Hey, Answer Girl --

While walking through Highland Park Cemetery, I noticed some purple painted wooden boxes up in the trees. What are those things? They're almost triangular in shape.

-- Phone caller whose name I failed to write down

Those purple boxes -- located in ash trees throughout the cemetery -- are beetle traps, according to Mark Patceg with Highland Park.

Inside each of the boxes, a pheromone packet attracts the beetles, and a sticky layer catches them, much like in fly traps.

The purple color attracts ash borer beetles, which can be a problem for ash trees in the area. The state is doing a study on those beetles, and prefers to place the traps in quiet, controlled areas. Obviously, the cemetery is a good example of a quiet and controlled area.

So far, the cemetery hasn't had too many problems with the beetles, but they can kill ash trees -- thus, the study to find out how prevalent the beetles are in the area.

The study is just ending now, so the purple boxes should be gone the next time you walk through the cemetery.

Patceg asks that anyone who sees a stray purple box in the trees contact the cemetery office at (307) 235-8317, and let them know the researchers missed a box.

Hey, Answer Girl --

The new entryway into Morad Park is a wonderful improvement. Why doesn't the rest of the driveway and the parking lot rate a makeover too?

-- Mardie, a tax-paying dog-walker

Let me begin by agreeing with you about Morad Park being an awesome place, especially with the new entryway area. I love walking there and stopping to pet other people's dogs.

Peter Meyers, administrative analyst with the city, said the purpose of the project wasn't actually to make the park prettier -- that was just a nice side-effect of the work. It was to address the safety issue of cars exiting Morad onto Wyoming Boulevard. The entryway was too small for the increasing number of park-goers, so the entryway needed extra lanes. That's why there's now one exit for cars turning left, and one for cars turning right.

Because Morad is a riverside park, Meyers said, the city decided against extending the lanes farther into the park.

"It has always had a rustic character, and we've tried to preserve that as much as we can," Meyers said. "Widening the entryway addressed the safety issue, but paving farther into the park would have detracted from that rustic character."

Ask Answer Girl

Answer Girl tackles questions about Casper, the universe and everything else. Submit questions by e-mail to megan.lee@trib.com, or call Megan Lee at (307) 266-0616 or megan.lee@trib.com. Write to Answer Girl, Box 80, Casper, 82602. Visit the AnswerLabs Blog Place at tribtown.trib.com.