Spring has sprung in Tennessee, and our little farm is full of critters – some welcome, some not. We’ll start with the “not” variety.
As I discovered recently after spending an afternoon helping Chareva fence off the back yard to keep the puppies corralled, we have ticks on our land. Lots of them. I didn’t notice any while working in the yard, but later that night, as I was sitting at the computer answering blog comments, I felt something akin to a pinprick in my armpit. I couldn’t think of anything positive that would produce that sensation, so I pulled off my shirt and went to the bathroom mirror to investigate. There was a tick, digging in.
Chareva later found a couple of them digging into her as well, and we’ve pulled several off the puppies in the past week. We do, however, have a plan for reducing the tick population. More on that later.
We’ve also had several mice take up residence somewhere in the house. I heard scratching behind the walls now and then and figured it was one mouse, maybe two. We tried setting “humane” traps, but they turned out to be so humane, all we were doing was feeding the mice with whatever bait we put inside. Once Chareva started finding mouse poop inside her kitchen cabinets and drawers (which meant pulling out all the dishes and washing them), she agreed it was time to go lethal.
That was six mousetraps ago. Yes, six. I set a fresh trap late Saturday night, sat down to watch a movie, and heard a THWAP! in the kitchen about 15 minutes later. After disposing of the mouse, I set another one. Another half-hour later, THWAP! So I set another one before bed. Chareva disposed of that one this morning. I hope that’s the end of the slaughter, but we’ll keep setting traps until they stop springing.
The most unwelcome critters of all (to me, at least) are the wasps. They seemed to show up all at once, as if they flew north for the summer on the first warm day. They haven’t built luxury condos in the attic like they did when the previous owner was living here and letting everything go to pot, but they’re constantly buzzing around, looking for a way in. Last weekend, we killed three of them inside the house – two in Chareva’s office, one in the sunroom.
I thought at first we were seeing a lot of wasps simply because we live in the boonies, but I’ve since noticed them flying around no matter where we go. Last week two of them were crawling on the hood of my car when I left my office building in downtown Nashville. When I was parked at a Kroger yesterday, a wasp landed on my side-view mirror and then bounced against the window a couple of times — probably just to watch me jump.
Those of you who read my other blog already know I have a history of run-ins with wasps — two of which led to what are known as the “scream like a girl” incidents in family lore. I hate wasps more than any critter on earth. While we have plans to rid ourselves of other insects with natural methods, I don’t mess around with wasps — I resort to chemical warfare. I’d napalm the little @#$%ers if it wouldn’t screw up our gardens and pastures. Since that’s not an option, we keep a can of RAID handy as our shotgun and a bigger can of Wasp & Hornet spray handy as our cannon.
The first time Chareva went after a wasp with the RAID, she gave it a little spritz and then seemed surprised when the wasp flew away. I stood nearby, shaking my head and wearing my best grizzled-veteran expression, and said (in a voice reminiscent of Nick Nolte), “Darling, you don’t plunk a wasp. That just makes them mad. You have to blast them. Don’t stop spraying until the wasp hits the ground.”
Chareva has been planning for some time to turn our small barn into a chicken coop. Last weekend while I was playing a round of disc golf, I landed a disc near that barn and went to fetch it … then noticed at least a dozen wasps milling around on one side, with more flying in and out. I tiptoed up to the disc as if being quiet would prevent the wasps from noticing me. I also allowed myself to step well away from the barn for my next shot without taking a penalty stroke, figuring no one should have to risk stirring up a dozen wasps just to play by the rules.
(“Mr. Naughton, the bad news is that you’re extremely swollen and it took the paramedics 20 minutes to revive you. The good news is that you made par on the sixth hole.”)
I warned Chareva that we’d need to bug-bomb that barn before she started working on it. She did, wisely choosing a chilly morning when the wasps were docile. Then she got to work on the barn … which brings us to the critters we’re happy to have.
Some weeks ago, Chareva bought 10 little chicks, which up until now she’s been raising in a trough in the basement. Five are Ameraucanas, which lay blue-green eggs, and five are Buff Orpingtons, which lay brown eggs. If all goes well, we’ll be plucking farm-fresh eggs from the chicken coop around September.
Meanwhile, Chareva has been busy starting her vegetable garden in little trays in the basement, building raised beds (and filling them with stuff that doesn’t smell very good) and constructing a fence around her future vegetable garden in one of the front pastures. The bench you see in the picture below is there so she can take breaks while working. The Beware of Dog sign is there because it was already attached to the gate. As much as possible, Chareva has been re-purposing whatever the previous owner left behind – and she left behind rather a lot.
Chareva hasn’t been working out at the gym lately, but she hasn’t needed to. Pretty much all the farm work she’s been doing is physically demanding. While I’ve been sitting in a cubicle programming software all week, she’s been dragging around 100-pound rolls of wire, hefting bags of topsoil, digging trenches, and pounding t-posts into the ground with a t-post hammer. I’ve used that hammer as well, and trust me, it’s heavy. By the time you pound in a few t-posts with it, your triceps have gotten a good workout. Chareva’s as lean as ever, but her arms are like steel bands. If she weren’t so sweet, I’d be a little bit afraid of her.
She finished fencing off the area around the chicken coop on Saturday, so on Sunday she announced it was time to move the chicks outside. Everyone got into the act, as you can see from the pictures below. If memory serves, it was the first time in my 53 years on earth I ever picked up a chicken in my hands … er, gloved hands.
Once the chicks were all in the coop, we dumped the chicken poop remaining in the trough on top of the other smelly stuff in the garden. The farm is mostly Chareva’s project, so she’s been doing a lot of reading up to educate herself. The one lesson I’ve learned so far is that there’s a lot of poop involved in farming.
The chickens are gone from our basement, but they’ve been replaced by these critters: Guinea fowl. Ten of them.
I must admit, I had never heard of guinea fowl until Chareva told me we needed to get some of them. “Why?” I asked. “Do they lay eggs?” Yes, she explained, but that’s not why we want them. We want guinea fowl on the land because they’re bug-eating machines. They devour ticks, roaches, bugs that invade your garden … they’ll even attack and eat wasps.
(They’ll go after wasps?! Okay, that’s all I needed to know. I didn’t think any critter would take on a wasp.)
From what I read online later, guinea fowl are very tough, protective of chickens, and will surround and kill snakes and other predators that get near the coop.
(Yes, yes, very nice … just to confirm, did you say they’ll KILL WASPS? Seriously, that’s all I needed to know.)
So thanks mostly to Chareva’s efforts, the farm is starting to feel like a farm, complete with farm critters. We even had some uninvited (but welcome) guests show up yesterday in our back pasture.
Speaking of critters, Coco and Misha – our ferocious guard dogs – are growing quickly on their raw-meat diet and are already looking less like puppies and more like dogs. They’ve even starting producing deep-throated barks instead of puppy yaps. It won’t be too long before they’re patrolling the land and (we hope) keeping predators away from the chickens.
My other little critters – Sara and Alana – seem to be enjoying life on a mini-farm immensely. They’re crazy about Coco and Misha and are fascinated with the chicks. When we returned home yesterday after running some errands, they bolted from the van and ran to the chicken coop to watch the chickens. This will be a great place for them to grow up.
For my part, I’m looking forward to cracking some of those blue-green eggs into a frying pan.
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I can hear the reluctance, but really, you do need a cat. Actually, you need two cats. And I agree, dispense with the kittenhood and just get a couple of 1-2 year old cats. They will keep each other company and they will help with mice and other critters. I live in NYC. I had mice up until the day I brought home a cat, and that cat was not particularly fierce. Just the scent of a cat can be enough to discourage mice. It is worth it.
But there’s one major disadvantage: I’d have cats.
At least one who mentioned the most important property of guinea fowl, they are freaking delicious. They are nearly staple here in France, we get them here in our canteen every other week. If ever you look up a French cuisine book, notice the recipe about Pintade, that’s it.
As for your description of the farm life, makes me smile. Isn’t it obvious now, why veganism is a devious urban phenomenon?
Indeed. Veganism appeals to people who think they’re eating a natural diet but have no clue what “natural” really means.
I was just about to suggest Giunea foul for the ticks!
Also, never get talked into peacocks.
It looks like your farm is coming together so well! I’m envious! I can’t wait to see gardens of plants soon! ^_^
That’s what I’m hoping for next year here in my own place. Raised beds, lots of plants.
Chareva’s got quite a variety going in the basement. We’ll see what survives once they’re planted.
The farm adventures are compelling … I grimaced while scrolling down but was vastly relieved there was no picture of your tick.
I try to keep pictures of my armpits to myself.
A bit of science, from a previous life.
Most insecticides work as cholinesterase inhibitors, in essence they block the destruction of acetylcholine messengers in the nervous system, which overloads the nervous system and leads to death. Over-spraying an insect will not necessarly speed up the effect of an insecticide, but will definitely release excessive amounts of the stuff in the atmosphere to no purpose. Typically a 1 second release of the spray in the atmosphere is enough to kill all bugs in a room, but that will take minutes, not seconds. The safest insecticides are those based on pyrethrin, which has a very low toxicity for mammals, and … nicotine! (those anti flea drops that you but on the dogs shoulder is a synthetic nicotine)
I found that the easiest way to deal with wasps is to use a trap with some beer in it -or rotting fruits. This approach is also safe with bees, who are teetotallers. Here is a link on how to make home made traps
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/the-2-liter-soda-bottle-wasp-t-43290
Ideally you want to find out where the hive is and sprayed with insecticide, but that is a job best left to a professional as protective clothing is often required.
Swatting wasps – at least the european variety- can be a challenge as they have a strange wobbling flight pattern, so catching them in flight is quite an exercise.
But I have noticed an interesting thing: our wasps are cannibals. They are attracted by the smell of their deceased kin, and will happily land to munch them, making them vulnerable to a good swat. Soon the pile of fallen wasps builds up and attracts even more wasps, making the process very efficient (and I noticed that they ignored me totally as they went into cannibalistic frenzy)
Me performing this routine at my parents garden a few years ago eventually lead to the inevitable. My dad walks past me, looks at the carnage, then looks at me and says “I knew it. If you consider a six-pack and a bug zapper quality entertainment, you just might be a redneck”
LOL. I might give those wasps traps a try. I’d rather not have to hunt them and get into needless firefights. I once had a run-and-gun battle with a wasp that covered four rooms in the house. That little @#$%er was tough. I’d make a direct hit with the RAID, and the wasp would respond by flying away, turning around, and making another run at me.
If you haven’t already, have a look at the Dog Whisperer, to ensure that the whole family know about pack animals and how to control the dogs in a calm and assertive way:
http://www.cesarsway.com/training/thewalk/6-Tips-for-Mastering-the-Dog-Walk
Hi Tom
Wasps, as long as they are not in/near your house, are good – they feed insects (things like caterpillars that will be munching on Chareva’s garden) to their babies. And birds eat them and feed them to their babies.
Ticks like long grass, so keep it short where you walk. And tuck your pant legs into your boots. But leave some areas long and natural for all the native bees, so you get good pollination. Honey bees don’t do all the work.
And have fun. We had a warm spell and are now back to freezing nights. No gardening yet.
We had a hot spell (80+ degrees) for a couple of weeks, which is when the wasps showed up. Now we’re back to cooler temperatures, and I’m glad for that. I want some spring before my summer.
I only freak out about the wasps when they take up residence in the house or barn. They can hunt in the fields all they want and I won’t mind.
At least one who mentioned the most important property of guinea fowl, they are freaking delicious. They are nearly staple here in France, we get them here in our canteen every other week. If ever you look up a French cuisine book, notice the recipe about Pintade, that’s it.
As for your description of the farm life, makes me smile. Isn’t it obvious now, why veganism is a devious urban phenomenon?
Indeed. Veganism appeals to people who think they’re eating a natural diet but have no clue what “natural” really means.
“adopt out adult cats, … every farm needs a cat.”
Alas, you’d need an adult cat who had been raised OUT of a love for that yummy fresh fowl!! It might just be bad karma to bring a genetically programmed bird killer onto a farm with birds. But kittens? Yeah, fer shure, you need a coupla kittens… Raise ’em with the guineas and they may turn out not to eat YOUR birds… (Or not.) AND the doggies will grow up loving ’em too.
(Dja ever guess you’d be Noah?)
No, the Noah experience was unexpected.
Having a mouse problem in my house, usually starting in October, I think the best trap to use is the Victor Quick Set type.
http://www.victorpest.com/advice/all-about/victor-traps
No affiliation with them at all, but, if baited properly they are less likely to smack the guts out of the mouse. They still snap and kill them and as there name suggests they are quick and easy to set. I bait them with peanut butter and check them once a day. They are less likely to squish the goo out of the mouse, and can be baited and reused. I always wear gloves when handling of course, and emptying the trap is like opening a clothespin. Re-bait if necessary, and it’s back to work.
Peanut butter definitely seems to draw them to the traps. Our traps look like those, might even be that brand. So far our traps haven’t led to any gooey kills.
Robster9, I can only wish to have seen these cars running around the tracks. You’re a lucky man. The most memorable motor racing event I have seen was seeing the great Fangio driving his huge Mercedes around Sandown Raceway in Australia. It was only an exhibition, but great. Al Carley (Australia)
Gah, I hate wasps! Really, everything else you said is lost in the skin-crawling hatred of wasps. I got stung as a small child by a nest of wasps roughly the size of pterodactyls, and have never gotten over it. Advice for the inevitable sting: Get some plantain and make a salve with it. When you get stung, you cover the sting with the plantain salve and it will draw the poison out. Takes away the pain and swelling almost instantly. It’s great stuff.
If you’re not into the making of stuff, the best pre-made salve I’ve ever used is from the Bulk Herb Store here. (I hope I did the link right.)
I appreciate the tip. I hope to avoid getting stung, but I should be prepared.
I almost forgot. There is good news about the ticks.
You and your wife will need to perform regular and thorough tick checks. They can get anywhere, Many places you can’t see.
IYKWIMAITYD. Wink wink, nudge nudge
There’s always a silver lining …
Guineas are fun birds! They are a little noisy, but their general daytime sound is just a kind of bubbly chirpy background sound. They are great watchdogs though, when a stranger walks up or a hawk gets too close they squack and gabble like mad.
You’ll want to watch out for possum and raccoons around your chickens, they have a taste for poultry and are not shy about trespassing on human territory. The dogs may help with that as they get bigger, but an adult critter of either variety can ruin any dog’s day.
Have you considered honeybees or does your wasp paranoia affect everything that buzzes? Fresh honey is fabulous, and bees are needed for pollination of a lot of fruits and vegetables.
I’m not crazy about stinging insects of any kind. Since I don’t eat honey, I don’t see a reason to mess with beehives.
I get wasps around the house. When I find a nest, I use a spray bottle filled with gasoline. Spritz them once or twice and they drop like a rock and the nest literally melts.
I have to ask: why wear gloves when you handle the chickens?
I was wearing gloves when we hoisted the trough (which has some rough edges) into the van, then kept them on.
RE: Mice and other infestations
Hey Tom, I’ve lived in the country in Indiana for several years, and we found that infestations would wax and wane by year, as well as sporting “featured” infestations. For example, one year our “featured” infestation was millipedes. They covered the road outside our house and loved to creep into the bathroom. It was a plague of millipedes. Another year’s featured infestation was fox snakes. I found one in the house (my Mom was NOT happy, but I thought it was hilarious) and relocated four others that were found close to the house outside. Mouse populations were down that year. Another year was mice. They were so thick I actually cornered one and caught it in a bucket, which I drove down to the neighbor’s house to release. 🙂
Also, friendly note, a plague of rabbits may be cute, but they bring a lot of fleas, mites and ticks up near the house, so don’t feel bad about shooting them if they get too close. It saves a lot of trouble later. They also attract foxes and coyotes, which will be a problem to your poultry.
Good luck at living in the country, and don’t get too worked up by infestations. They’ll probably come and go without too much help from you, and there’s not much that can be done about it anyway. Just remember to mow around the house, that helps dissuade most critters. And the dogs will help.
I think this may be the year of the wasp.
Ah, welcome to country life. We’ve had mice, bats, scorpions (including one in my kitchen light fixture), a tarantula in the bathtub (can’t figure out that happened), frogs, and snakes — and that’s just in the house.
We find that we have “the year of..” as in “the year of the ticks,” “the year of the grasshoppers,” “the year of the earwigs” (that was particularly nasty), etc.
Be sure to check around the dogs’ necks –that’s where those ticks love to hide.
SCORPIONS?!! Okay, that would definitely lead to another “scream like a girl” incident.
If you haven’t already, have a look at the Dog Whisperer, to ensure that the whole family know about pack animals and how to control the dogs in a calm and assertive way:
http://www.cesarsway.com/training/thewalk/6-Tips-for-Mastering-the-Dog-Walk
Hi Tom
Wasps, as long as they are not in/near your house, are good – they feed insects (things like caterpillars that will be munching on Chareva’s garden) to their babies. And birds eat them and feed them to their babies.
Ticks like long grass, so keep it short where you walk. And tuck your pant legs into your boots. But leave some areas long and natural for all the native bees, so you get good pollination. Honey bees don’t do all the work.
And have fun. We had a warm spell and are now back to freezing nights. No gardening yet.
We had a hot spell (80+ degrees) for a couple of weeks, which is when the wasps showed up. Now we’re back to cooler temperatures, and I’m glad for that. I want some spring before my summer.
I only freak out about the wasps when they take up residence in the house or barn. They can hunt in the fields all they want and I won’t mind.
Congratulations to you and your family. Looks like a beautiful way to learn (and teach). Has Chareva ever heard of Joel Salatin from Polyface farms? That guy is a farming genius who uses genius methods for dealing with poop. Any cows in your future?
Be patient with the Ameraucanas… my farmer grows them and we have to wait and wait and wait for those beautiful eggs. We blow them out, scramble the insides, and save the shells.
Chareva read one of Salatin’s books and watches his videos online. She’s a big fan.
We may eventually get the small breed of cow that puts out about a gallon of milk per day.
Tom,
Your place sounds (and looks!) lovely. The girls will have a great time growing up there. We have a similar set up, though not quite as rural. The chickens will help LOTS with the bugs, but I, too, suggest a cat. Ours is outside only, (no cat pan to clean, yay!) and she keeps down the mice that are attracted to the chicken feed. Even though she stays outside, even the mice we suspected were inside packed up and left when she arrived. She and the dogs have been taught to leave the chickens alone, which didn’t take too long. Wasps are little terrorists, and deserve a quick death. FYI-if you do happen to get stung, a great treatment is just a dab of mud on the bite. The coolness helps the sting, and as it dries it seems to draw the poison out. And it’s usually pretty handy, so you don’t have to go into the house for salve if you’re outside working. I do agree, though, the best defense is a good offense! Here’s hoping you never need the mud, but if you do, it works great (and is free!)
We’ve seen a cat on our land several times. I don’t know if it belongs to anyone or not. It may be ours now, like it or not.
“adopt out adult cats, … every farm needs a cat.”
Alas, you’d need an adult cat who had been raised OUT of a love for that yummy fresh fowl!! It might just be bad karma to bring a genetically programmed bird killer onto a farm with birds. But kittens? Yeah, fer shure, you need a coupla kittens… Raise ’em with the guineas and they may turn out not to eat YOUR birds… (Or not.) AND the doggies will grow up loving ’em too.
(Dja ever guess you’d be Noah?)
No, the Noah experience was unexpected.
Having a mouse problem in my house, usually starting in October, I think the best trap to use is the Victor Quick Set type.
http://www.victorpest.com/advice/all-about/victor-traps
No affiliation with them at all, but, if baited properly they are less likely to smack the guts out of the mouse. They still snap and kill them and as there name suggests they are quick and easy to set. I bait them with peanut butter and check them once a day. They are less likely to squish the goo out of the mouse, and can be baited and reused. I always wear gloves when handling of course, and emptying the trap is like opening a clothespin. Re-bait if necessary, and it’s back to work.
Peanut butter definitely seems to draw them to the traps. Our traps look like those, might even be that brand. So far our traps haven’t led to any gooey kills.
Not to be a fear-monger, but keep a close watch on everyone until you get those ticks under control. I got Lyme while living in Tennessee and it is NOT fun, but, as Bruce suggested, the nightly skin check itself CAN be fun.
We’re going for nightly naked-body checks.
Guineas will definitely make a dent in your insect population. 🙂 They will also double as watchdogs. Nothing is noisier than a guinea. My neighbor has about 30 free range guineas that spend most of their waking hours in MY yard. They will make nests inside, outside, in flower beds, anywhere they can find a peaceful spot to lay their eggs. Eggs are small, but tasty. The shells are extremely hard. You can chunk a guinea egg out in your pasture and will bounce. Should you want to try them, the guineas themselves are quite tasty. Especially cooked in a nice sauce. Just sayin’ — if you get tired of the noise.
Hmmm … maybe I can use those guinea eggs for golf balls?
Oh, btw. We crumple up some large brown paper bags in the approximate shape of a hornet’s nest and hang them in our barn and shop. The wasps seem to avoid them as if the hornets are predators. Works pretty well for us.
Cool idea, but I’m afraid our wasps would take up residence in the bags.
Robster9, I can only wish to have seen these cars running around the tracks. You’re a lucky man. The most memorable motor racing event I have seen was seeing the great Fangio driving his huge Mercedes around Sandown Raceway in Australia. It was only an exhibition, but great. Al Carley (Australia)
Gah, I hate wasps! Really, everything else you said is lost in the skin-crawling hatred of wasps. I got stung as a small child by a nest of wasps roughly the size of pterodactyls, and have never gotten over it. Advice for the inevitable sting: Get some plantain and make a salve with it. When you get stung, you cover the sting with the plantain salve and it will draw the poison out. Takes away the pain and swelling almost instantly. It’s great stuff.
If you’re not into the making of stuff, the best pre-made salve I’ve ever used is from the Bulk Herb Store here. (I hope I did the link right.)
I appreciate the tip. I hope to avoid getting stung, but I should be prepared.
I almost forgot. There is good news about the ticks.
You and your wife will need to perform regular and thorough tick checks. They can get anywhere, Many places you can’t see.
IYKWIMAITYD. Wink wink, nudge nudge
There’s always a silver lining …
Guineas are fun birds! They are a little noisy, but their general daytime sound is just a kind of bubbly chirpy background sound. They are great watchdogs though, when a stranger walks up or a hawk gets too close they squack and gabble like mad.
You’ll want to watch out for possum and raccoons around your chickens, they have a taste for poultry and are not shy about trespassing on human territory. The dogs may help with that as they get bigger, but an adult critter of either variety can ruin any dog’s day.
Have you considered honeybees or does your wasp paranoia affect everything that buzzes? Fresh honey is fabulous, and bees are needed for pollination of a lot of fruits and vegetables.
I’m not crazy about stinging insects of any kind. Since I don’t eat honey, I don’t see a reason to mess with beehives.
I get wasps around the house. When I find a nest, I use a spray bottle filled with gasoline. Spritz them once or twice and they drop like a rock and the nest literally melts.
I have to ask: why wear gloves when you handle the chickens?
I was wearing gloves when we hoisted the trough (which has some rough edges) into the van, then kept them on.
See one mouse, dozens of others are nearby. Traps probably won’t do the job, at least not at first. And then, with a cat, the mice won’t have the chance to be in the cupboard.
I suspect that there is a wasp nest still near or in the house. Some get huge, too, so you don’t recognize what you’re looking at. Time for the propane flame thrower.
I’ll use whatever weapons are necessary.
RE: Mice and other infestations
Hey Tom, I’ve lived in the country in Indiana for several years, and we found that infestations would wax and wane by year, as well as sporting “featured” infestations. For example, one year our “featured” infestation was millipedes. They covered the road outside our house and loved to creep into the bathroom. It was a plague of millipedes. Another year’s featured infestation was fox snakes. I found one in the house (my Mom was NOT happy, but I thought it was hilarious) and relocated four others that were found close to the house outside. Mouse populations were down that year. Another year was mice. They were so thick I actually cornered one and caught it in a bucket, which I drove down to the neighbor’s house to release. 🙂
Also, friendly note, a plague of rabbits may be cute, but they bring a lot of fleas, mites and ticks up near the house, so don’t feel bad about shooting them if they get too close. It saves a lot of trouble later. They also attract foxes and coyotes, which will be a problem to your poultry.
Good luck at living in the country, and don’t get too worked up by infestations. They’ll probably come and go without too much help from you, and there’s not much that can be done about it anyway. Just remember to mow around the house, that helps dissuade most critters. And the dogs will help.
I think this may be the year of the wasp.
Welcome to the south my friend. I dragged my wife to the north Atlanta area 10 years ago from San Diego and it was a bit of a shocker sharing your living space with so many other species! They really don’t care that its YOUR house…and as I always say…they don’t eat much…
I realize the critters come with the lush, green countryside I love around here, so I’ll take the good with the bad. Except for the wasps. They have to go.
I know, you wouldn’t be able to understand me, but I kept wasps as pets when I was a child. They never attacked me, even though I sometimes touched their backs with my finger while they were doing household duties in their nest which I kept in a jar, but they tried to get my aunt who hated them. Probably we smell differently in different moods and insects are sensitive enough to distinguish it.
The easiest way to eliminate a nest while not to be bitten is doing it in a dark and using a garden vacuum cleaner, then placing a vacuum bag in a freezer. I use a regular vacuum cleaner a lot for the disposal of unwanted insects.
You’re right. I can’t understand anyone keeping a wasp as a pet. You must have some kind of Dr. Doolittle thing going on.
Ah, welcome to country life. We’ve had mice, bats, scorpions (including one in my kitchen light fixture), a tarantula in the bathtub (can’t figure out that happened), frogs, and snakes — and that’s just in the house.
We find that we have “the year of..” as in “the year of the ticks,” “the year of the grasshoppers,” “the year of the earwigs” (that was particularly nasty), etc.
Be sure to check around the dogs’ necks –that’s where those ticks love to hide.
SCORPIONS?!! Okay, that would definitely lead to another “scream like a girl” incident.
Congratulations to you and your family. Looks like a beautiful way to learn (and teach). Has Chareva ever heard of Joel Salatin from Polyface farms? That guy is a farming genius who uses genius methods for dealing with poop. Any cows in your future?
Be patient with the Ameraucanas… my farmer grows them and we have to wait and wait and wait for those beautiful eggs. We blow them out, scramble the insides, and save the shells.
Chareva read one of Salatin’s books and watches his videos online. She’s a big fan.
We may eventually get the small breed of cow that puts out about a gallon of milk per day.
Tom,
Your place sounds (and looks!) lovely. The girls will have a great time growing up there. We have a similar set up, though not quite as rural. The chickens will help LOTS with the bugs, but I, too, suggest a cat. Ours is outside only, (no cat pan to clean, yay!) and she keeps down the mice that are attracted to the chicken feed. Even though she stays outside, even the mice we suspected were inside packed up and left when she arrived. She and the dogs have been taught to leave the chickens alone, which didn’t take too long. Wasps are little terrorists, and deserve a quick death. FYI-if you do happen to get stung, a great treatment is just a dab of mud on the bite. The coolness helps the sting, and as it dries it seems to draw the poison out. And it’s usually pretty handy, so you don’t have to go into the house for salve if you’re outside working. I do agree, though, the best defense is a good offense! Here’s hoping you never need the mud, but if you do, it works great (and is free!)
We’ve seen a cat on our land several times. I don’t know if it belongs to anyone or not. It may be ours now, like it or not.
While I am a city girl at heart, I love reading about your farm adventures! And give me a buzz before you have your first paleo fried chicken dinner, I’ll bring the bacon-wrapped shrimp for an appetizer 🙂
2 things:
1. I’m going to disagree with you about the cat thing. I didn’t used to be a cat person (and I’m still not strictly a cat person). I started volunteering with the local humane society and adopted two cats (accidentally). Point being, they are amazing and they add a lot to my quality of life. I agree about adopting older cats (although kittens are awesome, too) and training them just like you train a dog. My cats sit on command, they dance for treats and they fetch. And they are awesome cuddlers and very self sufficient when I’m gone. Also, they love raw chicken.
2. I just had a Tom Naughton marathon this weekend and it rocked. Thanks for keeping the amazing work coming and really being an inspiration. When I am bikini ready (read: two or three years from now), I will meet you on the low-carb cruise (and hopefully Chareva, too!) for a plate of crab legs dipped in real butter.
Don’t wait to be bikini-ready before coming along for the cruise. Plenty of us aren’t. (Not that I’d wear a bikini anyway.)
Not to be a fear-monger, but keep a close watch on everyone until you get those ticks under control. I got Lyme while living in Tennessee and it is NOT fun, but, as Bruce suggested, the nightly skin check itself CAN be fun.
We’re going for nightly naked-body checks.
Guineas will definitely make a dent in your insect population. 🙂 They will also double as watchdogs. Nothing is noisier than a guinea. My neighbor has about 30 free range guineas that spend most of their waking hours in MY yard. They will make nests inside, outside, in flower beds, anywhere they can find a peaceful spot to lay their eggs. Eggs are small, but tasty. The shells are extremely hard. You can chunk a guinea egg out in your pasture and will bounce. Should you want to try them, the guineas themselves are quite tasty. Especially cooked in a nice sauce. Just sayin’ — if you get tired of the noise.
Hmmm … maybe I can use those guinea eggs for golf balls?
Oh, btw. We crumple up some large brown paper bags in the approximate shape of a hornet’s nest and hang them in our barn and shop. The wasps seem to avoid them as if the hornets are predators. Works pretty well for us.
Cool idea, but I’m afraid our wasps would take up residence in the bags.
See one mouse, dozens of others are nearby. Traps probably won’t do the job, at least not at first. And then, with a cat, the mice won’t have the chance to be in the cupboard.
I suspect that there is a wasp nest still near or in the house. Some get huge, too, so you don’t recognize what you’re looking at. Time for the propane flame thrower.
I’ll use whatever weapons are necessary.
Welcome to the south my friend. I dragged my wife to the north Atlanta area 10 years ago from San Diego and it was a bit of a shocker sharing your living space with so many other species! They really don’t care that its YOUR house…and as I always say…they don’t eat much…
I realize the critters come with the lush, green countryside I love around here, so I’ll take the good with the bad. Except for the wasps. They have to go.
I know, you wouldn’t be able to understand me, but I kept wasps as pets when I was a child. They never attacked me, even though I sometimes touched their backs with my finger while they were doing household duties in their nest which I kept in a jar, but they tried to get my aunt who hated them. Probably we smell differently in different moods and insects are sensitive enough to distinguish it.
The easiest way to eliminate a nest while not to be bitten is doing it in a dark and using a garden vacuum cleaner, then placing a vacuum bag in a freezer. I use a regular vacuum cleaner a lot for the disposal of unwanted insects.
You’re right. I can’t understand anyone keeping a wasp as a pet. You must have some kind of Dr. Doolittle thing going on.
I’m really enjoying the updates on the farm – how exciting for your girls! I admire Chareva’s hard work and effort on making her dream come true. Good luck on all the new “good” critters.
Oh, and I hate, hate, HATE wasps too! We get a service to come out and spray twice a year for wasps and box elder bugs. It’s worth every penny…and the one thing I don’t mind using harsh chemicals to eradicate!
I have problem opting for chemical warfare when it comes to wasps. I haven’t been stung on the farm yet, but a couple of people working on the house were.
While I am a city girl at heart, I love reading about your farm adventures! And give me a buzz before you have your first paleo fried chicken dinner, I’ll bring the bacon-wrapped shrimp for an appetizer 🙂
2 things:
1. I’m going to disagree with you about the cat thing. I didn’t used to be a cat person (and I’m still not strictly a cat person). I started volunteering with the local humane society and adopted two cats (accidentally). Point being, they are amazing and they add a lot to my quality of life. I agree about adopting older cats (although kittens are awesome, too) and training them just like you train a dog. My cats sit on command, they dance for treats and they fetch. And they are awesome cuddlers and very self sufficient when I’m gone. Also, they love raw chicken.
2. I just had a Tom Naughton marathon this weekend and it rocked. Thanks for keeping the amazing work coming and really being an inspiration. When I am bikini ready (read: two or three years from now), I will meet you on the low-carb cruise (and hopefully Chareva, too!) for a plate of crab legs dipped in real butter.
Don’t wait to be bikini-ready before coming along for the cruise. Plenty of us aren’t. (Not that I’d wear a bikini anyway.)
I appreciate the tip. I hope to avoid getting stung, but I should be prepared.
Well, nobody WANTS to get stung. I was also thinking of your girls, those stings are just AWFUL and since wasps don’t lose their stinger when they get you, they can hit you over and over. Talk about misery.
I re-read your post so I can get past the whole AH! WASPS! issue. You might want to get a cat once the dogs are a little older, just to help with the mouse problem. A couple of cats on the farm are generally a good idea. Maybe one in the house and one in the barn, once you get it going.
Y’all are making a lot of progress! Just be careful to avoid homesteader burnout. Backwoods Home Magazine has a great article on that by a veteran homesteader. You are also making me jealous. We’re thoroughly upside down on our mortgage and living in Suburbia where I can’t even keep ONE chicken, let alone ten. I shall just have to continue to live vicariously through you and the other country living folks whose blogs I read.
When I got stung on the top off my arse in grade school, the teacher spent a few minutes examining my hindquarters, trying to find the stinger. Apparently she didn’t know wasps don’t leave their stingers behind. It’s one of the reasons I loathe them. At least if a bee stings you, it’s committing suicide.
I got one of these
http://www.amazon.com/Rescue-WHYTR-BB8-Hornets-Yellow-Jackets/dp/B001H1GRPI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1332894920&sr=8-3
and the usual infestation of wasps did not happen last year. I highly recommend it.
Hold still honey … still looking … stiiiillllll looking …
Oh, and instead of a small cow have you thought about a goat? Mmmm, feta.
A goat is a possibility too, although I’ve heard they’ll chew up anything they can reach.