Yard guests

[JacquieJet]

Lily, I love the idea of using mint!

Phil, I tried the sugar+borax thing, but it didn't work for me. I put dishes of it on my counters (not on the floor because I have dogs, but the ants are in my kitchen as well), and after a week I still had just as many ants milling about. I just put down peanut butter Raid ant traps, and those seem to have reduced their numbers. We get ants every year, and I've become used to them, so long as they are generally contained/not large in number.

I am pleased to say that I actually got one of the tenants next door to call the bylaw office! Yay!!
She said she also notified the owner, who said they had no idea.... EYEROLL. Anyway, hopefully this will get addressed in a positive way! The tenant also said she saw rats running by her front door, and found a couple of burrows by her steps... which is only a few feet from my driveway. Hold me, please.

[Nicholas]

I got the kitchen sugar ant thing under control using those plastic ant thingies. Here is another yard guest story:

I had just set up one of those free standing pools for the kids in our back yard, in Lauderdale, which was dominated by a huge silk oak tree. The pool is 4 foot high and 12 feet across with the pump filter deal. So the kids were finally able to get in it and I'm watching the joy and playful activity. I am also watching this long snotty thing coming down from the large tree limb about ten feet up.

I follow the long snotty thing and look up at tree limb, and there is a four foot long iguana laying on the limb casually taking a dump in the pool.

"Everybody out of the pool!"

"what...why"??

I pointed to the floating crap and then to the iguana. No explanation needed. "Ewww!!"

I was able to scoop out the offense with the net and then let the chlorine and pump do its thing for a few minutes. Then used the net to chase the monster away. Welcome to Florida.

[JacquieJet]

Omg, Nicholas! We don't get critters like that around here!

[phil]

Nicolas just won the freakiest yard guest competition

[Gothichome]

The kids will be traumatized for months. But twenty years from now it will still be a good story, only the iguana will be a of a monster size rarely seen other than in a Godzilla movie.

[Lily left the valley]

Thanks Lily. Interesting that you could ID the scout. weve been using windex around the counters. I thought it was just what was handy but she must know more than I do
as far as I can tell the dish of borax outside the door seemed to confuse them away from going through the door for the most part. I just have tiny black ones. I've never been bitten.
Every year they seem to try and it usually prompts pulling the stove , fridge etc to clean any food residue. my gardens seem to be taken over by some sort of flower, they make bulbs by the zillion and while I like flowers I should take a pic. maybe there is a solution to them propagating a little too much. Every year I dig out as many as I can find and they return anyway. Maybe the mint would be good competition

The legendary black ones I remember from my childhood were not tiny. Not even small.

I'm curious to see the flower now! I'll see if you posted a pic in Park Avenue. I don't know how well or not mint competes with bulb and tuber plants.

[phil]

its funny that you mentioned mint. and this weekend I spent a day pulling weeds and noticed I do have some mint that was planted last year. it also seemed that the ants had vanished from near it.

I moved the plant and Ill keep an eye on how well it does or if it takes over other stuff. some of the flowers in that same area had gone completely nuts so I dug every bulb out that I could get my hands on. I'm sure the glowers will return in number anyway.

I think a combination of using windex and the borax/icing sugar helped and the mint does seem to be repelling them for 6 feet around the plant so maybe I can move some to areas based upon the number of ants.
maybe the secret to containing the mint is to move it once in a while and let it fight a little rather than letting it take over too much.

Im just trying to get things in order because I know when I start on my roof it's goign to take preference over the yard which is pretty neglectred this year. but oh well.. as long as I can keep some of the wild stuff down. Ive just been yanking anythign I figure doesnt' belong and there are a probably a few others I didnt' recognise but Ive got quite a few things. sage and mint and plums, about a dozen blueberry bushes, a holley tree that I might get rid of. I just spotted a new plumb tree offered for free, one of mine died. I have a lot of garden plants I couldn't name maybe I need to take some pics. I planted some garlic and there is some chives which I reduced but left a few. at one point I had some kale. it was replanting itself a lot but I enjoyed it in sandwiches instead of lettuce so I might plant that again. I dug up a nright purple flower that kept growing back in the middle of my lawn and getting mowed down.. i think they are purple violets. I hated mowing them over so I put a clump of the lawn with some moss in a pot and I'm enjoying it as a table plant. Yesterday I took my van to the wand wash and returned tired from scrubbing and got some couch time in

[Manalto]

Dragonflies, most of them iridescent blue but also some green, are everywhere.

[phil]

with the borax and icing sugar. if it's humid it solidifies and the ants can't take it. Ive just been keeping it out side the door but in a clamshell pack with holes and I give it a little kick or shake it a little to break it up a bit . it did seem to help for me, if they are taking it that's a good sign but itll harden up if it sees rain. My cat didnt' seem interested.

for rats I tried setting some of the plastic traps. they have quite a strong spring and you have to step on them. I found they worked well but also I did one thing my grandfather used to do with the wooden live traps he'd make out of a box. put some crumpled paper in there and burn it. that takes away the human scent otherwise they won't go near them. I used peanut butter for bait. the problem with the traps is the worry of catching a cat's paw so you can put them in a cardboard box with holes or something so the rats can get to the trap but cats can't get caught. rats love lumber piles so what I did was strategically bury them in such a way that cats cant get near them. that would be horrible. I guess there are the jumbo mouse traps too but I had success with the black plastic ones. you have to check them or they will stink a lot more than a mouse if left for days. I never tried the ant traps. they might be good inside the house? If you have dogs the rats might not like their scent so maybe helping them mark their territory helps? my cat seems to help a lot she will sit watching for hours if she detects mice.. good kitty

[Gothichome]

Well, I think we lost our ducks, moved on to better digs up river I think. Still have the dam rabbits though, but they are now ignoring my veggie garden. Maybe they are getting better food up river as well.