IN YOUR HOUSE!

[Duchess]

Bumble bees & honey bees are never a problem, they are like the Golden Retrievers of bees, brown wasps are just a pain in the ass, but yellow jackets are the devil.

[username]

Oh man, this reminded me to put out a fresh yellow jacket trap and it’s getting swarmed! The instructions say to do it at night or early morning so you don’t get stung. I’m lucky I didn’t because two seconds after I put it, the bastards were on it.

Glad they only attract the yellow jackets and not bumble bees or honey bees. I don’t mind them although the wisteria on our front porch (when blooming) attracts to many bumble bees for me to want to hang out with them. And the honey bees like some clover in our front lawn so no going barefoot out there!

Mirah, the peppermint oil sounds right. And I think Simple Green smells like some combination of spearmint and peppermint.

[MirahM]

We have these huge Bumble like bees at my work-they burrow in the ground-I don't think they are honey bees.

Last year we did have hornets or yellow jackets maybe-and I put out one of those cone traps with soap in them-this year we haven't had a problem yet.

Mossquitos are getting bad now tho, so I put the bug spray in my car so I can walk to the garden w/out getting swarmed. Also sometimes I have to wear long pants or long sleeves
ugh

[Carsman]

User saw a tarantula in her house! Oh my gods! I had a wolf spider in mine on 2 separate occasions and now that I'm thinking about them I will be looking at the ceiling of every room I walk in to today because that's where I saw them before. *shudder* In my mind, they are the size of a basketball.

I once saw a dead hawk in the washing machine in the barn and my boss had a snake in her toilet bowl. What kind of weird shit have you had in your home?

As some of you know, We had a SNAKE (I HATE SNAKES) sneak into our house thru 
the 60 ft long condensation pipe that runs under our foundation to the outside lawn.
Over night, it slithered all throughout the house as  we noticed it moved the glue traps on the floor. In the morning, my wife was on our desk PC, and it finally slithered over and coiled up 3 feet from her legs. All of a sudden, she shrieked an ear shattering shrill SNAKE, and I ran to our utility closet, got my rake, scoped it up and thru it out the door. Our house was "violated", and will never be the same. I give my wife credit, for not moving, as she is "petrified of SNAKES"!!! (I HATE SNAKES)

[Duchess]

I remember when you first told us that. Were you able to put a screen or something similar over the pipe to prevent this from happening again?

[Carsman]

I remember when you first told us that. Were you able to put a screen or something similar over the pipe to prevent this from happening again?

RIGHT. 

In addition, I put a "floor sweep" on the A/C door making it totally sealed. 

[rothschild]

Snakes need love, too.

[BigMark]

Hot slippery reptilian love.

[MirahM]

I can read stories about snakes better than I can read stories about spiders. (I hate spiders but not little itty bitty ones, those are just fine, unless there are a million of them then they are creepy)

[username]

For some reason I’m seeing a bunch of rats scurrying around the property the last couple months. We’ve lived here 4 years now and this is a first. 

Not long after we moved in we paid a crap ton to HOPEFULLY seal up under our house and our front porch (chicken wire and stuff). I don’t have any reason to think they’re under there but I think I’m going to hire someone to take a look and lay some traps down there as needed. 

I can’t figure out what they’re going after here/why they’re suddenly so abundant. I was told recently it’s to be expected on a property this size in this area but whyyyy now? 

I have to untrain my dog from barking at hawks and stuff.

[rothschild]

You need help.

[username]

I do!!! My dog has chased one but they’re fast and apparently not stupid either. I usually see them when I don’t have my dog with me anyway. I was leaving this morning and my dog was in the house and I saw two on my way to my car.

To my knowledge they’re not causing damage anywhere (so I’m not inclined to commit random rat genocide; I draw the line under the house because they’ll chew up ductwork and stuff) but if I find out I’m wrong and they’re causing unseen problems…I’ll go nuclear on the little bastards.

What breed of dog is that?

[username]

Without googling, isn’t there a dog called a rat terrier? Haha. If so, funny I never knew they got their name literally.

[Duchess]

Without googling, isn’t there a dog called a rat terrier? Haha. If so, funny I never knew they got their name literally.

There is! They used to sail the seas and kept the mice/rat population down on ships. 

[sally]

The picture is Cairn Terriers.

[username]

I wonder if I can rent some, lol.

People rent goats around here (our neighbor did). IDK what the cost for that was but honestly, I don’t think the goats did a very good job. A couple guys with weed whackers do better at keeping the wild parts of our property under control.

[rothschild]

Terriors.

[username]

Well after seeing 3 rats today I’ve had about enough. I think they’re probably around because we have a lot of plum trees and other fruit/citrus trees on the property, they have lots of places to hide (under outdoor furniture and possibly in sheds) and we run our irrigation system regularly (which isn’t new but…).

I’m getting professionals involved next week. 

 

My dog briefly spotted one but it ran under some furniture and she lost interest. Honestly my family probably wouldn’t be inclined to let the dog lick their faces if they knew she was a rat killer anyway. My kids tolerate a lot of face licking that I wouldn’t, lol.

The damn rats still just seem like a nuisance but seeing so many, I’ve gotta think they’ve likely figured out a way under the house or are doing damage/unspeakable things elsewhere. And multiplying.

[username]

The fucking dog got skunked an hour ago.

Gahhh!!!!

I’ve done what I can but I can’t unsmell skunk.

Boo hoo…