Anything that a caterpillar can crawl under that is placed on or near a favoured gypsy moth food plant can become a resting site. Eliminating these preferred hiding spots can help slow gypsy moth buildups. Even beneficial items such as bird boxes and feeders, which should be provided to encourage the presence of birds, are excellent resting sites. Examine and remove any resting caterpillars from them frequently. Each female moth or egg mass you destroy eliminates an average of 500 caterpillars from next year's gypsy moth population.
Female moths are flightless and crawl from their pupation sites to mate and lay eggs.
Carry a spoon and a jar or tin can half full of strong detergent solution with you as you search the tree trunks, loose bark flaps, and other dry, sheltered sites. Scrape any moths and egg masses you find into the solution and let it stand a day or two before discarding. You may remove and destroy egg masses any time between September and the following May, since the eggs usually don't begin hatching until mid-May in southern Nova Scotia. Do not merely scrape them onto the ground. This will not kill the eggs, and winter snows will actually blanket and protect them from natural enemies.