will come and haul it away. So it will be showing up in Home Depot and Lowes at dirt cheap prices with one huge problem; Formosan Termites will be the bonus in many of those bags. New Orleans is one of the few areas in the country were the Formosan Termites has gotten a strong hold and most of the trees blown down were already badly infested with those termites. Now we may have the worst case of transporting a problem to all parts of the country that we have ever had. These termites can eat a house in no time at all and we have no good control against them, so tell your friends that own homes to avoid cheap mulch and know were it came from.

Here's the link:

http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/en/environm...osan_termites/

[wreckwriter]

According to the articles in that link they have a strict quarantine in force to prevent this. Not saying its not a potential problem but it seems they are aware of the situation and are actively trying to keep from exporting these bugs.

[BigDenMD]

That is false. Check out Snopes -

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/termites.asp

[LinuxRandal]

Mulch like that, that you do have to worry about, is the free stuff, towns give out. When we have a big storm, our town has a collection point, and they shred it and offer it free to residents. It is untreated and free.
The mulch that is sold in the box stores, is chemically treated to make it ineart, and is sold as cypress, pine bark, etc. This can not be used, as it would be a mixed lot (too much time to try to seperate and try to treat).

[Jim Frye]

Not worried about the box stores so much...

as I would be about the stuff that shows up for sale at the gas stations and carry outs around here. Hopefully the governments in LA. are on top of this situation, but I'd bet against it.
I live next to Lake Erie. I have seen what the Zebra Mussel and the Green Ash Borer have done around here. This fall, the city came through my neighborhood and took down all of the 30 year old ash trees. For years we have been plagued with clogged water intakes due to Zebra mussel build up. Not to forget the fish populations that have been impacted. The various governments have not been able to control the spread of the Green Ash Borer and have limited success with the Zebra Mussel.
I cite another issue with the ability of the governments to control things there. Water damaged cars and trucks are starting to show up for sale in other parts of the country.

[tfischer]

Mulch like that, that you do have to worry about, is the free stuff, towns give out. When we have a big storm, our town has a collection point, and they shred it and offer it free to residents. It is untreated and free.
The mulch that is sold in the box stores, is chemically treated to make it ineart, and is sold as cypress, pine bark, etc. This can not be used, as it would be a mixed lot (too much time to try to seperate and try to treat).

I use the "free from the city" stuff all the time, but we dont have a termite problem in the Twin Cities...

-Tim

[linear]

I get a bulletin in the email every two weeks from the extension service at one of the state colleges. They pointed this out and also stated it's not a cause for concern around my parts.

The thing I didn't see in the snopes entry that they mention is that these bugs don't do well at latitudes above 33.5 degrees. All us non-tropical folks can relax.

reference:
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/hnewslet/ksht0610.htm
(may be 404 for a little while--this is hot of the virtual press)

[Jim Frye]

Above 33.5 degrees latitudes...

The thing I didn't see in the snopes entry that they mention is that these bugs don't do well at latitudes above 33.5 degrees. All us non-tropical folks can relax.

reference:
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/hnewslet/ksht0610.htm
(may be 404 for a little while--this is hot of the virtual press)

I agree that the Formosan Termite has not been migrating northward due to the temperature range we have above 33.5. However, I think the threat is bringing them into contact with your building via the mulch. Once they find their way into your home, they will be sheltered from the cold and will have all the time in the world to wreak havic inside the structure. They may not be able to spread from the infected structure to neighboring ones, but that's small consolation if it is your structure.