Mild Weather Pest Control
- , by Trudy Chuoke Trudy Chuoke
As I am writing this article, the weather this winter has been extremely mild. And as a resident of San Antonio, part of that seems wonderful. Sitting outside at the lake on Christmas day with the weather a mild 71 degrees – you have to ask yourself, what’s wrong with this? As a hardware retailer that has been in the business for over 45 years, I see a different side. What does that mean? Let me explain.
During colder weather we see a diminished pest activity. We get a break from mosquitoes, ants, roaches, and scorpions. And our lawns go into a dormant period and don’t require as much attention. But just the other day I had customers coming in for mosquito control, for their backyard. And since this is not the season for that, you might have a hard time finding answers. Let me suggest several options.
Mosquito Beaters made by Bonide Products make a granular repellent. It comes in an easy-to-use shaker top 1 pound container. It is great to use in specific areas of the lawn, pool, sheds, and picnic sites. The one-pound container will treat up to 4000 sq. ft. And the treated areas have a 3-week residual. I like to tell customers to apply it in the still of the evening, because windy air flow might keep it from performing well. After one hour of application, you will see a diminished activity and be able to enjoy your yard.
If you have water standing in fountains, bird baths and plant saucers a good mosquito repellent is Mosquito Dunks, or Mosquito Bits. These products will quickly kill mosquito larvae before they are old enough to bite. It also controls gnat larvae in soil and plants and planting beds. It’s safe for all birds, pets, and livestock. Both of these products are safe to use in organic gardening.
If you are having problems inside the home, Safer makes an indoor fly trap. It plugs into any indoor outlet whenever insects are a problem. Pests are attracted to the LED light and then captured on the sticky pad attached to the unit. It traps flies, moths, mosquitoes, gnats, and other flying insects. Place it around the exterior doors, pet areas and house plants. Leave it on 24-7. And at night turn out the lights in the rooms where you have it installed so that the bugs don’t get confused about which light to fly towards.
There are other outdoor killers and repellents like a Dyna Trap and Spartan Mosquito Eradicator that work great but take more time to be effective and are more expensive. And if we are lucky, we will get a couple of hard freezes and that alone will get rids of pests.
For your convenience all these products are on our website, www.happyhandyman.com and we can ship to you.
Now to the email….
Question: I have a neighbor that feeds cats- all cats. And then they come to my yard and use it like a litter box. They especially like my flower beds, and the smell is awful. I like all animals, but I don’t like the mess they are making in my yard. Is there a safe way to keep them out?
Answer: Epic makes all different types of repellents, and one is Cat Scram. We have carried several types of cat repellents, and they were all sprays and to me not very easy to use. But Cat Scram comes in an easy-to-use granule that comes in a bag. And the best part, Cat Scram does not smell bad. Most of the repellents that work well will smell so bad YOU don’t even want to be in your backyard. Now it does take some clean up if there is existing cat poop, and it will take a couple of weeks to train the cats not to come in your yard. But it’s not expensive and it’s not harmful to cats. They just don’t like the smell and don’t feel safe in your yard.
Question: I bought a new refrigerator for my house. It’s a stainless-steel model and I am already seeing fingerprints. There are so many cleaners, which do you think is the best?
Answer: Hands down, Sheila Shine. It does have a propellant smell for just a minute, but it dissipates quickly. I like Sheila Shine because it leaves such a beautiful shine and a protective finish against fingerprints.