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Show : Borers In The Woodpile What is that chewing sound in the woodpile? The noises accompanied by mounds of sawdust, concern some people who have piles of recently cut firewood. ROBERT Morris, USU extension ex-tension ornamental horticulturist, horticul-turist, explained that wood boring insects, often responsible responsi-ble for killing timber, likely are the noisemakers. The noises persist when warm temperatures tempera-tures drop and the insects enter en-ter a period of rest or dormancy. dor-mancy. But the "silent" wood be-comes be-comes "noisy" again when wood is brought from cold, higher elevations to warm, lower elevations to warm, lower low-er elevations or when the wood is brought indoors in winter and the borers become active again. HOME OWNERS panic at the sound of chewing noises or when the borers emerge from the wood as adult beetles and fly around inside the home. However, Morris assures that most of these pests are harmless harm-less to the home constructed from seasoned lumber. They attack only wood that has not been seasoned by drying. Aerosol sprays can soon take care of the flying adults in the home. To avoid the bother, Morris suggests bringing in only the amount of borer-infested wood to be used in a 48 hour period. It will take about that long after coming in from the cold before the borers become active. Of course, burning the wood in the stove or fireplace will destroy the insects. LOGS OR lumber that have not been seasoned, used around the home, presents more cause for concern. Mor ris says they could be attractive to these pests n ( infected with these insects lumber would be almost' possible to treat by the k owner, kj . |