In the woods the other day, I could hear a soft patter on the forest floor. It was like the sound of a gentle rain. "Hear that?" I asked one of my colleagues. "It is poop. It is raining poop. Worm poop." We were walking through a western spruce budworm (WSB) outbreak. For a few weeks in June, as the WSB larvae grow, they eat all the buds and new needles from infested trees. What goes in one end as foliage, comes out the other as frass. The frass is round, and somewhat sticky. If you sit down, you have to wipe it off your pants. "Don't," I reminded my friend, "open your mouth when you look up."
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