Bugs Beetles Spiders O My!

[CountryGal]

CG, that first pic just looks to me like it's crying out for the caption, "Got Gophers?". :lol: Rick

Doesn't it? My daughter said it almost looked like a cartoon. S/he just looked right into the camera for his/her close up.

 

[Jerry_NJ]

CG, can you give us an estimated length on your gopher snake? Looks to be a good 4' or more. It clearly isn't a "viper".

Go snakes :exclaim:

 

[CountryGal]

I never saw it stretched out but it was at least 4' and it pretty much filled the whole glove box.

 

[begreen]

Poor guy looks confused. Maybe he thought he was a golfer snake and not a gopher snake? Or maybe he watched Groundhog day too many times?

 

[Jags]

OH, OOooooooo. Yuck! Where's my garden rake when I need it. Bad snake.

Glad I have never seen a snake in my wood pile. They aren't around in much force, and thats just fine with me. I did have an old ma cat that brought one up to the porch on one occasion, but that is one in many-a-year.

 

[WoodMann]

On another note, I was transplanting Yucca's yesterday and under a few of'em there was a cnetipede but under the last one a nest of carpenter ants. Huge black MOFO's! I went and got the Borax and tossed it all around while gently disturbing the area with a stick......................

 

[Jerry_NJ]

Hum Borax you say? Is that the cleaning stuff sometimes put in laundry soap? I didn't know it kills ants, and is rather safe to handle, if you're not an ant, it seems.

How about sprinkling some around the house foundation to keep ants out?

While moving the tarp back on the top of my wood pile, a large Garder snake (same one I think that's in the picture I posed a ways back) slid out and headed under the shed. He must have been enjoying the heat, the tarp is dark brown and it was sunny, wow, bet it was 125 degrees under there.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Lots of young garder snakes in my yard this year. They surprise me, but I'm not freaked or anything. They do their thing and I do mine. Had a big one living in my compost pile one year that I had a tarp over it. I just put the tarp back and let it go until spring.

 

[begreen]

Hum Borax you say? Is that the cleaning stuff sometimes put in laundry soap? I didn't know it kills ants, and is rather safe to handle, if you're not an ant, it seems.

How about sprinkling some around the house foundation to keep ants out?

Yes, they bring it back to the nest to feed everybody including the queen for dessert and that ends the nest. Takes a little while, but no worries about hurting other animals or pets.

 

[WoodMann]

Yes- Borax the detergent..............

 

[Jerry_NJ]

OK, Great, the ants eat it, it isn't necessary to have an uninterrupted barrier. It seems to my reading one could put some "piles" of Borax around, say near the house and if there are ants out browsing for food, some will take the Borax "home" and kill the bunch. This sounds too good to be true, this may be the secrete that Terminx hopes no one will find out?

 

[N/A N/A]

Lots of young garder snakes in my yard this year. They surprise me, but I'm not freaked or anything. They do their thing and I do mine. Had a big one living in my compost pile one year that I had a tarp over it. I just put the tarp back and let it go until spring.

Snakes are good! I would rather have a snake or two or three or eight, ten, I dont care, in my wood stash to eat the mice and what not, rather than bring the wood into my home even for a short period of time with mouse feces on it. Last year I found three mice nests in my wood pile. vermin is bad for the whole family...disease they carry..nasty. My splits were covered in mouse crap.

 

[Jerry_NJ]

Yes, I too have seen mouse nests in the wood pile/stack, but I'm sure there are none there now given the large garder snake (or two..) that lives there now. We have already discussed personal likes and dislikes about snakes on this thread, I'm on the "likes" side, albeit, not vipers, of which I've never seen any in this part of NJ. We may have an occasional copperhead and water moccasin - but I've never seen one...that I recognized.

 

[WoodMann]

OK, Great, the ants eat it, it isn't necessary to have an uninterrupted barrier. It seems to my reading one could put some "piles" of Borax around, say near the house and if there are ants out browsing for food, some will take the Borax "home" and kill the bunch. This sounds too good to be true, this may be the secrete that Terminx hopes no one will find out?

Yeah- I'm surprised how well this stuf works. I went back yesterday to get that Yucca out and every last carpenter ant was gone, no sign no trace. Then, just for kicks I went to an ant pile, not carpenter or army ant, just black ants, like the red ant but black. I threw a handfuld on the pile and aggitated everyone, then got the shovel and turned stuff up a bit. They eem a little more resilliant, so I tossed a couple more handfuls on the pile. I'll check to see the results later on........

 

[WoodMann]

Here are those other ants, not army or carpenter ants. The borax doen't seem to do anything with these, but it really did a number on thos carpenter ants I stumbled on the other day.............

 

[Jerry_NJ]

Interesting, I did look Borax up and it was credited with being a component in insecticides.

 

[iceman]

don't forget if you wnt to you can buy roach/ant purfee (sp) sold in ace/rockys or even the one for termites you can use it as powder or make a spray its abot 8-9 bucks

 

[begreen]

There are a many different ants in the world and they do a lot of work keeping the recycling business of nature in order. If they aren't after your house or wood pile, best to leave them alone.

 

[WoodMann]

Yeah- I like'em wehre they are at the edge of the lot, another deterrent for punks, too..........

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I'm thinking of putting some wood on my porch (roofed but not "enclosed"). I live in a log home, which is treated with boron based preservative (a step up from borax). I will likely wait for the freeze and may dust the pile with diatomaceous earth. Look into it- it scratches through the bugs exoskeleton so that they dry out and die. Completely harmless (don't breathe it, but t's just silica- don't get the pool stuff)

 

[gyrfalcon]

I'm thinking of putting some wood on my porch (roofed but not "enclosed"). I live in a log home, which is treated with boron based preservative (a step up from borax). I will likely wait for the freeze and may dust the pile with diatomaceous earth. Look into it- it scratches through the bugs exoskeleton so that they dry out and die. Completely harmless (don't breathe it, but t's just silica- don't get the pool stuff)

Hmmm. What happens if a domestic animal, a cat or a dog, takes a good sniff?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

They might sneeze. Even sniffing at it doesn't stir it into a reathable dust cloud, however. If they do this for an hour a day for say 20 years- then they might have an issue

Any real problem from breathing it is long-term exposure. Otherwise it's not really more dngerous than sweeping the porch without a respirator.

 

[gyrfalcon]

They might sneeze. Even sniffing at it doesn't stir it into a reathable dust cloud, however. If they do this for an hour a day for say 20 years- then they might have an issue

Any real problem from breathing it is long-term exposure. Otherwise it's not really more dngerous than sweeping the porch without a respirator.

Thanks. That's a relief. One reason I ask is because one of my cats has been sneezing lately but has no symptoms of a cold otherwise, and I do have diatomaceous earth in a couple places in my garden to make trouble for the slugs.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Could just have allergies. My little smushed-face dogs have mild allergies. They also sneeze when they want to get attention, want the other to play with them, when they're excited to go out... better than whining for sure.

 

[Jerry_NJ]

Get a real dog, a Doberman or German Shepard come to mind :coolgrin: