We have been overrun with worms recently. Everyday they throw themselves onto the sidewalk to bake themselves to death in the sun. Their bodies continue to multiply to an overwhelming amount. A few mornings ago we woke up to find several of them had made it into the dining room and were writhing across the carpet. It seems as if this phenominon is restricted to our yard, seeing as the rest of the sidewalks and drives down the drive seem to be relativly worm free, save for the next door neighbors drive where it butts up against our front lawn. When I was vacuuming the pool to waste last week, where the water was being drained to quickly became saturated with countless worms, some that could have been mistaken for small snakes. I'm assuming that those came up to get away from the pool chemicals, but that was still a lot of worms. Any idea what would be causing this extreme worm investation?
I've been seeing a bunch as well. I just assumed it was all the rain.
It's the rain. You need more robins around your house, they love worms.
I'm just surprised that they aren't throwing themselves on the neighbors sidewalks like they are here and makes me wonder what is so bad about my lawn that they feel they need to escape it.
After a good mowing I love watching the robins in my back yard feasting. They'll stay back there most of an afternoon picking off dinner.
What I know I have a problem with after a big rain is ants. I guess I'm not the only one. I have a brother who has the same problem.
Quote from: Hoss on June 18, 2010, 11:09:16 AM
After a good mowing I love watching the robins in my back yard feasting. They'll stay back there most of an afternoon picking off dinner.
What I know I have a problem with after a big rain is ants. I guess I'm not the only one. I have a brother who has the same problem.
We don't even need a rain for a problem with the ants. They have been an on going problem for a number of years, though they seem to be worst this year then previously.
I have not noticed a worm problem, but ants are bad, I had two dead tree stumps along my north lot line fence, Both were badly infested with ants, I got the ants out of one tree stump by dumping bleach on the stump and ant killer, I guess the ants just moved on elsewhere, I doubt I killed them all plus the queen. They are not fire ants (I don't think) but they do act like them a bit when you shake the stump or spray the stump with a ant killer they get on your leg and arms and seem to bite. Some of the ants on the 2nd stump have wings could they be termites & ants in one stump together? I know Texas has fire ants all over but they live in ground mounds, not tree stumps. :o
I find them over here too....Whats funny is the birds dont seem to care for them after they have been grilled.....
Quote from: Breadburner on June 19, 2010, 02:17:05 PM
I find them over here too....Whats funny is the birds dont seem to care for them after they have been grilled.....
no, but I seem to have a dog that doesn't mind if they have been toasted a bit. Makes me think of "How to Eat Fried Worms"
I seen on one of those PBS shows last night "Oklahoma outdoors" or some such show, that there is a big problem with lawn grubs in Oklahoma- people don't see them then they are tiny, so they only get noticed when they grow into that big ugly white thing destroying lawns. At that stage they are hard to control. The end results are grim. :-X
Quote from: sauerkraut on June 22, 2010, 10:52:23 AM
I seen on one of those PBS shows last night "Oklahoma outdoors" or some such show, that there is a big problem with lawn grubs in Oklahoma- people don't see them then they are tiny, so they only get noticed when they grow into that big ugly white thing destroying lawns. At that stage they are hard to control. The end results are grim. :-X
wow... ???
Quote from: Hoss on June 22, 2010, 11:01:55 AM
wow... ???
I know, I'm sure Omaha is proud of one of their model citizens.
One of the things that means (besides that water is driving them out of ground) is the fact that you have an absolutely wonderful environment going on in your yard that is very good for the overall health of the yard!! Congratulations!! You have not overdone the bug sprays and over fertilized!!!
Worms are one of the most visible direct indicators you can have of health in the yard. (Broken record moment: check with OSU extension and/or the Master Gardener office here in Tulsa.)
Additional info; worms are like little bulldozers in your yard. And the more the better! They eat their way through the ground eating 'leftover' organic matter, converting it to the most magnificent fertilizer you could hope for and aerating the yard, helping all the other beneficial flora and fauna, ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!
You can sometimes see ads for worm farms in some garden magazines, but you got your own going right now.
Lucky you!
I had a worm fall from the top of a door (going outside) when I opened it. Scared the crap out of me.
Quote from: heironymouspasparagus on June 22, 2010, 01:00:38 PM
One of the things that means (besides that water is driving them out of ground) is the fact that you have an absolutely wonderful environment going on in your yard that is very good for the overall health of the yard!! Congratulations!! You have not overdone the bug sprays and over fertilized!!!
Worms are one of the most visible direct indicators you can have of health in the yard. (Broken record moment: check with OSU extension and/or the Master Gardener office here in Tulsa.)
Additional info; worms are like little bulldozers in your yard. And the more the better! They eat their way through the ground eating 'leftover' organic matter, converting it to the most magnificent fertilizer you could hope for and aerating the yard, helping all the other beneficial flora and fauna, ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!
You can sometimes see ads for worm farms in some garden magazines, but you got your own going right now.
Lucky you!
heh, too bad we might have thrown off that balance. Finally got out the spray to get the ant situation under control, and after that the invasion stopped. Of course there is the possibility that we sprayed about the same time that the lawn dried up enough for them to stop coming out. But now that you mention it, we do have a healthy growth of chickweed, clovers and wild strawberries.
Bees like the clover.
What I said before...
Boric acid will deal with the ants better than the spray. Plus won't kill your bees. Borax laundry additive will do it. Check the web for recipes. Will usually take a little bit of time - from a day or two up to a week, but it works well. They take it back to the nest and feed it to the queen, etc., etc. Spray won't get rid of them.
Terra is one product in the store if you want to spend more money.
Also, get the food off the counter tops. Keep anything wood away from the house - several feet at least.
Quote from: heironymouspasparagus on June 22, 2010, 10:24:30 PM
What I said before...
Boric acid will deal with the ants better than the spray. Plus won't kill your bees. Borax laundry additive will do it. Check the web for recipes. Will usually take a little bit of time - from a day or two up to a week, but it works well. They take it back to the nest and feed it to the queen, etc., etc. Spray won't get rid of them.
Terra is one product in the store if you want to spend more money.
Also, get the food off the counter tops. Keep anything wood away from the house - several feet at least.
I use Terra EXCLUSIVELY... especially indoors, but I purchased three of their outdoor stake baits. Premise is the same with theirs. It's a liquid bait that they ants just devour. Problem is, it never seems to be enough. I tried borates twice with some success, but usually after the rain washed it away, the next rain brought them back. We'll see if the outdoor application of Terra makes a difference. I usually do not notice them indoors until after a good soaking rain.
It's a never ending battle.
We have tried boric acid. It has only culled the heard, so to speak. IfWhen they return I'll see about looking into Terra. However, the plus side to spraying is that it that it is more effective against spiders. I don't care if they spun gold webs and ate all the ants, spiders don't belong in my house.
Quote from: custosnox on June 23, 2010, 07:53:09 AM
We have tried boric acid. It has only culled the heard, so to speak. IfWhen they return I'll see about looking into Terra. However, the plus side to spraying is that it that it is more effective against spiders. I don't care if they spun gold webs and ate all the ants, spiders don't belong in my house.
It's actually spelled 'Terro'. I noticed the box last night and figured I'd better correct that. It's difficult to miss. It comes in a orange and blue box. You can get the home baits, which are plastic traps you cut a notch out in the bottom. It also comes in straight gel/liquid you can put down in corners. Or if needed, they come in three packs of outside stations that have a liquid pack and two stakes each.
In the past I've purchased from WallyWorld, but this last round I picked them up while doing some repair stuff and needed to go to Lowe's. I'm sure any of the big box hardware stores (or even places like Sutherland's) has them.
Terro is a boric acid product, and seems to work pretty well. When that ant hill is gone, a new one will appear, so it goes on and on.
Yeah, indoors is my zone, outdoors is spider zone. I am merciless with them inside, but will move them around outdoors to keep from killing them. Except brown recluse (mostly inside anyway) and black widow. They are all gonna die if I can get them - anywhere.
There are several videos on Youtube showing ants going to town on Terro. They love it!
My neighbor has a big problem with mosquotoes, He said he dumped out his little swimmimg pool and found it full of the things, he even has been getting the things inside his house. I don't have any problem with mosquotoes, I told him to check his attic vents for a torn screen, they are getting inside the home somehow. I hope the mosquotoes don't come over to my digs. :-X
Someone has stagnant water sitting around somewhere. They gotta have that to breed.
Kid's swimming pool is classic. Mix 1 cup bleach with 1 gallon water and pour it in the pool.
Quote from: heironymouspasparagus on June 28, 2010, 08:57:06 AM
Kid's swimming pool is classic. Mix 1 cup bleach with 1 gallon water and pour it in the pool.
Stupid question: why mix it with 1 gallon of water before mixing it with the 300 gallons of water that's in the pool?
In case you splash it on your hands/clothes while taking it out to the pool. Protects from sloppiness. Water in pool couldn't care less.
And 1 cup might not be enough. Just wait a day and see. So many of those little pools are green from algae that it may take a couple doses. Which will also be hurting the plastic. Catch 22.
Or empty them when kid is done for day and refill tomorrow (or 5 days and a mosquito life later), not leaving water sitting around.
I make regular checks around the house to dump out anything with standing water, including buckets, totes and birdbaths. It doesn't take much to start a problem. I read somwhere that the larvea found in the water in an old tire can number in the thousands.
Yep, they can. And your neighbors have it too. I have one guy with a tire next door and I occasionally throw some spectracide in it just to be safe. Now, if I could just get him to lose the tire...
1/2 inch of water the size of a sheet of paper can get a bunch of skeeters going.
It gives me great pleasure when I find a bucket of water teeming with mosquito larvae to dump it out and kill all those little effers.
Another vote here for the Terro bait. That stuff works great. You won't believe all the ants that will swarm to it. Resist the urge to kill them so they can take the bait home and spread the love....