News And Advice From The Leading Thousand Oaks Tree Trimming Company
Last fall we wrote about a nasty pest found in the Thousand Oaks area: Fruit Flies Invade Thousand Oaks. It was the Queensland fruit fly, a particularly destructive fly that that attacks everything from strawberries and blueberries to lemon and avocado trees. Since Ventura County is world famous for its strawberries and homeowners are justifiably proud of their wonderful lemon and avocado trees, alarm bells went off.
Now we have an update that is both good news and a bit of a caution. First, the good news. Officials from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) say the situation is currently under control, with no flies found outside of the initial quarantine area. Which means the quarantine will end in late July if no more flies are found.
But, they caution, the flies become more active in warm weather. In an understated comment by Agricultural Commissioner Korinne Bell, she said “We are cautiously optimistic that we’ve remained at three flies, but we are very interested to see what will happen when we start getting consistently warm weather.”
The original quarantine area was in the heart of Thousand Oaks, near Erbes Road and La Granada Drive. The discovery of a third fly in November required the original 4.5-mile quarantine area to be expanded about a mile and a half north into Moorpark, and it has remained the same since. Residents who were affected by the quarantine received baiting treatments free of charge, although commercial growers had to pay for materials and labor.
A simple rule of thumb for homeowners in the affected area is to simply not share fruit with anyone and not transport fruit off your property.
Get more information from the CDFA here, including a map showing the precise quarantine area. And we’ll keep you posted as the July date to discontinue the quarantine nears.