# Tree socks to baffle the cicadas!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-socks-to-baffle-the-cicadas/248510>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [June 3, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-socks-to-baffle-the-cicadas/248510 "2004-06-03T21:33:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-socks-to-baffle-the-cicadas/248510/1 "2004-06-03T21:33:54Z")

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I bought and planted a tulip tree (formerly called the white poplar) in my back yard a few weeks ago. A few days later I heard that I’d have to wrap my new tree in cheesecloth to keep the cicadas from killing all the bud ends. I pondered that for a while, picturing 23 ways I might fall off a ladder in the attempt. Then Mrs. Nott had a better idea. I only cared about the top few branches, because I didn’t want the main trunk to branch that low. She handed me some pairs of pantihose. **Dingdingdingding!** I clambered up my new fiber glass ladder, and I threaded a pantihose leg on each of the top 4 branches. I twist-tied them on, and now I’m ready for the Al-Cicada horde.

Then I planted 60 marigolds.

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**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tree-socks-to-baffle-the-cicadas/248510/2 "2004-06-03T21:41:25Z")

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I saw a lot of these on younger ornamentals while I was in Cincy last weekend. At first I thought that there had been random attacks by very selective tent caterpillars, but then I figured out what had happened.