Just got this in an e-mail, regarding mulch from NO.

[MsUSA]

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 that will come and haul it away. So it will be showing up in Home Depot and Lowes at dirt cheap prices with one h uge problem; Formosan Termites will be the bonus in many of those bags. New Orleans is one of the few areas in the country where the Formosan Termites have a stronghold 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 who own homes to avoid cheap mulch and know were it came from.

Anyone know if this is true?? Thanks.

[meegbear]

1. Could you post the email text?

This could give a clue.

[MsUSA]

6. I got it from a co-worker, a RW'ngr.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Don't know, but there is this wonderful red mulch for sale that has a

termite poison included in the bark. Sounds like a happy marriage.

[LibertyLover]

3. False

I got it yesterday and a fellow copyee found the Snopes reference debunking it. I'll find it and post.

[nonews]

8. check out Snopes

got the same one too--not true

[LibertyLover]

11. Snopes reference

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

[Divernan]

4. Interesting the poster doesn't include Walmart, isn't it?

Perhaps Walmart's notorious PR department is the source?

[mom cat]

5. Thanks for the warning. I had heard about the New Orleans termites

before. I do not know about this particular story, but it is worth checking out.

[Sabriel]

Here's the Snopes info about it. It sounds false.

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

[MsUSA]

10. Hey, thanks Sabriel, I've sent this to her.....

:thumbsup:

[lse7581011]

12. Snopes Website Down?

aol is telling me snopes no longer exists?

[bananas]

17. down for me too - I'm not on aol

and that page isn't cached at google.com or archive.org

[bananas]

19. try this - their dns is down, but the web server is up

http://66.165.133.65/inboxer/household/termites.asp

[BOSSHOG]

7. Termites caused significant damage to the levees and

damn near ate the French Quarter. The city spent 10 million dollars on termite control. Formosans are evil eating machines. Don't put any type of pine mulch or bark close to your home as it attracts insects.

[babylonsister]

9. This comment and link is from the Gardening group:

Internet Rumor About Mulch from Hurricane Areas

In case you receive the email rumor about mulch from the hurricane areas being infested with Formosa termites, most of it is not true, but there is some cause for concern. I asked our local County Extension Director about it, and he referred me to this link. It should clear things up.

http://citybugs.tamu.edu/IntheNews_Details.asp?ID_Key=4...

[bananas]

13. web page not loading - can you post the text?

I'm getting this:

ADODB.Field error '800a0bcd'

Either BOF or EOF is True, or the current record has been deleted. Requested operation requires a current record.

/IntheNews_Details.asp, line 155



on edit: the article seems to be at http://citybugs.tamu.edu/IntheNews_Details.asp?ID_Key=425

[babylonsister]

16. Here's a fresh link; thanks for heads up:

http://citybugs.tamu.edu/IntheNews_Details.asp?ID_Key=425

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. My local news said no

The termites from NO cannot survive in this part of the US.

[madokie]

15. there is an article in todays tulsa world newspaper about that

titled, Web site chips away at myth about termites transported north in mulch. according to this snopes.com says this one is false.
edit: spelling

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

18. Snopes says false; however...

I read enough hedges in their refutation that I would still be cautious, just as they urge. Last summer Harper's ran a long piece about the history and affect of Formosan termites in New Orleans, and it was mind-boggling. They are extremely tenacious and destructive little creatures, able to squeeze through microscopic fissures in concrete to access wood within highrises. What's more they replace what they have destroyed with structures they build from their waste; inspectors described removing drywall to find seemingly intact wall studs beneath, only to see them crumble to dust under the blow from a hammer.

Snopes says Home Depot doesn't accept mulch from the affected area, and that state etymologists had already quarantined the areas prior to Katrina so that wood products would not be spread. But there's no certainty that the storm didn't spread debris wide and far. As Snopes cautions, check mulch packages for place of origin, and examine the mulch itself before you use it.