Tom Wein and David Leatherman stopped by the Observer office on Oct. 16. They had already inspected Scotch Pine trees for mountain pine beetle infestations at Wildcat Hills, Four Winds Golf Course and a rural residence in the Kimball area.They reported finding many Scotch Pines with pitch tube evidence of pine beetle attack. They found only four golf course trees that need to be destroyed, in their estimation.Wein and Leatherman say the pitch tube deposits on the tree trunks are evidence that the tree withstood the boring attempts of the beetles. According to them, it is when there is no evidence that the tree well may be in danger. The borings leave a sawdust-like deposit at the base of the tree when the beetle attack is successful.Unfortunately, this sawdust can be swept away by the wind and the best evidence is gone. The tree will continue to look healthy for about nine months after the attack and then the tree will die.In the mountains of Colorado, whole mountainsides now look red instead of green as all the pine needles are gone, leaving the color of tree bark as the most visible sight.Wein and Leatherman say only a few trees need be burned, as most have survived the beetle attack.They brought a 14 x 7 inch piece of bark from one of the trees. It had all stages of the beetle life showing. There were live beetles, the pupae and the larvae present on the bark sample. The adult mountain pine beetle is quite small, about 1/4 inch in length. They can fly and were probably brought into the area by strong westerly winds in 2008.Leatherman does natural resource consulting. He lists 35 years experience with the mountain pine beetle, tree insect identification and management plus other services connected to nature.Wein’s  credentials were discussed in an Observer article in the Oct. 8, 2009 issue.