Enemy Attack: Using Pests' Natural Enemies To Eliminate Them
Farms have lots of cats because cats take care of the dozens of mice and other rodents that cause problems for farmers. It has been a natural form of pest control for centuries. If you are queasy and uneasy about using pesticides, lethal traps and poisons to eliminate your pest problem, consider using their natural enemies instead.
Aphids Overrunning Your Garden
Ladybug beetles are not only colorful and cute, but they love a good meal of aphids. You can actually buy boxes of ladybugs from online gardening companies. Within a day or two, the package of live ladybugs arrives on your doorstep. All you have to do is open the box near or toward the middle of your aphid problem, and the ladybugs do the rest. If you do not want the ladybugs hanging around, it is not a problem. They simply fly away in search of their next meal.
Spiders, Bird Pests, and Less Welcome Garden Insects
If your bird pests are not present to eat the spiders, millipedes, centipedes, slugs and leeches, then they are pests too. You can control all of these pests with a bunch of garter snakes. If you do not have garter snakes visiting your yard already, you can purchase a pair of mating garter snakes and then turn them and their offspring loose in your yard. Once the snakes have cleared your yard of all of the undesirable pests, they slither off to find more food. Because they are strict carnivores, they will never eat your fruit, vegetables, or flowers, and they are non-toxic and not interested in pets or children as snacks.
Raccoons
The unfortunate thing about raccoons is that most of their natural enemies are other predators you would not want on your property, e.g., coyotes, wolves, bobcats, etc. One predator, the great horned owl, is one you could live with, given that it eats raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, mice, rats and just about anything else it can carry off in its powerful talons. Although you cannot start a private owlery for these birds, you can encourage them to visit your yard by growing the trees they prefer to nest and roost in. Otherwise, you might have to resort to shooting or trapping the raccoons yourself.
Natural Pest Control Services
Once you recognize the pests you have problems with, it is easy to find out what eats them. Every so often, you might find a pest that does not have an enemy, or does not have one locally. These transported or invasive species/ pests will be difficult to get rid of, but there are pest control services, like Choice Pest Control, that can help.
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