What are some Interesting Pests You have Encountered?

[gata montes]

Shellyann36, - LOL - they can yes - but they would only est something the size of a meekat if they were really, really hungry I think you'll find researching centipedes extremely interesting though but would you just warn you - that its not something for the squeamish, especially as most of the sites, seem to get a great deal of enjoyment out of showing plenty of close up pictures, of these extremely revolting and grotesque creatures, but then maybe I feel like that, because I can still remember very vividly, the nightmare of the week I spent living in a house that was totally infested with giant centipedes, which were continually falling out of the ceilings and coming out of the gaps in the stone floors We actually managed to kill a couple of really enormous ones - which my husband took a photo of - think we still have the photo somewhere, so will see if I can locate it.
Now yes - if only that were possible and I could get my cats to eat more birds, but don't think that it will be, especially as none them seem too quick to even think about taking a swipe at any of the blue magpies, that swoop down and stand right next them whilst trying to pinch their food at feeding times - they just move slightly and look at them, as if to say
" hey here help yourself, I'll just move out the way to make it easier for you "

 

[Shellyann36]

@gata montes LOL I can just imagine your cats shrugging their shoulders and say "here, help yourselves to my kibble"!! LOL That gave me a good laugh to start my morning off with! Thank you for that.

I did not get around to researching centipedes last week but I wrote it down for this week. I really am just amazed at how they can eat like a snake would. YUCK!

 

[gata montes]

Shellyann36,- A pleasure - am glad that the thought of my cats shrugging their shoulders at the blue magpies gave you a good laugh and that it got your day got off to a good start - hopefully it stayed that way

As I mentioned previously I'm not sure how centipedes would eat their prey, as its not something I've ever wanted to hang around and watch but do wonder how they manage to consume some of their larger prey and particularly something the size of a meerkat - and like you, think it could be a pretty amazing sight, to see a centipede devouring a meerkat in exactly the same way as a snake, especially as a meerkat would be considerably larger widthways than a centipede, so am thinking - that because they normally poison their prey prior to eating it and have been gifted with truly enormous teeth, that they would probably just gradually munch their way through it - yuck - as I said before I hope you enjoy your time investigating these grotesque creatures.

 

[Lacey]

My favorite garden pest that I have come across is a mole that was building her nest under a rock in my flower bed. She laid out in the sun while I stood there and watched her. I would have let her stay if I didn't think she would have made a mess of my garden. But thanks to my wonderful husband who got her out with a gloved hand and took her to a nearby field.

 

[Shellyann36]

@gata montes LOL yuck at the thought of the centipede.

@Lacey wow your mole was just brave wasn't she? I am glad your hubby moved her for you.

 

[cmckinney01]

I know that most of the time when you think of gardening pests you think of bugs. That is so very true and there are several different bugs that can be pests but do you ever run across anything else that bothers your garden?

I have had interesting run-in's with a turtle and with squirrels of all animals! Of course we also can't forget the gopher incident. One year a turtle was biting all of my tomatoes that were near the ground. If he could reach it he would bite it and then just leave it to go bite another one. I was so mad. I could see if the fellow was hungry and wanted to eat the entire thing.......but now he had to go and bite every tomato that was near his level. GRRRRR....... I never did catch him and he eventually moved on but that did not help my tomatoes any.

In 2012 we had a run in with squirrels. They literally tore our corn to shreds. Hubby discovered the corn and I did not believe him when he said that squirrels did the damage but he showed me how they had climbed the tree with the corn and the corn silk was left on the bark way above our heads.

The gophers that were bothering me really tore my yard up and had their eyes on my beans. A bit of Wrigley's spearmint gum in their tunnels killed them off and they were no longer a bother.

Racoons will also attack corn stalks as well. I have never had it happen to my garden personally but my aunt's garden use to get wallopped by a family of racoons almost every year. It finally stopped after she employeed a hunter to stake out her garden and kill as many racoons as he could one evening. It was quite a mess in the end. Several rows of corn were trampled by the man and his son and the dogs but several of the racoons were killed and the family then moved on. Of course when my aunt and uncle planted corn they had several acres of corn so a few rows in the grand scheme of things did not bother them.

So does anyone else have any horror stories?

Woodchucks

 

[cmckinney01]

Woodchucks are some of the most interesting garden pests I've encountered. One year, a woodchuck kept eating our pepper plants. My husband and I planted the peppers three times before we finally gave up.
Woodchucks are tough to get rid of, too. We've hired trappers to trap them and take them away. But new woodchucks come back to take their place.

 

[Shellyann36]

Woodchucks are some of the most interesting garden pests I've encountered. One year, a woodchuck kept eating our pepper plants. My husband and I planted the peppers three times before we finally gave up.
Woodchucks are tough to get rid of, too. We've hired trappers to trap them and take them away. But new woodchucks come back to take their place.

They seem to be quite the little mess makers. @gata montes had the same problem and took my advice. Take mint gum and wad it up and drop it in their holes. You really only need one piece unless they have lots of family members. They are attracted to the mint flavor and the one who eats the gum will die. This will be a bad omen for the rest of the family and they will move on. I have done this and it works really well.

 

[cmckinney01]

Thanks so much for the suggestion, Shellyann36. I will try it. It's so frustrating having the woodchucks move into our backyard year after year. It would be wonderful to evict them permanently. I hope the chewing gum does its job.

 

[Shellyann36]

Thanks so much for the suggestion, Shellyann36. I will try it. It's so frustrating having the woodchucks move into our backyard year after year. It would be wonderful to evict them permanently. I hope the chewing gum does its job.

The best of luck with it. It has worked for me in the past and when I tried it they disappeared within a week. I was very happy to have them gone because they were right in my garden area and the lawn surrounding it.