Overview
- County leaders plan a weather‑dependent helicopter operation in mid to late May to treat feeding caterpillars on roadside oaks.
- Crews will focus on short, locally limited stretches of avenues and roads chosen from last year’s monitoring, and brief road closures are expected during flights.
- The spray will be Foray ES, a Bacillus-based product that caterpillars ingest while feeding, which the county says is non-toxic to people and other vertebrates and is designed to spare bees.
- The push follows an unexpectedly strong outbreak in 2025 that the county said exceeded any level previously recorded in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
- Health officials warn the caterpillars’ microscopic hairs can trigger rashes, eye irritation, and breathing problems, while the species continues to spread across Germany as warmer springs help it move from forests into gardens and parks.