A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 lady bug's and squirrel's

These two thing's are driving Phil . We feed the Bird's and the Squirrel's eat all of the food. We live in the country and the Lady Bug's are comming out of the woodwork.Does anyone else have problem's with these pest's ? Laura

Point those ladybugs in the direction of Calif...wouldja? We love 'em here..
We just bought two more cartons of them Friday....

Out of the last 4 summers, we've had them in droves around here, like a fluke!!
They swarm the whole back yard, like a sheet of clothe almost...For me personally they've never bothered me, I love them for the aphids,
but some people I guess they get right into their houses and such and leave poop spots....
I've never had them in my house but one or two.

If you two do a FORUM SEARCH type in squirrels, you'll find some pretty lively discussions around here about squirrels....Chemical Bob, comes to mind when I think of squirrels!! I wonder what the head count is up to now adays???

Weezie

Squirrels can be downright devious. We have one squirrel we call rashcan squirrel because he has mastered the fine art of retreiving food from those dome lid trashcans (the ones that bear a striking resemblance to R2D2 from Star Wars). Also, I have seen people use squirrel guards. Basically you put your feeders on a pole (far enough away from trees that the squirrels can't jump) then you wrap this round metal cone on the pole (pointy end up) so that when the squirrel tries to scurry up the pole they get caught in the underside of the cone.

Here's a diagram of what I'm talking about:
Squirrel Guard

As for the lady bugs, I had a bunch decide to live in my windowsill for the winter. Didn't work too well for them, but they did make the place colorful even after they died! The best part was that I only ever found one of them on my houseplants.

Phil is upstair's vac. for the 4th time today. The Lady Bug's are everywhere. He's a madman when it come's to them !!! We are headed for the great outdoor's now. Laura

Laura I think you should go shopping for Phil and get him one of those posters with the squirrel dressed up as a bird, ever seen it? They are usually in birding supply stores.And I hate to even ask this because Phil sounds like a pretty smart guy and I'm sure he knows the difference, but the only thing I have coming out of my woodwork is dead asian bugs.Of course if they are our friends the Lady Bugand theres no where to put them he should.........feed them to the squirrels

one more pest to remove from my property.... the imfamous gopher. i have hills all over my yard. any suggestions?

Mz,, check this minnesota GOPHER STATE REMEDY
GOPHERS
Scroll down to the gopher posts

Shamarion, this is probably going to be a LONGGGGGGG thread here, IF the debate goes like the last MG meeting, present was 30 mg's, Jeff Hahn(professor of Entomology UofM) and Patrick O'Rourke. Topic..Asaian Lady Beetles/bugs/??
Debate:common name: multicolored Asian lady beetle
scientific name: Harmonia axyridis Pallas (Insecta: Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)
Lady bug: Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Series: Cucujiformia
Superfamily: Cucujoidea
Section: Clavicornia
Family: Coccinellidae
Genus: Hippodamia
Species: Hippodamia convergens

Oh boy did you just open a can of worms with me.Lets just say that I prefer the good old fashion nice ladybug that I grew up with.The new kids on the block taste really really bad :p :p .I prefer the mild palate of the older version ladys. They smell like really rancid sweat socks soaked in manure soaked bog water,And they eat my raspberries!!!!!!I know, I know, all the natualists tell me they do not harm crops and maybe they may not be the ones to take the first bite, but they sure are there by the droves to finish er off.This last fall I went on our annual "siblings only"camp out and we could not hike,breath,laugh,eat,get in trouble or walk to the ol out house without them in our ears, down our throats, and in our.....?Those ""@#**&%>@"" [cover your eyes while I swear and I rarely do]lady bugs made us spend most of our camping time in town, indoors just to breath. The weather was 70-75 absolutely beautiful, sunny and picuresque and we had to spend it buying shopvacs. The highlight was watching the light show of burning lady bugs in our campfire when we emptied the bags.What other new invasion are they going to let loose on us next???GRRRRRRRR

Well the sad thing is, just in the case of the multi flora rose, the same people who dreamed up the idea will now erraticate the rose... for a cost!!So I figure that as the grippin' gets louder, the good ole U.S.A.D. boys will promote a solution, on or about the weekend you mentioned, I tried to work outdoors taking down my fencing..No Way, bugs up and under my clothes, biting the @&%$# outa me!! Yes, they will eat damaged fruit, so will our other lil beast here in Mn....the Picnic beetle,bug,whatever, also called,beer beetle, or raspberry bug

Phil,

You could make a killing selling those lady bugs here online. Suck 'em up, and sell 'em!!

Just don't send them to me!

This annoyance could become a gold mine!

Seriously tho...because I can see how lousy it would be to be overrun with them (like me with the ticks!) hope it they will find a new home soon.

Barb H.

uh-oh!! How did i post that message three times?!? LOL, help Weezie!!!

LOL!!

My posts are multiplying, much like Phil and Laura's lady bug dilemna!

Hope the fun of everyone's weekend multiplys!! Happy Friday, gang!

Barb,
I snagged it 'em up for you!!

Weezie

Barb, Peddle those ladybugs...I'll give you 50%

phil and laura, have to tell you how my uncle "fixed" the squirrel problem. he got a couple of strong screen door springs, like they used to use, and attached a couple of eye bolts on each end. he hung them from a tree branch in such a way that the squirrel HAD to get on the spring to get the dried corn on the cob on the other end. then he smeared it with a little peanut butter. the squirrels stayed so busy trying to get the corn and peanut butter, that they forgot to go get the bird seed! and believe me, it was entertainment galore watching those squirrels bouncing on those springs

So Jiffy, you think that would do it?? Wasn't for Laura they would be in the crock pot already!!

well, I'm not above crock-potting them, but they are cute to watch, and it did solve the bulk of his problem!

You are'nt talkin about eatin the big SQUIRREL'S are ya ??? eeeeewwwwww :p Laura

Laura just dont eat anything that resembles a large rodent, even if its in gravy :p

You probably won't care for our solution, but my husband & I just gave up, and relinquished our small back deck to the native wildlife.

He puts out enough corn, seed, and stuff every day to feed all kinds of bird families, a large herd of squirrels, a family of deer or more, and assorted raccoons and opossums, and who knows what else!

Actually, we, along with our two cats, Puff 'n Stuff, really enjoy our wildlife's capers. They have a regular visiting schedule now.

A squirrel family or two have taken over the large oak tree just inches from the deck. We have seen the baby squirrels learning to feed by scooting down and back up quickly at night, when most predators are away. We're sure mom & pop are on lookout up in the tree.

And watching the "flying Wallender's circus" in the trees during the day is quite a hoot!

If you can't fight 'em, join 'em!

Judith

Hey! Do those monster ladybugs eat mosquitoes???????

Judith

I enjoy watching them; however, they are eating up my feeders, trying to get to the food, all my feeders were designed and made from Cedar and I spent quite some time on them

Perhaps you could provide the squirrels with an alternate location. We have an old round patio table that we sacrificed, and just cover the table with corn & seeds. You would need to move your seed feeders to perhaps a metal pole our of jumping radius of the trees.

I hate that they're gnawing your seed feeders!

But they won't give up you know! Just be sure the can't get to your birds!!!!!!!!

Judith

Wow, 50%?!? Hear that gang? Need any ladybugs let Phil know and make sure you let me know so I can get my cut!!!!

Daydreaming about all that $ comin' in,
Barb

BUSY...BAGGING...BUGZ !

Awful little creature's !!!!! :p Laura

In lectured all this winter the Ladybug question has been the #1 one. I have put a webpage together on the "pest" lady bird beetle

"The Multicolored Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis. This species has become quite a nuisance in the United States even though it is a voracious predator. History: This Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle was intentionally imported from Russia, Japan, Korea, and elsewhere in the Orient and for releases in the United States as part of a Federal effort to naturally control insect pests in trees. With the first releases (1916 and 1960) the beetle did not establish. The in the 1970s and the early 1980s, tens of thousands of these beetles were intentionally released by the U. S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) in an effort to control insect pests that injure trees. All did not go as planned, as many home owners found out."
You can read the rest on my website http://www.bugladyconsulting.com/Multicolored%20Asian%20lady%20beetle.htm


Also I do not support buying ANY species of wild harvest ladybugs. Next time you go to buy your ladybugs ask where they came from and what species they are. They are usually convergent lady beetles, Hippodamia convergens and wild harvested

Lady bugs are harvested from the wild in Sierra Nevada
foothills where the migrate in spring as the Sacramento and San Joaquin
valleys warm up. There they rest and breed. Lady bugs gather in large
groups on the floor of pine forests and are easily scooped up with a bucket.
Collecting areas are a jealously guarded secret, although some companies
Have been known to advertise for Lady bug collectors in the local papers.

Once collected they are stored in coolers until orders are placed. Then once released into a nursery or landscape they usually migrate before feeding or laying eggs, providing little or no control for your target pest. Another concern is harvested ladybugs may be parasitized by a small wasp, Perilitus coccinellae. It develops as an internal parasite of lady beetles and kills them. Harvesting from the wild is also not environmentally sustainable.

If you want ladybugs the best thing to do is attract them in naturally with planting things like, dill, yarrow and other assorted flowering plants. If you want to do a release of a beneficial insects release lab reared lacewing. They will do an excellent job of feeding on plant pests such as aphids, mealybugs, scale and others.

Hope this helps!!

dang.. The Buglady beat me to it! was gonna give you this link .. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Other/goodpest/note107.html

Y'all got to plug up the holes...and sweep up and dump 'em back outside.

as fer the squirrels..they do make good gumbo..

I know not everybody likes the use of pesticides but in the occasion of the lady bug infestation we are having out in in WI, it is becoming quite a popular choice. Actually it is quite the ironic one as well since these bugs were imported to cut back on the use of insecticides on crops.

Quite a few of the lawn care companies offer a 'Perimeter Pest Control" or PIC service.
They are usually reasonably priced, and quite effective.
As far as plugging up all the holes going into a house. That is darn near impossible to do. Especially if you happen to live in a old farm house. Our walls, and ceilings were literally covered with the bugs, and it got to the point where they attacked us in the shower, biting where ever they landed.
About 2 weeks after the application we noticed a major decrease in the population. They would still get in the house but they would not live for more then a couple of hours.


As far as the bushy tailed tree rats go. That one is easy. Birds have a different olfactory systems then mammals. They do not taste "hot" Load your feeder with some cyanne (sp?) pepper. It works great, and does not bother the birds one bit.