The message from Scott Hildenbrand contains these words:
Not effective ones, on such a large scale; and because pet fleas in the house (or on yourself, which I've had too) are such a nuisance you really need the fastest most effective solution. FWIW, flea infestations are the only tinme I ever use an insecticide (indoors or out). Janet
What sort of yearly contract is that..would it be because of termites, biting spiders or something?
Janet
The message from Ann contains these words:
is borax the effective agent, or something else?
Janet
I forgot to mention another potential source of insect infestations, which is buying old furniture, especially upholstered stuff. It's worth flea-dusting (and beetle-inspecting) newly acquired treasure before it comes into the house.
Janet
Billy wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@c-61-68-245-199.per.conne ct.net.au:
Avon Skin-so-Soft's mosquito repellant properties are a myth. it repels *me* though. ick :p i like Crocodile anti-bug. no citronella! we have a pond, 2 brooks, upland wetlands, & 20 acres of swamp. there are virtually no mosquitoes in the 3 acres of 'yard' around the house since we got the chickens. no ticks at all (until you get into the woods). the chickens do a great job keeping all kinds of bugs in check. they also eat small snakes, which i think is a disadvantage but some may like.
good way to kill all life in the pond! mosquito dunks work well, & only on mosquito larvae. you do NOT want to kill your dragonfly larvae! dragonflies eat a lot of mosquitoes, & assorted biting flies. lee
Along with interrupting the gaseous transfers at the water surface.
Lar
Actually Boric acid is probably the most toxic insecticide on my truck. It will be used at 97%-99% strength where other insecticides will be usually a fraction of one percent. The comparison scale of toxins is the LD50...the lower the number the more toxic the substance. The LD50 of BA is 2660, of Boron is around 3000 and they are considered low toxic. What I use on my quarterly maintenance services for indoor roach/spider/ant work is around 120,000 and that is at a strength 4 times more toxic than when I use the same product for flea control outside. And all other products bought from home depot or applied professionally will be in the same range if not less toxic.
But the question would be are you now getting results you do not want to have...possible health..premature deterioration of carpets....
Lar
[....] [....]
that would be a huge mistake as well as an aquatic ecological disaster.
Scott Hildenbrand wrote:
well, you brought back a memory from me, Scott......I too had a way into my basement back in Nashville where I put the litter box for the many cats I had at that time. Here is the ONLY solution which will give you relief. Back then, the house I lived in had a dirt basement with a small slab for part of the floor. The breaker blew out and my husband who had been drinking all night and had had a bit of the hair of the dog had just gotten out of the shower. Convenient timing, to say the least. So anyway, he goes and opens up the basement door, moves the cat box aside and starts to descend the steps and gets to the bottom one and to the box that is on a cedar post that my dad's electrician friend had installed breaker box replacing the old fuse box, and I heard this scream, growing louder as the thumping rose to the main house....apparently Squire had descended into what the bug man later described as a bed of fleas that absolutely adore dirt. They can lay dormant (as Lars will attest seeing as he's an exterminator himself ) and breed quietly until they are a mass of starved fleas just waiting for blood. My cat's would stop at the top of the landing and refuse to go to the box sitting there. And the bug man told us that fleas could jump 36 FEET?????!!!!??? holy itchy flesh. So Squire's ankles were BLACK with fleas when he went down the steps to throw the breaker. The bug man started down and they went for his face.........he'd sprayed the cuffs of his pants and sleeve cuffs and they still went for his face....oy vey!!!
Short answer was, he sprayed the dirt, laid down boric acid powder, then put powder on the steps leading down, and told us to put the litter box somewhere else. If one of the cats had gone out of desperation, they'd been almost sucked dry as the fleas had gotten downstairs from one or two and had quietly and manically multiplied. Scary thought.......And I adore Frontline for my dawgs and cats now. Advantage doesn't seem to work as well for my animals as Frontline does. don't know why, and no flaming please for those who Advantage DOES work. It's the same for critters as it is people. Some people stuff works like simply eating garlic (my cats adore garlic which DOES help as they sweat through their pits unlike dogs) but the Frontline works miracles. Pest or "Old Krusty the Kat" as he's known during the spring and summer months because of his skin condition due to mosquito's gnawing him to hundreds of sores suffers horribly. Garlic helps, but not until the nights cool does he get relief. I also feed him "mush" (soft cat food, not shredded, but just Friskies or Alley Cat whichever is on sale at the local grocery) which helps put oils back into his coat. He's almost naked during these months due to not fleas, but mosquito's poor kitty......He is now actually growing his fur back right now. And we finally got RAIN yesterday!!!! WOO HOO!!!!! better late than never, eh? Good luck on the advice there for yer fleas. I had fleas for the first time in YEARS this year due to the drought and conditions. And apparently this year was the worst MY bug man had seen for black widow spiders in this region. (we have them, as well as recluse's and a wide assortment of other harmless spiders, and I had my first sighting of a "garden writing spider" in six or seven years which was really awesome. I suspected that "Bugs Bob" might have accidentally treated part of my front gardens and was the main reason I didn't have them, but I'm not sure. I'm so organic in regards to my flower beds that I still had mantis and bees and lizards, toads, peepers, cicada's etc en-mass this year despite that I never watered at all......
madgardener, still up on the ridge (for now), back in faerie holler, overlooking a wonderfully colorful and now misty English Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7, Sunset zone 36
The message from enigma contains these words:
It's the most effective repellent against Scottish midges, though (they are much smaller than mosquitoes, don;t breed in water and bite even worse.)
Janet.
Janet Baraclough expounded:
I think so, I found a page where it said boric acid is the main ingredient in 20 Mule Team Borax
Avon had a Skin-so-Soft powder that smelled just like the bath oil. it was the best damn flea powder I'd ever used. can't get it anymore because they discontinued the manufacture of it.
I wonder if they got tired of people calling and wanting to order some flea powder?
Lar expounded:
Nope, sorry, none of that. It's been over 15 flea-free years, and I don't think they'll be back at this point.
The message from Jim contains these words:
The version available here is a push-button spray (not aerosol) , "Woodland Glade" flavour. It's very light and non greasy but men don't much like the smell. It's always fun working in the woods when I put it on, and offer squirts to t all. The men always say no. I can guarantee that within 10 minutes every single one of those midge-bitten guys will sidle up on his own, and mutter "Uh, maybe..could I just..please....changed my mind."
Janet
yep, I know exactly what you mean. it is like when fishing buddies break down and say give me some of that home made mosquito repellent.
if it works, don't knock it because relief is relief. damn mosquitos!
but if you don't have mosquitos?
Billy wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@c-61-68-245-199.per.conne ct.net.au:
then why would you be putting oil on the pond? even if you don't have mosquitoes you don't want to kill the dragonflies. they eat other insects. (we have hundreds of dragonflies, damsel flies & predatory wasps) if you don't have mosquito larvae in the pond (what pond in the US doesn't?) then obviously you don't need to put dunks in, or empty & refill ever three days (for garden ponds or stock tanks), but then you don't need to go dumping oil into the ecosystem then either. where on earth did you get the idea that putting vegetable oil on a pond was even remotely a "good" idea? i thought you were somewhat ecologically savvy. lee
The message from enigma contains these words:
No, he's a troll pretending to be ecologically savvy who can't quite join up the dots to get the picture.
Janet
(snip)
Sorry, just another human being. Please note the feet of clay. I see I don't have much time as the "Mad Cow" gang is on their way.
Vegetable oil was just the first thing I thought of because that is one of the things that the mosquito abatement program in Sonoma County recommends for standing water (usually considered non-toxic). The first thing they recommend is mosquito fish or is this going to jam up the dragonflies too (one wiggler might look much like another wiggler, much like sharks with seals and surfers)? I'm not an entomologist, so if this idea falls flat or you want to explore it further, check with your local mosquito abatement program or the Entomology Dept. of your nearest University.
Oops, I hear the sound of hooves, I'd better run.
Wow. Look at what you did to that "strawman". Just what I'd expect from someone who is un-American.
could it have been one of those dot pictures with no numbers?
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.