Unwelcome Garden Guests

Every now and then when I was in my teens,  my family used to slather on the bug repellent and sunscreen and take our alaskan malamute with us for day hikes up in the hills around where we lived.   She loved it. So did the ticks.  Inevitably, within a day or two of our hikes I was helping my mother pull these little vermin off the dog.  I'd feel crawly for days afterwards.

In the region of California in which I was raised, deer ticks are very common in the grassy places where people often love to hike and camp. Learning to recognize ticks was just like learning to recognize poison oak.  They were a fact of life if one wanted to enjoy the great outdoors. Aside from dealing with the dog,  I never had any trouble with them on me. Probably because I made good use of bug repellent. That hasn't stopped me from being a little unnerved at the thought of encountering them on my person.

So, when I saw what looked suspiciously like a tick crawling around on a branch I had just pruned from a long-neglected shrubbery this morning, I got that old creepy-crawly feeling again.  Ewwww.  It's so easy to forget about such things in the supposed civilized safety of one's own backyard. Thank goodness I had been using the rake instead of my hands to load the pile of cuttings into the wheelbarrow.

American Dog Tick (Photo Source)

After a tick check and a run for the bug repellent, I finished my work (still using the rake of course), tossed my gardening clothes straight into the washing machine, checked myself again and ran for the shower. This time I appear to be unscathed, but I shall be more careful in the future.

In my transition to Texas from California, I have had to learn a few new things and re-learn a few old things. Fortunately, what I know about ticks applies in both places.

Ticks like wooded areas, thick shrubberies, and tall grass, so consider the following if you plan to be in such places:

• Wear light colored clothing, to make ticks easier to see.
• If you can, wear long pants and sleeves, and tuck them into your socks/gloves.   This can be difficult in hot regions.  If you are a "belts and suspenders" type of person, you can also use some old shoelaces to tie off the bottom part of your pants to make doubly sure. Just tie them too tight. You still need circulation in your feet!  
• Wear insect repellent that is labeled as effective for ticks. Treat clothes and exposed skin, following label directions. (I'm usually not crazy about chemical repellents such as DEET. If I'm just going to a barbecue, I usually wear a bug band to keep mosquitoes off, but for hiking or gardening in a tick-infested area, I make an exception.)
• Check yourself thoroughly for ticks upon coming indoors. Pay special attention to all cracks, crannies, and crevices, and places covered by hair or close-fitting parts of your clothing.  Use a mirror or a spouse to help you check hard to see places.
• Take a shower and wash your clothing as soon as possible. (CDC recommends within two hours.)  If you've been playing in the dirt or hiking, chances are you'll be hot and sweaty and will want to do this anyway.
• Keep pets indoors if you can, check them often if you can't. Give them flea/tick preventatives regularly either way.
• If you find one attached to you or your pet, see the links below for more information on removal and symptoms of tick-borne disease. If you develop such symptoms, seek medical care.

A few links:
Tickinfo.com
Texas A&M Tick Research Labaratory
The Gulf Coast Tick (TAMU profile)
UC Davis: Ticks of California
Control Biting Pests in the Organic Garden
Consumer Reports: Tick Control with Landscaping Techniques
Centers for Disease Control Tick Info Page
The Big Game Hunt: Preventing Tick-Borne Disease
P. Allen Smith: Tick Control
DogsAndTicks.com
ASPCA Tick Page
CatHealth.com: Tick Parasites of Cats

Rasberry Crazy Ants: Not as delicious as they sound.

But they might drive you crazy!

To see the video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/v/80UbzvlQB0U&hl=en_US&fs=1&


See the TAMU Agrilife Extension website for more:
http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/ants/exotic_tx.cfm#identification



Update: Fox News has even covered these things:

Leaf Miners

These annoying insects apparently love to eat sweet basil. Grr. Fortunately, they haven't destroyed it.

They also like Pinto beans.

So far, no new damage on any of my citrus trees this year.

I have heard that companion plantings of Columbine can be helpful.

I may try this. I do not relish the thought of using insecticides in my herb garden.

Incidentally, June is also supposed to be a great month for planting Basil seeds.

Why I read gardening blogs

I never know when I will learn something.

For instance, self-styled "Lazy Gardener" Brenda Beust Smith posted last week about ball moss, which I have in abundance on my trees. Before I read her post, I had some preconceived notions about this plant. Because it has some features in common with Spanish Moss, I assumed it was just another variety, and since of the two this was the only one that produced visible flowers, I guessed maybe there was a male/female thing going on there.



Hey, I'm sort of new around here.

New or not, I was still mistaken. :)

While both plants are in the same genus of the Bromeliad family, Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is harmless to trees, and the thickness of its growth can even help to indicate air quality (Smith). According to the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers, Spanish Moss does not qualify as a parasite because it uses photosynthesis to make its own food.

By contrast, Ball moss (Tillandsia recurvata), while also not a parasite, can damage trees by strangling the branches that it grows in with the tendrils it uses to maintain its grip.

Unfortunately, my trees are full of the stuff.


Brenda Beust Smith suggests hitting the ball moss with a baking soda solution (see her post for more specifics, and her recent update on this issue in another post.) either after a rain or after watering the ball moss yourself.

The trouble for me is, my trees are pretty tall, and I am fairly certain my hose will not spray that high. Time to contact the county extension office!


For more pictures and details on this plant:
University of Texas, Austin
Texas A&M

Stinging Caterpillars

I've been getting more hits from people looking for "poisonous caterpillars". Hopefully, they're looking for information before they encounter them.

If you think you have had contact with a venomous insect or animal, it is best to do first aid and seek prompt advice from a competent medical professional.

If you want to know what these things look like before you have a close encounter, the web is probably the place for you.

Here are some useful links with information on caterpillar hazards:

Stinging Caterpillars--Bexar County Extension (TX)
Stinging Caterpillars found on Alabama Trees
Texas Entomology--Stinging Caterpillars of Texas (Useful link list)
Stinging and Venomous Caterpillars (University of Florida Extension)
Take care around stinging caterpillars (Houston Chronicle)

Google search for "stinging caterpillars"

For first aid after a sting, this University of Oklahoma site and this University of Kentucky site have brief recommendations. When in doubt, seek qualified medical advice.

Basil Update

My basil is still growing rapidly. It is in great need of thinning. Hmm.

I guess I'll have to do lots of cooking with it this week!

And I'll still have plenty left to use for Thanksgiving cooking!

Minimal pest trouble so far, though I'm starting to notice brown spots on some of the lower leaves of the larger plants.

Occasionally I'll find a clear, watery, mucous-like mass around the central stem, underneath leaves. I have no idea what that might be, and my Google searches have revealed nothing. It doesn't look like the typical snail trail I'm used to seeing (or was used to seeing in California).

To be honest, I don't think I've seen any actual live snails since I moved here. I have been told there are snails in Houston, though.

Catnip as Mosquito Repellent?

I found an article from 2001 on ScienceDaily.com describing a study that suggested that Catnip oil works as a mosquito repellent--allegedly even better than DEET-based repellents.

My question... if you smell like catnip, what is your cat going to do? (Assuming your cat is one of the 50% of cats that react to the stuff).

Another article from 2002 on the same site discusses tomato-based repellents, which again appear to be more effective than DEET

I myself have tried using a lemon-Eucalyptus repellent when in the garden. It seems to work. At least, I haven't been bitten yet while using it. I can say it definitely smells better than DEET or Picaridin. (By the way, there is some kind of little biting gnat or something around here that responds better to DEET than to Picaridin, in my experience.) However, since the label does not say anything about its effectiveness on chiggers or ticks, I probably won't use it if I am going someplace where I should be concerned about either of those.

But, don't get too excited. Another 2002 study suggests that DEET is better than plant-based repellents.

Whatever.

I guess I'll just have to stick to what seems to work for me.

Fire ant First Aid

As I had my third encounter with fire ants yesterday, I have been doing a little reading about how to treat these stings.


Here is a useful page on the subject.
And another one with recommendations for bites on children.

For relief of the skin irritation, the most common solutions I have seen, after the wounds have been cleaned and disinfected, are itch creams such as hydrocortizone cream, as well as witch hazel. Oral antihistamines can be helpful as well. I have also seen products at the drugstore labled specifically for use on fire ant stings, but I have not tried them yet, myself.

Some websites also suggest elevating the stung body part as a component of first aid treatment, to help minimize the initial swelling.

As always, severe allergic reactions should be treated in the emergency room.

And when in doubt, see a doctor.

Are you sick of fire ants?

Maybe we can return the favor:

LUBBOCK, Texas -- The battle against red fire ants has plagued farmers, ranchers and regular folks for decades. Now it seems the reviled pests could be in for some sickness of their own. Researchers have pinpointed a naturally occurring virus that kills fire ants, which arrived in the U.S. in the 1930s and now cause $6 billion in damage annually nationwide, including about $1.2 billion in Texas. The virus caught the attention of U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers in Florida in 2002. The agency is now seeking commercial partners to develop the virus into a pesticide to control fire ants.

Complete story.

Of course, this is assuming this virus won't ultimately create more problems than it solves.

The upside to fire ants (yes, there appears to be one), is that they help to control those little white grubs the june bugs leave behind. At least, that's what I have heard.

If you are interested in organic fire ant control, one of my local nurseries recommends this.