What did you do in the garden today?

[Rick589]

Of all the household insect around us the one I despise the most is the fly, with ants a very very close second. To me its not a question of whether a fly was on a pile of dog poo before landing on your sandwich, but WHICH pile it was on before landing on your sandwich. And our ants had gotten so bad we had to have an exterminator come in. We have sandy soil which is just perfect for the little imps and our whole property was being overrun.

 

[TJAnonymous]

We have lots of black widows and brown recluse around here. In the past 10 years, two of my kids have been bitten by brown recluse. My son developed necrosis on his bite and had to have the dead tissue cut out.

In the 5 years we've lived at this house, my husband has been bitten twice by black widows. Both times it was a dry bite...no venom. I'm ALWAYS careful to look for them... Especially around the wood pile.

One thing we've learned... When a black widow bites, it causes intense pain immediately. You know you've been bitten in that moment. With a brown recluse, you usually don't feel it right away. The reaction usually takes an hour or two before you start to feel the effects of the bite.

Wolf spiders (which we also have) on the other hand, hurt like hell immediately after being bitten. Thankfully they aren't venomous but can still pack a big wallop.

 

[OnlySympathy]

Of all the household insect around us the one I despise the most is the fly, with ants a very very close second. To me its not a question of whether a fly was on a pile of dog poo before landing on your sandwich, but WHICH pile it was on before landing on your sandwich. And our ants had gotten so bad we had to have an exterminator come in. We have sandy soil which is just perfect for the little imps and our whole property was being overrun.

I can’t stand ants.

 

[Rick589]

I can’t stand ants.

Absolutely with you on this. Tolerated them for a few years and treated with the normal broadcast granules,Terro, etc. Everything in the cabinets was, and still is, in sealed containers or plastic freezer bags. Finally got to the point where we needed a professional and they knocked them right out within about two days. I’m thinking of getting a yearly contract because you’ll never get rid of them so control is the only option. And our property is overrun with them.

 

[Rick589]

Starting to see the JB’s on the plants. Fortunately the blackberries are done and any damage done in usually on the spent canes. Our Crepe Myrtles and River Birch take a big hit also but we don’t attempt any type of treatment on them. Also, noticed that the blueberries, which are right next to the blackberries, don’t seem to be bothered.

 

[Rick589]

I have a weird love for black widows

and……how are your bats doing?

 

[Rick589]

You can water it, then cover with black plastic for a few days, it cooks them. I would however leave the plastic on for the entire summer, depriving the roots from nutrients so it can’t grow back. The other way it to dig all the roots out, one metre deep.

Have any recommendations for wire grass?

 

[OnlySympathy]

and……how are your bats doing?

I haven’t seen any in a while it’s sad

 

[Rick589]

I haven’t seen any in a while it’s sad

We have one that flies around and we’d like to have a bunch more.

 

[Rick589]

I haven’t seen any in a while it’s sad

Not a spider guy, don’t mind them being around however. But we’d like to have more bats and snakes, they are so beneficial. We do have a steady supply of black snakes, both racers and rat. And it’s easy enough to tell which is which when approaching one.