STORM2K

Posted: **Thu Mar 02, 2006 3:18 pm**

I have checked on snopes regarding this and they say the truth is undetermined. With spring coming on at least in the south, I figured this was good info to have. If someone can debunk it feel free to. I don't want to spread false info.

I got this E Mail from my friend and wanted to pass along to all my friends and clients. I am sending the Louisiana agricultural dept. web site FYI.

link http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/termites/

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.

Hopefully this info will help avoid you avoid expensive termite repairs.

Posted: **Thu Mar 02, 2006 3:27 pm**

egad. thanks for passing that on!

here's more:

Formosan Termites Headed This Way

Hurricane clean-up crews on the Gulf Coast could be hauling away more than debris, they may also be inadvertently giving a lift to a very unwelcome guest.

Texas A&M entomologist Roger Gold studies termites, he says Formosan termites could be coming to the Brazos Valley via hurricane scrap wood.

Formosan termites cause the same type of damage as other termites, just a lot faster.

"Formosan termites do approximately four times more damage per unit of time," said Roger Gold, urban entomologist, Texas A&M University.

Gold says it's just a matter of time before these hungry little critters hit our area.

"The Formosan termite is found in counties that surround us and we will have the Formosan termite move into our community. It's either here or will be here eventually," said Gold.

Gold say's railroad ties are a source for spreading Formosan termites. Homeowners will often take the wood to landscape their yards, from their the termites can spread into the home.

"We don't bring wooden products onto our properties and use them unless they've been inspected or fumigated," said Gold.

A lot of hurricane debris is being chopped up and turned into mulch. Unfortunately, Formosan termites love to munch on mulch.

"In the recent past, (we) found a very expensive home that's infested with Formosan termites that came from the bags of mulch," said Gold.

Formosan termites can be found in 26 Texas counties, but that number is expected to increase. Gold says the best way to protect your home from Formosan termites is to make sure all wood used in and around the house has been treated for the pests.

http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/2324296.html

Posted: **Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:04 am**

*bump*

I just happened to see this on a local site. (baynews9)

An e-mail circulating regarding inexpensive mulch has homeowners and gardeners in a panic.

It says damaged trees from Hurricane Katrina that were turned into mulch are infested with Formosan termites, a type of termite that is known to eat up a house very quickly.

Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Bob Odom says that is not accurate and that quarantined areas were established after the storm to prevent termites from spreading. Also, woody debris can't be removed from those areas without permission from the Louisiana Department of Agriculture. Odom says his workers are looking for quarantine violators.

Lowe's garden manager Sandy Saunders says his vendor has received calls from people all over the country about the e-mail and that they're trying to shoot down the rumor, especially since he says its highly unlikely a termite could survive the mulch grating and packaging process

"I don't know how all this got started but if you look at the area that got affected by Katrina, all the wood is pretty much dead," said Saunders. "Well, they don't use dead wood to make mulch. They use live trees to make mulch."

Here's a link to the info.
http://www.ldaf.state.la.us/aboutldaf/p ... asp?id=542

Posted: **Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:31 am**

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

Posted: **Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:54 am**

Well, this is interesting. When I snopesed it the other night it was not called false.

It was on our news last night and they talked with some people in the industry and they agreed it could be a problem. We have already had problems with that termite in this area due to accidental transport or whatever(not from Katrina mulch). As they said on the news, just check your mulch bags before you use them andif there are termites, take them back. I don't buy mulch, but if I did I know I wouldn't buy it from anywhere except a reputable dealer like Lowes, etc.

STORM2K

Mulch and Termites

Mulch and Termites