 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Lupus / June 2004OT: Kcat?
How is your gnat situation? Bev > How is your gnat situation? > Bev well - i don't see 'em hangin' around the plants anymore - but I still have to swat one here and there. so... i guess we're getting it under control. now what do I do about the *(&*#&$(& ants! Tomorrow we will clear out all the low cabinets and look for entry points for the ants. I can't figure out where they're coming from. Fortunately the seem, thus far, to not want to cross from the kitchen sink area to the rest of the kitchen and we only see a few at a time - sometimes only one. But arggg... haven't ever had this sort of problem. I'm sure it's the incredibly wet and mild winter we had. No freezes at all this years. At least none that lasted for more than an hour or two. We did have mice several years ago - it was a dry summer and the field behind us hadn't been mown in over a year. The developer came in and mowed down all the wonderful tall grass and wildflowers and we were inundated with mice and rats in our yard, house, and attic. Yikes! I won't go into more detail. Suffice it to say, it was a miserable experience and we learned that a 15" momma rat can get through a 2" diameter hole in the siding. <shudder> [ >We did have mice several years ago - it was a dry summer and the field >behind us hadn't been mown in over a year. The developer came in and mowed >down all the wonderful tall grass and wildflowers and we were inundated with >mice and rats in our yard, house, and attic. Yikes! Quite some years ago I worked for 3 months at a chemical plant at Bayport, very near KCatland. When it was build, they first cleared the undergrowth - and were inundated with three-foot snakes. Mice schmice.  SignatureAndy Taylor [Chair, N E Lupus Group] See http://www.northeastlupus.org.uk for more! > Quite some years ago I worked for 3 months at a chemical plant at > Bayport, very near KCatland. When it was build, they first cleared the > undergrowth - and were inundated with three-foot snakes. Mice schmice. well yeah but..some of us like snakes. :-) In that area it's pretty marshy - were these cottonmouths/water moccasin or a variety of snakes? >> Quite some years ago I worked for 3 months at a chemical plant at >> Bayport, very near KCatland. When it was build, they first cleared the >> undergrowth - and were inundated with three-foot snakes. Mice schmice. > >well yeah but..some of us like snakes. :-) In that area it's pretty >marshy - were these cottonmouths/water moccasin or a variety of snakes? Dunno. They used to sunbathe on the handrails, ie stretched out straight on a 2"x3' flat steel strip, anything up to 60 feet above ground level. The management got rid of the snakes by declaring a Free Fire Day - all the non-Texans stayed away, while the natives brought in their heavy weaponry and blasted anything that moved. SignatureAndy Taylor [Chair, N E Lupus Group] See http://www.northeastlupus.org.uk for more! > > Quite some years ago I worked for 3 months at a chemical plant at > > Bayport, very near KCatland. When it was build, they first cleared the > > undergrowth - and were inundated with three-foot snakes. Mice schmice. > > well yeah but..some of us like snakes. :-) In that area it's pretty > marshy - were these cottonmouths/water moccasin or a variety of snakes? It's eerie, last year a lady in East texas on another newsgroup was talking about bees or yellow-jackets and then you were here too.. and now your talking about snakes and she's just posted about snakes. She's going to trap them and give them to a guy who owns a pet store in Bossier City LA who travels around to the various snake shows (driving a van with logos)... Are they bad down there this year? or maybe it's because her place is rundown (mice /rats?, long grass)..lots of places to hide and propagate... J > Are they bad down there this year? or maybe it's because her place is > rundown (mice /rats?, long grass)..lots of places to hide and propagate... > J well - they're common. We have had a ton of rain in our area so they haven't needed to come up into the yards. East TX has gotten quite a bit too as far as I know. But they would be worse there probably as you have the edges of and not-so-edges of the Great Piney Woods and the swamps shared with LA which are of course snake heaven. Down here they stick to the bayous and creeks and drainage ditches unless we have a drought or the waters are so high that they get flooded out of their homes. Which could very well be happening as we've had much street flooding this past week or so. this week is supposed to be a rerun of last - 40% tomorrow, 60% Tues, 70% Wed 60% Thurs 40% Fri. Fortunately, I love rain and we are above the flood plain (for now!) kcat The life and reproduction cycle for gnats is pretty quick. Whatever you did you might want to do one more time. That should get rid of them. Of course gnats can get through a window screen. Ants, did you say ants? Yes, we have problems with them every summer. They just march in under the back door or up around the one fireplace chimney. I use those Combat ant baits or whichever brand I can find. They work well for me - it takes a few days. Usually they head right for the coffee area of the kitchen and the sugar bowl there. UCK! BTW, they are not supposed to cross a chalk line. So you might try a nice piece of sidewalk chalk. We always have mice. My husband has filled in so many holes around and under this house. I caught one last week and I think there still might be another. I can't kill them. Had pet rats as a kid. They were so cute and so smart so I can't kill the little mice. We trap them in live traps and then release them in a nearby wooded area. When we first moved here we were catching 1-2 a day for a couple of months. I still can't figure out what the folks who lived here before us did. Honestly they drive me nuts because they pee and poop on anything. So everything has to be washed before using and all food items stored so they can't get to them. At least the ones in cages can be potty trained. Glad I haven't come across a 15 inch rat in my house. I think I'd have a problem with that. 15 inches??? (Hmm, you could invite it for tea and sandwiches. Because if you give a mouse a cookie........) That's what we call wharf rats. I had a friend years ago who had a muskrat get into her house, again and again and again.. She had to get animal control to get catch it and relocate it. Cottonmouths are common around here. I've always been pretty scared of them but after being educated on them and their habits they don't bother me - just a good healthy respect for them that's all. Black snakes are the most common big snake and the little green grass snakes are quite abundant. A few garter snakes, and lots of little ring necks, etc- wish a couple of ring necks would take up residence in my garden - they would handle the ants and termites we fight around here. On rare occasion I'll hear of someone having a rattler. Very rare indeed. They are common in the mountains but not common in this area. Black snakes are territorial so if someone has a black snake that is good they will keep the cottonmouths away. But unfortunately most people are so scared of snakes in general they want to kill any that are around instead of allowing them to do their job. Ants, spiders, mice, snakes, etc. belong outside and not in my house. They are not invited and I will not tolerate them inside. Bev > The life and reproduction cycle for gnats is pretty quick. Whatever you did > you might want to do one more time. That should get rid of them. Of course > gnats can get through a window screen. > > Ants, did you say ants? I can't find a trail anywhere! I go in the kitch and there are 3 or 4 on the counter top sort of wandering around as if they have nothing better to do. i've asked hubby to get the combat stuff because I just thought of that tonight after digging out all my cabinets and finding nothing! no indication of where these little *(*(&##s are coming from. > We always have mice. My husband has filled in so many holes around and under > this house. it's amazing how small that hole can be that they can squeeze through isn't it? > I caught one last week and I think there still might be another. > I can't kill them. Had pet rats as a kid. They were so cute and so smart so > I can't kill the little mice. We trap them in live traps and then release > them in a nearby wooded area. and they follow you home. :-) But I understand. We had glue traps for a while so as not to awaken our young'un - but I couldn't handled the sight of the poor little thing stuck to that and chittering at me in terror. No mas, said I. > Glad I haven't come across a 15 inch rat in my house. I think I'd have a > problem with that. 15 inches??? She was in the attic - tried several large traps - she just got the goodies and pushed them over into the insulation. Ron got an exterminator - he put poison up there. I complained that she would die in the wall where I thought she probably had babies. "nah, she'll leave, they have to get water when they get this poison." famous last words. that was one miserable summer - couldn't tear the walls out because they were oak panelled. covered all plug receptacles with layers of plastic sheeting and duct tape. eventually the smell was gone but... > Cottonmouths are common around here. I've always been pretty scared of them > but after being educated on them and their habits they don't bother me - I carried one to the lake one day - caught it in my neighbour's garage. She about had a heart attack and hubby just shook his head. I know how to handle 'em. spiders and geckos have free rein unless they drop on me while i'm in the privy. :-) gotta go, [ >I can't find a trail anywhere! I go in the kitch and there are 3 or 4 on >the counter top sort of wandering around as if they have nothing better to >do. Could they have flown there? SignatureAndy Taylor [Chair, N E Lupus Group] See http://www.northeastlupus.org.uk for more! We have two different types of live traps but both work on the same principle. They go in and can't get out. I have several small cubes with flap doors. They go in but can't run back out. The problem is they are small plastic cubes. The mice panic and use up quite a bit of oxygen in there. They are supposed to be okay for 8-10 hours but I've found you've got to get them out as soon as you realize they are in there. The other is a big metal box with two entrances and can probably hold 50 mice. It's a commercial type trap used by companies who process food and are not allowed to use chemicals. I can bait that one and feed them if I can't release them right away. And oh how the squawk when they can't get out. Supposedly they are calling for help and that is why so many can be caught in a single large trap. I'm sure they can squeeze through a 1/4 inch (2 cm?) hole. I always thought the glue traps were ucky. Yes, they sometimes work. If they just put a paw in there and realize they are stuck sometimes they can get out or they drag it all over the place trying to free themselves. And if you get them unstuck and free them outside they still have a problem with the tanglefoot still stuck on them. Probably her babies you smelled. She died and the poison in her keeps the smell down but the poor babies just died of starvation. We had something die in the wall of a house we lived in and it was terrible. It happened the summer before my last baby was born and it was in the nursery wall. Horrible. My hubby went under the house and all through the attic - nothing it had to be the wall. We just had to wait it out. Fortunately the baby was not born until winter but with my sensitive nose during pregnancy - well it was not a good thing. I'm not going to purposely touch a cottonmouth. Yes, I know how to grab them behind the head. No, I'm not going to attempt it. I'm too old for that stuff, they are faster than I am. I was surprised to find out that they are not aggressive unless you corner them or step on them. I guess geckos wouldn't bother me too much but I still don't think I'd like them wandering around my house. (They still pee and poop on things.) Had a friend who won a fancy trip at work to some Club Med island years ago. They place was beautiful but the "hotel room" was a grass hut. She opened the drawer and a lizard jumped out and she freaked. She called for help and the guy was trying to tell her these were good things. She said no not in her undies, they were not good things. They ran all over the place including over her when she climbed in bed at night. She said it was the best and worst week of her life! Ants might be following the water pipes up to the kitchen. Occasionally I'll find the same sort of lost ants in my bathtub, wandering aimlessly. As if they are scouts looking for something but finding nothing. So I guess they don't go back and tell the colony about some great food source so no ant trails. Bev > > The life and reproduction cycle for gnats is pretty quick. Whatever you > did [quoted text clipped - 55 lines] > > gotta go, [ >We always have mice. Get a cat, and feed it not quite enough so it's mean and hungry? SignatureAndy Taylor [Chair, N E Lupus Group] See http://www.northeastlupus.org.uk for more! We had a cat. She'd look at them and then me with "you expect me to catch one?" Once in a while she'd play with one until it stopped moving and then she'd walk away and it would scurry off! We even borrowed a friend's cat who was known as a mouser. My little traps work better and no one gets hurt. Bev > [ > >We always have mice. > > Get a cat, and feed it not quite enough so it's mean and hungry? > [ > >We always have mice. > > Get a cat, and feed it not quite enough so it's mean and hungry? call Kcat, she is mean and hungry!!! Especially if she is having esophagus trouble. Snakes eat mice. You want some cottonmouths? Copperheads? Rattlers? Bull snakes? We have all kinds of critters. I can trap some and send them to you~!! Course they might eat your cat too!! LOL Wende Oh, copperheads, I forgot, we have those too! What's a bull snake? Bev > > [ > > >We always have mice. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Bull snakes? We have all kinds of critters. I can trap some and send them > to you~!! Course they might eat your cat too!! LOL Wende >Oh, copperheads, I forgot, we have those too! > >What's a bull snake? The piece just behind a bull's head... SignatureAndy Taylor [Chair, N E Lupus Group] See http://www.northeastlupus.org.uk for more! |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.