Wood Piles and the Critter Factor

[yanksforever]

Put a couple (not the whole box) of moth balls under your pallets and you shouldn't have any problems with larger animals
living in here. They hate the smell.

 

[firefighterjake]

No bugs.
No spiders.
No snakes.
No mice.
No chipmunks.

4 cats . . . whose favorite hunting grounds seem to be the woodshed.
Add in the fact that I move the bulk of my wood in the colder months . . . and it explains why I have no critter or creepy crawly problems.

 

[basod]

The most interesting thing that got in the house for me was a little lizard. These little guys seem not to hibernate here in AL and will wake up in the late afternoon where the sun warms rocks. I guess He hitchhiked on my wood bag that was setting on the front porch after I dumped the chaffe out of it earlier in the morning.
Besides him the normal spiders/scorpions/centipedes.
But while picking up a pile I split last january to stack for next year last week, a pretty large 4-5ft kingsnake slithered out of the pile. I would have reached for my judge if it weren't for the fact that i didn't have it on my hip, and i had to change my shorts by the time I made it back to the house. I don't really worry about those guys anyways - they'll eat the rattlers!

 

[Ratherbfishin]

I live in upstate NY and while we have had garter snakes around our foundation (shot on site) I haven't come across any in my wood pile thank heavens. If that were the case OIL would be looking better. I just can't deal with snakes. 6 foot 4'' and 270lbs but a snake takes all the man out of me and turns me into a screaming sissy. I have sprayed Garlic infused oil around as "billy the exterminator" swears by and I gotta say I haven't seen a snake since!

 

[soupy1957]

Jake: your cats eat and chase spiders? I think I'll explore that, with OUR cat. I know our four DOGS don't go after em!

-Soupy1957

 

[firefighterjake]

Jake: your cats eat and chase spiders? I think I'll explore that, with OUR cat. I know our four DOGS don't go after em!

-Soupy1957

Actually . . . yes . . . one cat in particular is fascinated by creepy crawly things . . . probably because she has spina bifida and has never been able to "play" with any mice, chipmunks, birds, etc. . . . plus she is double pawed so all it takes is one whack . . . and her plaything is gone.

 

[bobbys]

Took about 2 days from the time I loaded my brand new woodshed for mice and chipmunks to declare residence. On a positive note, will these critters and most likely garter snakes possibly keep the carpenter ant population down?

 

[Ratman]

Spiders eat the bugs.
Crosman takes the chipmunks.

 

[3fordasho]

My biggest pest issue in the wood shed is red squirrels. They love to fill the spaces between splits with walnut shells, grass clippings and other crap. Very irritating having that stuff fall on you all winter long as you transfer wood to the stove. Over the summer I've taken out 7-8 of them and seem to have depleated the supply of reds. The greys and blacks have taken over the territory but I leave them alone, they stay clear of the wood shed.

 

[Wooddust]

Spiders for sure but the worst was a Copperhead that bit a friend on his hand and landed him in the hospital for two nights in Turkey season 4 years ago at my place. Since then I never mess with piles in summer and in early fall I wear welders gloves to get wood for the stove.

 

[Danno77]

spiders aren't a nuisance, but the bugs they eat ARE, so we love spiders at my house; beats flies, mosquitoes, or any other annoying bug you can imagine. I split a lot of wood that has carpenter ants or other infestations, but my woodstacks generally seem to be free of these, do you think the spiders are doing that, or is it just that I've made the wood inhabitable by reducing moisture and split size?

 

[firefighterjake]

spiders aren't a nuisance, but the bugs they eat ARE, so we love spiders at my house; beats flies, mosquitoes, or any other annoying bug you can imagine. I split a lot of wood that has carpenter ants or other infestations, but my woodstacks generally seem to be free of these, do you think the spiders are doing that, or is it just that I've made the wood inhabitable by reducing moisture and split size?

I think it's your eviction notice served up to the ants with a chainsaw and splitter/maul that leads them to go find a better place to live. . . .