CLEVELAND — Invasive spotted lanternflies are becoming an increasing environmental issue across the state of Ohio.
Eighteen counties, including the state’s three most populous — Franklin, Hamilton and Cuyahoga — are in a spotted lanternfly quarantine area, according to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
The Cleveland Metroparks are relying on the help of a canine team to tackle the problem.
“Our dogs are trained to do this,” Tara Gifford said. “Let’s make use of it.”
Gifford and her 8-year-old black lab, Juno, are a part of the group that has been working with the Metroparks since December. The dogs are using specialized scent training to remove egg masses of invasive spotted lanternflies in the Cleveland Metroparks.
“It’s nice to be able to put some effort into locating them and trying to diminish the amount that are going to be hatching and try to help the environment, community, and it’s a fun way to spend time with our dogs,” Gifford said.
Juno and the other three dogs had previous scent work experience but took part in national training at Virginia Tech for specifically sniffing out lanternflies.
“We kind of look around the area first and get our dogs out and get them suited up in their scent gear so they know what their task is,” Gifford said. “Sometimes, they’ll just kind of look up in the trees and then we can see them with our eyes. We’ll tag the trees and come back with our scraper poles and that kind of equipment and scrape and smash the eggs as best we can.”
Gail Samko and her Australian Shepherd, Rio, also take part in the scent hunts. Samko jumped at the chance to get her dog involved in tackling such an important environmental issue.
“It’s exciting to know that dogs can even find something like this,” Samko said. “This was just so new to us. For all these dogs to pick up the scent. It’s exciting to go into the vineyards and see where these bugs are coming from and how we can make a big difference in getting rid of them.”
German Shepherd Argent and Cardigan Welsh Corgi Bronco are the final two four-legged detectives. The team has discovered over 4,000 spotted lanternfly egg masses in the Metroparks, meaning they’ve helped eliminate over 200,000 of the species that can be damaging to fruits, crops and other plants.
“The dog teams have been a really great new resource for us to tap into egg masses that sometimes are a little bit more cryptic, they’re a little more hidden, and they’ve really elevated our game in our search capabilities,” Cleveland Metroparks Senior Conservation Science Manager Connie Hausman said.
Hausman said the volunteers and their dogs have played a crucial role in not just keeping the parks clean but also raising awareness to the public as well.
“They represent what it means to love our park system, to be good stewards of the land, and to take action when you can,” Hausman said. “It snowballed into a great partnership where we get to embrace the teams and not only help them develop their skill sets but for us to also have an impact in a positive way on maintaining the integrity of our park system.”
With the weather beginning to warm up, many of the lanternfly eggs are hatching. That means the team’s work is done for the time being. Both Samko and Gifford said that they and their dogs will continue to make a difference.
“We’re also looking into some vineyards and things like that where they tend to destroy the crops and trees,” Gifford said. “Keep working with our dogs and keep getting them ready when it’s time for the spotted lanternfly to start laying their eggs again.”
“As long as he’s ready to go, I’m in, I’m all in,” Samko said.
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