caution regarding mulch

FYI... This came across my desk...

http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/termites/

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 stat e or company who will come and haul it
away. So it will be showing up in Home Depot and Lowes at dirt cheap prices
with one huge problem; Formosan Termites will be the bonus in many of those
bags. New Orleans is one of the few areas in the country were the Formosan
Termites has gotten a strong hold 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 that own homes to avoid cheap mulch and know were it came from.

 

This is an Urban Legend loosely based on fact:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/termites.asp

 

Gotta love snopes!!!

 

True .. its usually the first place I check whenever I get any sort of 'email alert or warning message' !!

 

From snopes:

"(In any case, there are a number of mitigating factors that could halt the spread of Formosan subterranean termites transported to other areas, such as the fact that they are rarely found above 35° N latitude because the colder temperatures typical of higher latitudes prevent their eggs from hatching). "

VA is firmly in 36°31'N to 39°37'N so it's nice to know our mild winters [for now] keep the termite down. If only the ticks were the same.