Wednesday Worsts…Pests, Rodents or Reptiles

[CDGator]

I forgot all about the fleas! I am very thankful for the relatively recent invention of monthly flea prevention for my dogs. However, I remember as a child having to pluck those suckers off my dogs one by one with tweezers. And, of course, squeezing them out of the rims of my socks before they could hop away. Good times.

We had outside dogs as a kid and I remember them being bad inside for a time. Not sure how we got rid of them but they are bad.

Dad got bit by a tick about 20 years ago. He had Rocky Mountain spotted fever but it took a while to diagnose. He was in icu before they figure it out and then healed quickly after the right antibiotics.

 

[Frozen Gator]

Feeding pets outdoors will attract skunks, raccoons, opossums, armadillos, foxes, deer, and other animals TBD. Mrs. Nalt has actually fed the wildlife mentioned for 21 years since we moved into the house we built. I told her for several years that she needed to stop before she wound up getting bitten by one of them. Then about 5 or 6 years ago she came in the house and showed me where she was bitten by a baby raccoon. She had to endure the series of rabies shots for about three rounds. She still feeds them...

Now, my contribution to the original question... Fleas. I don't mean those sand fleas at the beach, I mean fleas that dogs, cats, skunks, raccoons, opossums, foxes, deer carry. When fleas get into your house it is equally difficult to get rid of them as any other creature except maybe the brown recluse spiders...

If you are ever hunting turkeys in the spring sooner or later you will get one or more of those tiny deer ticks attached somewhere on your body. Nasty little little buggers.

 

[MJMGator]

Feeding pets outdoors will attract skunks, raccoons, opossums, armadillos, foxes, deer, and other animals TBD. Mrs. Nalt has actually fed the wildlife mentioned for 21 years since we moved into the house we built. I told her for several years that she needed to stop before she wound up getting bitten by one of them. Then about 5 or 6 years ago she came in the house and showed me where she was bitten by a baby raccoon. She had to endure the series of rabies shots for about three rounds. She still feeds them...

Now, my contribution to the original question... Fleas. I don't mean those sand fleas at the beach, I mean fleas that dogs, cats, skunks, raccoons, opossums, foxes, deer carry. When fleas get into your house it is equally difficult to get rid of them as any other creature except maybe the brown recluse spiders...

If you ever do get fleas in your house, I was told how to get rid of them about 30 years ago. They lay eggs mostly in your carpet (I haven’t had a carpeted home in like 25 years). Their life expectancy is about weeks. Sprinkle Borax powdered soap on your carpets and brush it in with a broom. Make sure to get under the furniture. Has a chemical that stops them from hatching, so when the adults die they’re gone. I had to try it once and it worked.

 

[Nalt]

If you ever do get fleas in your house, I was told how to get rid of them about 30 years ago. They lay eggs mostly in your carpet (I haven’t had a carpeted home in like 25 years). Their life expectancy is about weeks. Sprinkle Borax powdered soap on your carpets and brush it in with a broom. Make sure to get under the furniture. Has a chemical that stops them from hatching, so when the adults die they’re gone. I had to try it once and it worked.

I have heard that Borax will kill them but never tried it. Is it safe to use that method with strictly in-door cats that I absolutely HATE?

 

[RiverRat]

Dog gone $&#@%ing Armadillos are tearing up my yard, look like a mine field where they have been digging.

 

[RiverRat]

Cockroaches. I've tried all kinds of professinal exterminators and their monthly treatments, but we still manage to get our share of freaking roaches.

It's Florida, so whatever. But what exactly is God's plan for the cockroach? Do possums even eat them? What is their purpose on this Earth?!?!?!?

Order you some “onslaught” pesticide , get you a good sprayer , mix as directed and spray the perimeter of your home as needed or about every three months.
wear rubber gloves when mixing , should take care of problem

 

[CDGator]

Dog gone $&#@%ing Armadillos are tearing up my yard, look like a mine field where they have been digging.

Similar except ours are groundhogs in the pasture.

 

[Gator By Marriage]

Dog gone $&#@%ing Armadillos are tearing up my yard, look like a mine field where they have been digging.

Surprised those of you in Florida hadn’t mentioned armadillos sooner. My in-laws fought them for years. My FIL actually got to the point where he developed a grudging respect for how tenacious they are.

 

[DarksideGator]

Dog gone $&#@%ing Armadillos are tearing up my yard, look like a mine field where they have been digging.

I have one of these SOBs digging along my house. It’s got to walk miles to get to my home, I’m in the middle of the subdivision.

 

[Nalt]

Similar except ours are groundhogs in the pasture.

If you don't have any livestock do you REALLY have a pasture? Maybe it is just a small field...

 

[CDGator]

If you don't have any livestock do you REALLY have a pasture? Maybe it is just a small field...

Just because the livestock doesn’t belong to us doesn’t mean we don’t have any in our pasture from time to time.

 

[B52G8rAC]

I have heard that Borax will kill them but never tried it. Is it safe to use that method with strictly in-door cats that I absolutely HATE?

As safe as you want it to be.

 

[CDGator]

What about cockroaches?

 

[Nalt]

View attachment 50059


What about cockroaches?

What about spiders and fleas?