Super! Nature Notes

whisperit · Post edited by whisperit at 2015-07-03 17:25:38

Here are a couple of pix from my recent Transylvanian trip. You might like to guess the animals responsible for the trees and the footprint?
http://s1321.photobucket.com/user/WhisperIt1/slideshow/transylvania15?sort=3

Whickwithy

No vampires!

KatRobin

Pneumatic cordless woodpeckers and moles I'm guessing. If in doubt, blame a mole anyway.

Whickwithy

I'm glad you mentioned that, Kat. I was just pondering pests and wondering. I get the feeling that British and, I guess, all Europeans use a lot less pesticides than Americans, like for bugs and rodents. So, if I'm right, what do y'all do? How do you keep the little nasties from destroying your yard and out of your house? This may sound dumb, but sometimes I wonder if I haven't been programmed into something that is just not necessary.

whisperit

Beaver, Black Woodpecker and European Brown Bears are the responsible parties. I couldn't get a shot of any vampires, as my camera doesn't have a flash (it'd have to be at night, do you see?). But I did see some very pale looking people.

The Black woodpeckers are great characters - they will chisel a tree down just for the fun of it, and play with grubs like cats will play with mice. Possibly, they are vampires in avian form.

Kat - I have a standing offer to take any moles that people don't want. I like them.

Whickwithy

So, you don't have any pictures with some of those pale people missing that should have been there, have you? Some stories say that the vampires don't show up in photos.

Urban_Tribesman

We do not have the same issue as you do in the US WW with termites as we have a far smaller % of timber houses than you do. The most common domestic construction form being a block work inner skin, an insulated cavity and then a brickwork outer skin. Even structural timber in floors is now commonly R.C. Beams with a block work infill and then a concrete screed over. We also do not have the same destructive form of termites you do. We do have woodworm ( Anobium Punctatum) but most modern construction timber is treated to resist this and older properties are fairly straight forward to treat with spray applied chemicals.

Whickwithy

I'm talking about just ants and rodents. Are they never a problem?

KatRobin

They sure are WW ( see my lament in the How Do You Feel Today thread!). In addition to the moles in our lawn, which did not move on even after the builder was here vibrating away for 4 days !... We clearly have a lot of rat holes which I come across when gardening so I imagine that under our new house is a labyrinth like the London sewers! But I hate the word vermin as ( just like the word weed) they are just creatures / plants in an inconvenient place to us. I can't bring myself to call in a mole catcher ( but Whisperit, if you are offering to come round that's great! Is that how you got your name? You're like a horse whisperer or something? Shame moles are deaf).
Trying to find more humane solutions-ie, not leaving any food outside ( sadly, I can't feed the birds anymore)...
It's to be expected I guess when your house is surrounded on all sides by open fields.
I've got several ant volcanoes in my greenhouse ( I just stick a pot over em and ignore!).
Most of all, flies are driving us crazy. Catherine is quite happy to squish. It's like a cross between watching Kill Bill and watching Andy Murray at Wimbledon. Me, I just sigh and try to think Buddhist thoughts.
I shall post pics later of my attempt to whistle the miles away! Watch this space lol.

KatRobin

In answer to your question by the way (!) yes we do use all the chemical nasties over here, course we do. I am such a weirdo in my thinking I confess. Yesterday I couldn't bring myself to buy weed killer but I was quite happy to pull em up ( nettles, with bare hands, silly cow! Didn't notice at the time, but in bed, yeeeeooooow! I get zoned out in the garden!).

whisperit

Heh. I never deliberately kill anything - except flies. And nazis.

(only joking, officer)

Flies are like nazi insects.

And dogs are like their followers.

Whickwithy

Thanks for that, Kat. You are much more tolerant than I am. Let's see. I think I can help you with one of your problems. In my case, I'll use the chemicals as a last resort. I've had rodents and ants in my house and I don't like it. But, there are other ways for lots of other bothersome creatures. I'm also like you in that I realize that, while I may call them some terribley foul things on occasion, I realize that the are just plugging away at their own thing.

By the way, I've pulled out damn near every weed in my yard by hand. The clover was my downfall, though. It was just too entrenched. Once I got it down to size, I went back to pulling the weeds by hand. I used to dream about dandelion weeds I pulled them so often. I swear, it must have been ten thousand of those I pulled. I find it fasicinating, really. Each weed is different. Some you can just yank off the tops and bang, they don't come back. Some, you have to pull out just about every bit of root or they will be back (clover comes to mind, aaarrrrggghhhh).

Anyways, I've got a great fix for chipmunks that involves walking about three miles about 20 times a year. But, more important to you sounds like the moles. There is some stuff you can buy in the U.S. from Scott's lawn care that you spread to remove moss. My yard used to be more moss than grass. I don't feel at all bad about it because it doesn't seem to have any nasty chemicals in it (ferrous something or other is the active ingredient). Anyways, it's weird. It has a wonderful smell (at least to me) but, if you make the mistake of tasting it (accidental, I'm not that crazy), it's a horrible taste. Anyways, I finally figured out it was driving the moles and voles out of my yard! I have some very nice vegetation (creeping phlox and aubrieta) that the little $#@%!#%!@#% would tear through (not to mention the grass). Yeah, those ilttle dudes I have used some very foul names for, even though I realize they just find my beautiful plants tasty. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! Oh, and if you don't care to use even that as a solution. It seems that watered-down castor oil spray on the ground occasionally will have the same effect.

Urban_Tribesman

We live in a rural area so we do get rats in the garden but nothing that needs real control. We had more visiting when Mrs T had a pet rabbit due to the food in the rabbit run but since the rabbit passed, and was replaced by a dog ( the rascally Dakota) we have seen far fewer of them.
We do seem to live in Vole ground zero though, and those little buggers constantly nibble any crop we try to grow. Ants are not a real problem where we are for some reason. I think they prefer areas of sandy soils and we have quite heavy clay.

Whickwithy

Ha! Nice! Clay must suck for those little suckers.

Oh, by the way, the idea with either of those things - Scott's moss control or castor oil. The idea is to cover any ground you don't want the little suckers getting into. For me, that means about a whole quarter acre. And, even that size, it doesn't take all that much. While I"m still learning the ins and outs of it, I don't think it needs to be spread very often. Twice a year? Once in spring and once in fall?

Ponygurl

whisperit said:
Here are a couple of pix from my recent Transylvanian trip. You might like to guess the animals responsible for the trees and the footprint?
http://s1321.photobucket.com/user/WhisperIt1/slideshow/transylvania15?sort=3

Fantastic whisperit! Really beautiful and bucolic pics! Nosferatu would be very proud. (Also love Nazi comment- a good Nazi is a dead Nazi. Think I'll have another look at Inglorious Basterds)

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