Maybe killing all the scorpions wasn't such a good idea

[LVSteve]

My neighborhood has a bit of a reputation for scorpions. Through destroying the habitat for them and their prey and some diligent nighttime hunting, we've managed to cull them to a manageable level. By that I mean that only one in four hunts after dark results in any kills. This is an improvement on the days when I went out 3-4 nights a week and could guarantee three at least every time.

Seems we are reaping the harvest of our efforts. This year we have seen four big cockroaches in the yard or garage. They were all dead or dying thanks to Ortho Home Defence. That's about how many we have seen in the previous three years total. Today, my wife asked me to check out her mint plants. This plant is actually inside, but was originally outside. Yep, the cabbage loopers (generic ID from the Web) found her mint, and in force. If any body knows the precise species, let me know.

 

[Turq]

Better the devil you know, than the one you don't. Seems appropriate here.

 

[LVSteve]

Better the devil you know, than the one you don't. Seems appropriate here.

Maybe if they had been simple Desert Hairy scorpions I'd have been less bothered. Trouble is the dominant species is the Arizona Bark scorpion, an aggressive and very venomous breed. I do know my devil, and I don't like him much!

 

[Echo40]

That's why you don't meddle with nature too much. You think that you're ridding yourself of a pest, but then the next thing you know other pests who were previously preyed upon by the so-called pest you exterminated, or some of the pleasant creatures you enjoyed the company of no longer come around because there's nothing for them to eat in your yard.

It reminds me of a time when I was young and my mother decided to get rid of all the spiders in/around our house because she was afraid of them and didn't like the cobwebs they left behind, but then we had a huge fly infestation in the summer because there were no more spiders to catch them. So she stopped spraying the spider repellent so that they'd come back, and then when they came back we had a spider infestation due to the excessive amount of flies for them to feed on.

Nature tends to have a very delicate ecosystem in place, and when men meddle with nature too much, everything falls into chaos. Best to just let Mother Nature due her work. Fortunately, nature tends to bounce back on its own so long as we know when to back off, so if you leave it alone, then eventually the scorpions will return and once they've taken care of the cockroaches, they'll leave, but in the meantime, expect to see a lot more scorpions.

 

[Rpg]

This year we have seen four big cockroaches in the yard or garage. They were all dead or dying thanks to Round-Up.
]

I thought Round Up was an herbicide.

 

[LVSteve]

I thought Round Up was an herbicide.

Yep, you're right, although it does kill Black Widows. Sprayed one hidden in something I wanted to kill and it was lights out. I'll go and change that to Ortho Home Defence.

 

[jeffsmith]

We had Feral Cats the Condo Folks didn't like
they were "Removed"
Now we have a Rat Problem
Bring back the Kitties

 

[Robspeire]

I thought Round Up was an herbicide.

It is.
However it is also killing Honey Bees.

Last year I lost 3 hives. Everyone in the Bee Club I belong to lost
hives also. The County sprayed Round-up along all the roads.

BY AUSTIN PRICE | OCT 3 2018
The most widely sprayed herbicide in the world kills honeybees, according to a new report.

Glyphosate, an herbicide and active ingredient in Monsanto’s (now Bayer’s) Roundup weed killer, targets enzymes long assumed to be found only in plants. The product is advertised as being innocuous to wildlife. But some bacteria also use this enzyme, including a microbiome found in the intestines of most bees. When pollinators come in contact with glyphosate, the chemical reduces this gut bacteria, leaving bees vulnerable to pathogens and premature death.

“The bee itself has no molecular targets from glyphosate,” Nancy Moran, a biologist at the University of Texas at Austin and a coauthor of the study, told Environmental Health News. “But its gut bacteria do have targets.”

Moran and other scientists liken glyphosate exposure to taking too many antibiotics—and upsetting the balance of good bacteria that supports immunity and digestion.

“We all know that glyphosate is an antibiotic. It’s very toxic to bacteria. It’s even patented as an antibiotic,” says Nathan Donley, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “But very few researchers have actually dived into this issue. The good thing is, that’s starting to change.”

 

[Kinman]

Years ago in Canada I had a personal vendetta against the local Raven population. It wasn't so much the critter as the fact that my neighbor fed them dog food and they liked to roost in our old growth acreage.
The thing that worked best was killing one and hanging him upside down wingspread outward, they did not like that and left.
They still hung around, just not roosting and waking me at sunrise like roosters from hell....Wrrrraaak, Wrrraaaak!
I studied them, got into some depth and one day watched a couple playing "King of Tree" on the tip of an ancient Fir and decided to declare a truce and they proved to be very interesting and intelligent buggers after all.
In my studies I ran across a event that happened in Michigan or Minnesota, it seemed the locals got tired of the similar ruckus stirred up by a "murder" of crows in a local woodlot...there were thousands in the grouping and they always roosted in the same place. The geniuses in the local neighborhood decided to lay in some dynomite and set it off while everyone was atree for the evening, BOOOM! The next morning was nice and quiet and in fact everyone was very happy over the loss of noise and the occaisonal problem crows can be in general to farm folks. The next year however they were beset by a grasshopper infestation the was nearly biblical in proportion. Turns out the crows were eating their weight in grasshoppers and other bug pests keeping things in order...Don't fool with mother nature.

 

[DWalt]

We had Feral Cats the Condo Folks didn't like
they were "Removed"
Now we have a Rat Problem
Bring back the Kitties

We once had a feral tomcat who lived mainly in a backyard tree for around 5 years. When he died, the roof rats showed up. Never saw a rat while he was alive. He wasn't really a pet, but we did keep water out for him and occasionally food. I think he believed he was our cat as he was nearly always either in the tree (a fairly large oak) or on our roof. We buried his body in the flower bed. That was the least we could do.

 

[pawncop]

The key to life is balance. Always.

 

[LVSteve]

Perhaps I should point out that the Bark Scorpions here are imports brought in by stupid humans wanting palm trees here. The trees came from nurseries in Southern Arizona complete with scorpions, but sadly none of their predators. The little buggers got loose all over the valley and it has been game on ever since.

 

[carpriver]

As has been stated more then once, don't screw with mother nature. This spring we planted 25 X 50 ft flower garden with Michigan wild flowers. The flowers attracted dozens of humming birds, butterflies, bees all pollinators. Those are the critter we need to grow our foods. those flowers are really pretty we enjoy watching the new found critters and the different colored flowers.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

My neighborhood has a bit of a reputation for scorpions. Through destroying the habitat for them and their prey and some diligent nighttime hunting, we've managed to cull them to a manageable level. By that I mean that only one in four hunts after dark results in any kills. This is an improvement on the days when I went out 3-4 nights a week and could guarantee three at least every time.

Seems we are reaping the harvest of our efforts. This year we have seen four big cockroaches in the yard or garage. They were all dead or dying thanks to Ortho Home Defence. That's about how many we have seen in the previous three years total. Today, my wife asked me to check out her mint plants. This plant is actually inside, but was originally outside. Yep, the cabbage loopers (generic ID from the Web) found her mint, and in force. If any body knows the precise species, let me know.

If you see small white "butterflies" around your cabbage family plants, you better spray them with something, because the cabbage worms will destroy them if you don't.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[Dougaz]

Here in AZ the story goes "If you can't hear crickets at night you for sure have scorpions, if you can hear crickets, you don't have scorpions"

We lived alone in the desert for 14 years and man, we had scorpions by the bucket load.

 

[PatriotX]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9yruQM1ggc[/ame]


As usual, the Simpsons have spoken on the subject.

 

[Chubbs103]

My daughter found this guy the other night (giant desert hairy). As long as they are not in the house, they get a pass.

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

It is.
However it is also killing Honey Bees.

Last year I lost 3 hives. Everyone in the Bee Club I belong to lost
hives also. The County sprayed Round-up along all the roads.

BY AUSTIN PRICE | OCT 3 2018
The most widely sprayed herbicide in the world kills honeybees, according to a new report.

Glyphosate, an herbicide and active ingredient in Monsanto’s (now Bayer’s) Roundup weed killer, targets enzymes long assumed to be found only in plants. The product is advertised as being innocuous to wildlife. But some bacteria also use this enzyme, including a microbiome found in the intestines of most bees. When pollinators come in contact with glyphosate, the chemical reduces this gut bacteria, leaving bees vulnerable to pathogens and premature death.

“The bee itself has no molecular targets from glyphosate,” Nancy Moran, a biologist at the University of Texas at Austin and a coauthor of the study, told Environmental Health News. “But its gut bacteria do have targets.”

Moran and other scientists liken glyphosate exposure to taking too many antibiotics—and upsetting the balance of good bacteria that supports immunity and digestion.

“We all know that glyphosate is an antibiotic. It’s very toxic to bacteria. It’s even patented as an antibiotic,” says Nathan Donley, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “But very few researchers have actually dived into this issue. The good thing is, that’s starting to change.”

Glyphosate has been showing up in human blood. Can you
imagine what that is doing to our gut flora? Of course there
are folks on here that promote that c++p. The same way
bt has transferred to humans from GMO corn. And we
wonder why the people in this country have health problems.