@#$%$##@ Hornworms!!!!

[ellis]

Can't say I've ever had that pleasure.

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[ellis]

BT works well on horn worms and doesn't indiscriminately kill beneficials.

Indeed.

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[Katra]

It's a cat thing..... ;-)

[Katra]

I've heard of BT for mosquitos, how and what BT is used for hornworms? Might be best to pre-treat plants with it about mid-season?

K.

[ellis]

That's its normal use (BT for mosquitos is fairly new and is a different type). You just spray or dust it on the plant. Here's one BT product page:

Might be best to pre-treat plants with it about mid-season?

It's not a poison so you can pre-treat all you want. It's best to get the horn worms while they are small.

[ellis]

Worse than hairball vomit?

[Katra]

A little gooier.

We never had a cat door for the cats when we lived in the desert, and our best hunters liked to be out at night. We'd find various pieces parts of animals on the front porch in the mornings so after stepping in them a couple of times, we learned to watch for them.

Cats like to bring their people "gifts"...

The only time "prey" ever ended up indoors was when a female with kittens would meow at the door, then run inside with it. It was usually still half-alive at that point. :-P Usually mice, rats, small squirrels, Kangaroo rats and the occasional quail. Patience was the only cat we ever had that would catch rabbits!

Now that we spay/neuter and keep the cats inside, it's no longer an issue.

K.

[Katra]

centers. I'd feel a lot better about using it than sevin! I do value my insect predators. Just wish they would do better on moth larvae!

That's the idea. Let's see, that was the end of June so if I start treating at the beginning of June, I might be able to prevent the damage. Fortunately, the vines are large and healthy.

Thanks! K.

>

[ellis]

yuck

My cat is spayed but she still uses her cat door to go out and hunt at night. She did become prey once but the owl lost.

[Katra]

Indeed. ;-)

Wow. Owl claw holes tend to get badly infected... :-P Glad she is ok!

K.

>

[Ray]

It sounds like your cat has spunk. Did the owl that attacked her survive?

I understand that around here, coyotes like to eat cats. I try to keep my cats in at night. That's especially true of the barn cat that was recently given to our son. Don is seriously doting over that little kitten.

Ray

[ellis]

It took 6 months for her to lose the limp. Recently I put a plastic owl on the roof and she wanted to go after it; she even hissed.

[Bob S.]

I despise them so much that when I pick them I drop them in a stirred up fireant hill.

Bob S.

[Katra]

Your cat has serious spunk..... :-)

K.

[Katra]

Oh man! That's mean! ;-) But, I guess my feeding them to the chickens is no worse.

K.

[ellis]

She's certainly the smartest cat I've ever been owned by.

That I don't know.

That's what I thought here; but I learned that it is the owls that get most of the cats.

[ellis]

And I have the scars to prove it!

[Glenna Rose]

I used to think that was bizarre . . . until someone told me why.

They are not bringing us gifts, they are taking their prey back to the den. That's part of their eons-old instincts. Made perfect sense. However, when I found a mouse in their dish of milk one morning, I wondered. Did the mouse drown getting a drink or were the cats trying to sweeten it up? LOL

Glenna

[Katra]

That does make more sense, thanks! Cats are cool....... ;-)

K.