Insects and Animals
Ant – Indoor Control
My friends Lisa and Laura are gourmet cooks. Their kitchens always contain the beginnings of (or the remains of) a feast for their families. No one who walks through ever lacks for a snack. It’s no wonder then that both...
Fire Ant Control – Comparison of Cost and Effectiveness
If your math skills are as rusty as mine, this link from Auburn compares the cost of fire ant control products for homeowners. I’ll let you discover which product costs $202 per acre and takes 3 – 4 weeks to...
Asian Ambrosia Beetle – Control
There is no more accurate description of Asian Ambrosia Beetle damage than “Toothpicks coming out of the trunk of my tree!” This boring pest came to my attention in 2001 when a big flowering cherry tree in my back yard...
Deer Control – Resistant Plants
Judging from the messages I’ve received from gardeners in Big Canoe, Lake Oconee, Eagles Landing and other naturalistic residential settings, one wild creature deserves the anima non grata landscape sign: whitetail deer. When they can’t find food in the woods,...
Aphids – Control
If you want to become an aphid expert, early summer is the best time to easily find them in your landscape. The tips of rose and crapemyrtle branches usually have dozens or hundreds of these sap-sucking insects. Many plants can...
Argiope – Spider ID
Remarkably large garden spiders are often seen in fall. They are black with yellow markings on their underside and their webs stretch across garden paths and between flowers. A distinctive zig-zag pattern in the middle of the web identifies this...
Cicada
When a new baby was introduced into my rural Georgia community, my mother would be one of the first visitors. “That’s such a beautiful child!” she’d coo. “It would be a shame if they didn’t have an encyclopedia for their...
Mealybug – Control
Mealybugs can attack several kinds of houseplant. Mealybugs look like small white, cottony masses usually at the joint between a leaf and a stem. The insects suck plant sap and excrete sticky honeydew, which covers nearby leaves. Jade plant, coleus,...
Snake – Control
Almost all of us have seen a snake in the out of doors. Most people have an immediate urge to kill the snake without determining if it is harmful or not. In fact, there are 50 kinds of snakes in...
Snake – Trapping
Rarely, snakes are seen inside a basement or garage or laundry room. How can they be trapped? The best way is to employ the large “glue boards” used to catch rats. Place them close to and at right angles to...
Rat and Mouse – In the House
“We keep a clean house! Why are these mice coming to visit US?!” Jeff Jackson, Extension Wildlife Specialist, says this question is common each autumn. People who have never seen a mouse in their house suddenly find gnawed cereal boxes...
Bagworm – Identification and Control
My colleague Newton Hogg used to say “When I can see their damage at 50 miles per hour, I KNOW someone has a serious problem with bagworms.” I was driving down Roosevelt Highway in south Fulton county when I saw...
Orange-striped Oak Worm
“Here today – gone tomorrow” is an apt description of oak tree branches having a population of orange-striped oak worms, Anisota sanatoria or Anisota peigleri. These caterpillars are basically a “stomach with legs”, so leaves disappear rapidly during the weeks...
Mosquito Traps – Comments
When I asked subscribers to my “Georgia Gardener” e-mail newsletter for their experiences with propane-powered mosquito I expected a wide range of comments. I received many responses. Oddly enough, while one person might say their experience with a particular brand...
Slug and Snail – Control
I found #133 under the clothes dryer recently. Unfortunately, I didn’t find #133 alive. Only his previous home was back there, covered in lint, when I moved the dryer. #133 was one of three hundred large snails I raised in...
Avoiding Stings
Dr. Paul Guillebeau is a writer, father and professional entomologist. Here are his thoughts on how to avoid stinging insects. “One of my most common calls during the late summer concerns stinging insects. The nest of most social wasps and...
Insect Stings – Severity
Although a velvet ant sting can make you whoop and holler, it is actually less powerful than other common insects. A researcher in Florida has compared the toxicity of stinging insects. Surprisingly, the worst is a type of harvester ant....
Why Do Men Have Nipples?
Great thinkers, from Aristotle to Darwin, have pondered this question. Susan McCarthy at Salon.com has answers: Why do men have nipples? To prove they’re mammals, obviously. The distinguishing features of mammals, from whales to mice, are two: having hair and...
