Latest / Street Smart Naturalist / Grub Steaks

Transcript

Grub Steaks · Street Smart Naturalist

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Greetings,
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: this is David B.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Williams in the podcast of my newsletter,
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: The Street Smart Naturalist,
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind.
• 0:11
  Every week I share my observations and adventures with the
• 0:14
  human and natural world
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: around Seattle,
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Puget Sound,
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: and the Pacific Northwest.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Today's episode is about lawn desecration.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: To learn more about my work, please go to my website, geologywriter.com.
• 0:28
  You will also find a link to my Substack newsletter and my
• 0:31
  previous five years of
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: newsletters,
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: as well as images tied to this week's episode.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for joining me on this adventure,
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: and welcome to Podcast 58 of the Street Smart Naturalist,
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Grubstakes,
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: January 15,
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: 2026.
• 0:53
  Walk around Seattle and you will observe what for many is a
• 0:57
  disturbing sight.
• 0:59
  Green lawns with what looks like mange or areas of shredded and
• 1:03
  denuded turf.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: They look as if the ground has been rototilled by an erratic,
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: perhaps scatterbrained and clearly inept grounds maintenance person.
• 1:14
  The maltreated lawns are enough to drive any lawn lover to
• 1:17
  despair or worse.
• 1:19
  to send them on a war path to annihilate whoever had the
• 1:23
  audacity and gall to show
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: so little respect for that landscape icon,
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: a green field of trimmed and tidy turf.
• 1:32
  For those in search of the destroyer of lawns,
• 1:35
  they have several sources to seed their anger.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: The first is a non-native,
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: nondescript scarab beetle,
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: the European Chafer,
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: from the German Kaffer,
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: meaning gnar.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: As their name indicates,
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: they are native to Europe,
• 1:51
  having first been named scientifically in 1789 by Count Grigory
• 1:57
  Rasmowski from
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: specimens in Lausanne.
• 2:01
  Rasmowski,
• 2:02
  also written Rasmowski,
• 2:03
  was a geologist best known for his study of erratics.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yay!
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: You may be happy to know that Europeans have long considered
• 2:12
  their local beetles to be a pest too,
• 2:15
  designating them as Ravager of Lawns.
• 2:20
  Entomologists first reported the European chafer in the United
• 2:23
  States from Newark,
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: New York in 1940.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Reports reported at densities of 8.8 GSF,
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: or grubs per square foot,
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: the voracious insect had violated lawns in cemeteries,
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: parks,
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: and a golf course.
• 2:41
  Clearly,
• 2:42
  these interlopers had to be thwarted in their assault on
• 2:46
  veridency.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Researchers tried lead arsenate,
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: now banned,
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: micronized sulfur,
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: calcium arsenate,
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: now banned in the United K as a carcinogenic,
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: various combinations of these three,
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: and that wonderful,
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: oh,
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: this won't be a problem insecticide,
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: DDT,
• 3:06
  Applied to the turf as a suspension at the rate of 30 and 50
• 3:10
  pounds per acre
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: appears promising for the control of larvae.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Disregarding our futile attempts at dominance,
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: the little pests began to spread,
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: generally aided unknowingly by people.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: We shipped them via infested nursery stock.
• 3:27
  We ferried them when removed grub-rich topsoil in our cars,
• 3:31
  trucks,
• 3:32
  railroads,
• 3:33
  and planes.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: In fact,
• 3:35
  the first reported sighting of European chaffers in Seattle was
• 3:38
  in 2015 at SeaTac
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Airport.
• 3:42
  Adult chafers can and do fly,
• 3:45
  but neither far nor fast,
• 3:48
  except in a plane.
• 3:50
  Life for a European chafer begins between two to eight inches
• 3:55
  underground in a
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: small cell of about 20 eggs.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: About two weeks later,
• 4:01
  the larvae emerge and mature to their plant-killing stage in
• 4:06
  about nine months.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Grubs may move as much as 10 inches vertically,
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: typically descending to avoid frost,
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: which allows them to overwinter.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is the stage when most pestiferous,
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: when the white grubs eat plant roots,
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: killing the above-ground portion.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: When densities reach 20 to 30 GFS, turf death will be complete.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Adults, in contrast, are dainty eaters if they eat much at all.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: They mostly rely on stored fat.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: aka the digested remains of our lawn.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Their focus instead is sex during their short two-week life as adults,
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: which takes place in the summer.
• 4:52
  Turning from the little scene to the big bad nemesis,
• 4:55
  the two other destroyers of lawns
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: are crows and raccoons.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Both are intelligent,
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: mischievous,
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: opportunistic,
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: and omnivorous,
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: and probably why people get their undies in a twist with this issue.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: For example,
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Several years ago,
• 5:11
  I was on a morning run and passed a recently built house with
• 5:15
  freshly placed turf.
• 5:17
  Nearly every roll had its corner folded over as if someone was
• 5:21
  seeking a hastily hidden prize.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: They were.
• 5:25
  Raccoons had most likely furled the turf corners in search of
• 5:28
  European chafers.
• 5:30
  I have also watched crows snortling and snoozling in search of
• 5:34
  the yummy white beetle grubs.
• 5:36
  Their strong muscles and stout bill allow them to penetrate the
• 5:40
  soil and tear up tufts of grass.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Unlike most other birds,
• 5:44
  crows also have the strength to open their bills to grab a meal
• 5:48
  in such confined
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: situations.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Crows are aided by their intelligence and inquisitiveness.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: The birds are probably keen observers of signs produced by grubs,
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: such as holes or loose sections of soil.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Remember where they previously encountered grubs.
• 6:05
  Note where their fellow crows are dining and cannot pass up an
• 6:09
  opportunity to
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: satisfy their curiosity.
• 6:13
  I have also been told that raccoons may have learned their
• 6:15
  behavior from watching the crows.
• 6:19
  Now that we are no longer poisoning the ground and ourselves
• 6:24
  with toxins such as
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: DDT,
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: we have taken new,
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: more benign tacks in our battle against the white grubs.
• 6:32
  We have found a natural nemesis,
• 6:36
  entomopathogenic nematodes or roundworms,
• 6:40
  to do the dirty work.
• 6:42
  The microscopic beasts penetrate a grub's body cavity,
• 6:45
  release a bacterium that kills the grub,
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: and then feast upon the bacterium and liquefying grub.
• 6:52
  I imagine that this macabre means of death delights those whose
• 6:57
  lawns have been destroyed.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: The nematodes appear not to cause damage to other organisms or to humans.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Researchers have also found a sort of boom and bust cycle.
• 7:09
  Grubs tend to be more abundant two to three years after adults
• 7:13
  appear and increase
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: their population during the next three to five years.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: then drop to relatively low levels and remain that way for some time.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: If history provides any answers to this situation,
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: however,
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: it's that we are not stopping the European chafer.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: They are here to say.
• 7:32
  Paraphrasing Mr.
• 7:33
  Shakespeare,
• 7:35
  to lawn or not to lawn,
• 7:37
  that is the question.
• 7:39
  Whether it is nobler in the yard to suffer the slings and
• 7:42
  arrows of outrageous
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: crows or to take arms against a sea of grubs,
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: But as one of my birder friends told me,
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: of course,
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: the best way to prevent disturbance is not to have a stupid lawn.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Once again,
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: this is David B.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Williams,
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: author and voice of The Street Smart Naturalist,
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Explorations of the Urban Kind,
• 8:03
  a weekly newsletter and podcast focusing on the human and
• 8:06
  natural world around
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Seattle,
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: Puget Sound,
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: and the Pacific Northwest.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like more details about my books,
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: walks,
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: and talks,
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: and a link to sign up for my newsletter and podcast,
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: check out my website,
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: geologywriter.com.
• 8:20
  And don't forget to slow down,
• 8:22
  pay attention,
• 8:23
  and enjoy the world around you.