I've been weaning off of pesticides and herbicides for several years and now
have a new problem...........a plague of geckos. They have taken over my hot
tub enclosure, storage shed, are regularly found in the garage, and have
begun showing up in the house. We frequently find crushed geckos in the
sliding glass door track and along the hinges of swinging doors. Moving
lumber usually results in some gecko damage also. Got any ideas?

We also have a couple of rats that could feed a family of four. Any snake
that showed up that could take them down would be worthy of a special on
AnimalPlanet. I suppose live trapping is the most acceptable pro-active
control method in the city limits.

"animaux" wrote in message
...
I think most people would be very surprised to find out if they'd leave
things
be in the garden, the beneficial insects will show up. Every year, in our
garden we see more and more critters. Usually the beneficial insects show
up
first. Then a great array of birds. Mockingbirds will eat tons of
grasshoppers, as an example. Then the reptiles. All sorts of lizards,
snakes
and of course mice and rats. The mice and rats are usually always there,
and if
we leave them be, the snakes show up. They have shown up in our yard this
year,
finally.

The problem I have with Rose of Sharon is grasshoppers. I did use
NoloBait (a
biological control for locusts) as soon as I saw the first, tiny nymphs.
It cut
down the population by 2/3. There was a noticeable difference in how many
I had
this year. I'll put it out again next spring, every week a little
more...to get
all the nymphs infected that I can.

v



On Sun, 13 Oct 2002 02:08:40 GMT, "GwRdE"
wrote:

The environmental friendly way to get rid of them is go to most nurseries
and buy LadyBugs and a light mosquito net. You put the net over the bush
and let the ladybugs go underneath. They eat the aphids.

Good Luck!

R



"bobwhite" wrote in message
...
: On some of our Rose-of-Sharon bushes, we have Aphids (sp).
:
: What is the best way to get rid of them? Prefer environment friendly
: method.
:
: Thanks, Bob
:
:

We love the gecko's, anoles and lizards. There are hundreds of them,
everywhere. I have no advice to be rid of them because they eat insects
nightly, and fence lizards eat grasshoppers all day.

If we find a rat (which we do since we have a pond) we try to live trap it and
bring it down to Brushy Creek. I don't use pesticides outside an occasional Bt
and I'm pretty happy with my gardens.


On Wed, 16 Oct 2002 03:29:35 GMT, "jOhN" wrote:

I've been weaning off of pesticides and herbicides for several years and now
have a new problem...........a plague of geckos. They have taken over my hot
tub enclosure, storage shed, are regularly found in the garage, and have
begun showing up in the house. We frequently find crushed geckos in the
sliding glass door track and along the hinges of swinging doors. Moving
lumber usually results in some gecko damage also. Got any ideas?

We also have a couple of rats that could feed a family of four. Any snake
that showed up that could take them down would be worthy of a special on
AnimalPlanet. I suppose live trapping is the most acceptable pro-active
control method in the city limits.

"animaux" wrote in message
.. .
I think most people would be very surprised to find out if they'd leave
things
be in the garden, the beneficial insects will show up. Every year, in our
garden we see more and more critters. Usually the beneficial insects show
up
first. Then a great array of birds. Mockingbirds will eat tons of
grasshoppers, as an example. Then the reptiles. All sorts of lizards,
snakes
and of course mice and rats. The mice and rats are usually always there,
and if
we leave them be, the snakes show up. They have shown up in our yard this
year,
finally.

The problem I have with Rose of Sharon is grasshoppers. I did use
NoloBait (a
biological control for locusts) as soon as I saw the first, tiny nymphs.
It cut
down the population by 2/3. There was a noticeable difference in how many
I had
this year. I'll put it out again next spring, every week a little
more...to get
all the nymphs infected that I can.

v



On Sun, 13 Oct 2002 02:08:40 GMT, "GwRdE"
wrote:

The environmental friendly way to get rid of them is go to most nurseries
and buy LadyBugs and a light mosquito net. You put the net over the bush
and let the ladybugs go underneath. They eat the aphids.

Good Luck!

R



"bobwhite" wrote in message
...
: On some of our Rose-of-Sharon bushes, we have Aphids (sp).
:
: What is the best way to get rid of them? Prefer environment friendly
: method.
:
: Thanks, Bob
:
:

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Yeah, those lizards and geckos are the best! They really take care of
carpenter ants and even termites if they can get to them. They are
truly your helper against some really bad insects.

Rat snakes are very sweet. I saved one once who got tangled in my bird
netting that I never use anymore. Most dogs and cats really do not like
rats and mice. It is like a genetic patterning thing to want to kill
them.

My neighbor came to tell me there was a nest of rats in her woodpile and
my fat white cat sat there with her eyes peeled on that woodpile for
hours at a time. My neighbor wanted to poison them. I begged her not to
do that as the cat would take care of them.

I am always finding dead rats in my yard and on my back porch. I hate to
think what it would be like without the dog and the cats I have.
Probably like living in the subway of NYC. I understand that there are
some parts of the city over by the campus where the rat problem is quite
severe. Leaving cat and dog food on the porch or in an open garage is a
really bad idea.

Then there was the scratching on my window screen by my computer and
desk. I thought it was a cat, but no, a big fat raccoon was looking for
a handout. His/her mate was in the tree by my front door looking down
at me while the other one scratched on the window for a meal.

I didn't give it because otherwise it would be like the neighbor dog,
Nicky, who comes and barks at the front door until I supply a biscuit.

Karen Kay wrote:

"jOhN" wrote in
y.com:
I've been weaning off of pesticides and herbicides for several
years and now have a new problem...........a plague of geckos.

Ain't no such thing.

They have taken over my hot tub enclosure, storage shed, are
regularly found in the garage, and have begun showing up in the
house.

This is a good thing!

We frequently find crushed geckos in the sliding glass
door track and along the hinges of swinging doors. Moving lumber
usually results in some gecko damage also. Got any ideas?

Be more careful?

We also have a couple of rats that could feed a family of four.
Any snake that showed up that could take them down would be
worthy of a special on AnimalPlanet. I suppose live trapping is
the most acceptable pro-active control method in the city
limits.

Hm. I acquired a family of rat snakes shortly after whatever was in
my attic arrives. They call it eco-*system* for a reason, you know!

The lizards do hibernate during the winter, though. So you don't
have them too much longer.

Karen