Latest news with #CalgaryAlberta
CTV News
25-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
What are chinch bugs and why are they devouring Calgary lawns?
They're small and hard to spot, but the damage chinch bugs are doing to Calgary lawns is unmistakable. James Szojka owns the lawn company Yard Dawgs, and says the 2024 water restrictions placed on Calgarians didn't help matters. 'We are seeing more this year than all the other years combined,' he said. 'I think the damage, especially in the southeast communities of Mahogany, Auburn Bay, McKenzie Towne, all these areas in particular – because chinch bugs migrate from the south – do get hit first and they get hit the hardest.' The bugs target individual blades of grass and suck the nutrients out of them, leaving them brown. Over time, a lawn will have a series of brown spots, and if left unchecked, they'll devour the entire lawn. 'They inject a toxin, and it will cause damages up to the point where someone has to completely replace their lawn,' he said. 'This is perfect environment for the bugs to really start to get very active and start to damage, because they love hot and dry, they do not like cold and wet.' Szojka says chinch bugs migrate to other lawns by flying or walking and won't discriminate. It's something causing concern for Calgary homeowner Tamara Schuetzle. She says her lawn is green and lush right now, and she's working hard to keep it that way. 'By removing the thatch, aerating so it's not compacted, and then of course nutrients,' she said. 'Calgary has a lot of clay, so I kind of use a combination of things that breaks up the clay so that the grass can have a better root system.' She's watering frequently to make her lawn less appealing to chinch bugs, which have devastated her neighbour's yard. 'The problem is, yes my lawn looks green now,' she said. 'But if everybody doesn't take care and do their part, they're just going to keep coming back, so it needs to be like a community thing where we do it together.' University of Calgary insect physiologist Jackie Lebenzon studies insects, how they work and how they respond to changes in different types of environments. She says Calgary's northern climate restricts the species that can live here, but chinch bugs have grown hardy and can survive winters easily. 'They're totally built to last.' she said. 'They do go away, they go dormant and they disappear (for close to six months of the year), so I guess there's two things they could do: run away, a lot of them migrate south just like a lot of us wish we could do, and then a lot of them just hunker down and stay here and enter a hibernation like state.' Lebenzon says Calgarians have a love-hate relationship with bugs, but there's likely more people that hate them in their yards, especially wasps, ants and aphids. 'Last year, people were like, 'There's so many wasps everywhere,' she said. 'I think it's because we had a really wet spring, which means there's lots of aphids 00 and wasps like to eat the aphid dew, which is basically like aphid poop – and so because of that, their population can maybe grow a little bit larger than what you might have seen the year before." Lebenzon says insects are an important part of our ecosystem. 'Insects make up three-quarters of all animals that live on land,' she said. 'They pollinate about three quarters of all the food that we eat, like all the types of plants and so you know like it or not, they're very important.'
CTV News
25-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
What are cinch bugs and why are they devouring Calgary lawns?
They're small and hard to spot, but the damage chinch bugs are doing to Calgary lawns is unmistakable. James Szojka owns the lawn company Yard Dawgs, and says the 2024 water restrictions placed on Calgarians didn't help matters. 'We are seeing more this year than all the other years combined,' he said. 'I think the damage, especially in the southeast communities of Mahogany, Auburn Bay, McKenzie Towne, all these areas in particular – because chinch bugs migrate from the south – do get hit first and they get hit the hardest.' The bugs target individual blades of grass and suck the nutrients out of them, leaving them brown. Over time, a lawn will have a series of brown spots, and if left unchecked, they'll devour the entire lawn. 'They inject a toxin, and it will cause damages up to the point where someone has to completely replace their lawn,' he said. 'This is perfect environment for the bugs to really start to get very active and start to damage, because they love hot and dry, they do not like cold and wet.' Szojka says chinch bugs migrate to other lawns by flying or walking and won't discriminate. It's something causing concern for Calgary homeowner Tamara Schuetzle. She says her lawn is green and lush right now, and she's working hard to keep it that way. 'By removing the thatch, aerating so it's not compacted, and then of course nutrients,' she said. 'Calgary has a lot of clay, so I kind of use a combination of things that breaks up the clay so that the grass can have a better root system.' She's watering frequently to make her lawn less appealing to chinch bugs, which have devastated her neighbour's yard. 'The problem is, yes my lawn looks green now,' she said. 'But if everybody doesn't take care and do their part, they're just going to keep coming back, so it needs to be like a community thing where we do it together.' University of Calgary insect physiologist Jackie Lebenzon studies insects, how they work and how they respond to changes in different types of environments. She says Calgary's northern climate restricts the species that can live here, but chinch bugs have grown hardy and can survive winters easily. 'They're totally built to last.' she said. 'They do go away, they go dormant and they disappear (for close to six months of the year), so I guess there's two things they could do: run away, a lot of them migrate south just like a lot of us wish we could do, and then a lot of them just hunker down and stay here and enter a hibernation like state.' Lebenzon says Calgarians have a love-hate relationship with bugs, but there's likely more people that hate them in their yards, especially wasps, ants and aphids. 'Last year, people were like, 'There's so many wasps everywhere,' she said. 'I think it's because we had a really wet spring, which means there's lots of aphids 00 and wasps like to eat the aphid dew, which is basically like aphid poop – and so because of that, their population can maybe grow a little bit larger than what you might have seen the year before." Lebenzon says insects are an important part of our ecosystem. 'Insects make up three-quarters of all animals that live on land,' she said. 'They pollinate about three quarters of all the food that we eat, like all the types of plants and so you know like it or not, they're very important.'
CTV News
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Surprise Swift visit + Crowe loves Canada + A friend in need
Calgary Watch We take a look at the lighter side of the news and what's trending online and on air.
CTV News
19-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Taxpayer group wants Bow River phone line disconnected
A couple paddle a raft in the Bow River trying to beat the heat in Calgary, Alta., Wednesday, June 30, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh Calgarians were charged $65,000 to support an art project that allowed residents to listen to the gurgling waters of the Bow River, a funding watchdog says. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is lashing out against the Reconnecting to the Bow project, a city-funded initiative that involved a hotline connecting callers to the sound of the Bow River at any time. CTF says the project is unnecessary and a waste of money. 'If someone wants to listen to a river, they can go sit next to one, but the City of Calgary should not force taxpayers to pay for this,' said Kris Sims, CTF Alberta director, in a news release. 'If phoning a river floats your boat, you do you, but don't force your neighbour to pay for your art choices.' The phone line, which is accessed by calling 1-855-BOW-LSTN (1-855-269-5786), was originally introduced in 2014 and reintroduced by the Calgary Arts Development Authority last year. The authority said during the first 10 days of launch thousands of people called the hotline. The project is expected to run until December.
CTV News
18-06-2025
- CTV News
Criminal charges against former 911 operator dropped; fined on FOIP convictions instead
Criminal charges have been dropped against a former Calgary 911 operator who was accused of sharing sensitive police information with gang members.
