There are a bunch of them on my property. Mainly near the tree line. I’ve moved my pregnant mare into a stall. Is it safe for her to be out on pasture? How far do the caterpillars travel? If I put her in the sunny field with no trees would she be safe there? Or should I just resign myself to keeping her stalled for a couple weeks until these things disappear?
I found 2 dead ones in her water bucket and a couple on the fenceline… and I’m sure there’s more out there.
I don’t know much about them. As a kid, we had a major infestation of them. My dad used a torch like gadget to burn the webs up. I’m not sure how safe that was…. It did get rid of them long term.
Your local county ag extension should have the best advice. Apparently, pregnant horses are the only creatures bothered by these caterpillars.
From the PA extension website:
If control is warranted, caterpillar density can be reduced by pruning out egg masses during the winter before they hatch and manually removing silk tents using a stick or other implement and disposing of them. CATERPILLAR TENTS SHOULD NEVER BE BURNED WITH FIRE. Besides potential danger to nearby structures, the fire will cause more damage to the tree than the caterpillars could.
Unfortunately they seem to be coming from the neighbors property and are already out of the nests. I’m keeping her on the opposite side of the property or in the barn.
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