@evelyninthegarden @CorabethGodsey @Johannian @ardesia

I decided to start a pest thread so we can discuss our garden pests.
Rather if it's bugs, birds, or a furry muncher, what's bugging your garden or yard?

For me it's rabbits, wrens, mice, deer and various insects including fire ants.

Oh boy. You should have never started this thread. Now I'll be ranting all year long about the cursed pests!

For us, it's definitely rabbits and deer. Although, in the summer the grasshoppers get really bad. I read somewhere that the two worst species of grasshoppers in North America are actually in South Dakota. Lucky us. We have a dogwood, about nine feet tall and 3-4 feet wide. Last year, there wasn't a single leaf left on the bush after the grasshoppers were done with it. And I promise that this is not an exaggeration. It looked like the plant had gotten confused that it was winter, although it was in the middle of summer.

Right now we have a groundhog who has made it's den under the garden shed of the current house. The opening is right next to the steps going in and comes out the other side so it's not safe for me to go in and out. The steps are just concrete blocks and have gotten uneven so the door catches on the blocks. In order to fix that I have to step down but with the hole for the den there I can't do anything. I need to get in there and start clearing out my stuff but I'm not gonna chance breaking a leg.

I think I can safely say I despise the grasshoppers more than I do any other critter. They were the ones who caused the most damage to my lovely little herbs.

Well, I definitely don't want this thread getting out of hand but I don't think it will. Imo it helps to vent about critters because others can sympathize.

Grasshoppers aren't a problem for us but there is a giant Bird Grassphopper that has done damage in the past. Bird hoppers are called so because they are large and fly long distances.

@pepper23 I hope you can rid yourself of that pesky groundhog! Can you try trapping and relocating the critter?

No trapping and relocating out here. Just have to catch her/him and shoot it. Scaring it won't work and if we plug the hole it will make another one on other side most likely.

pepper23 said: No trapping and relocating out here. Just have to catch her/him and shoot it. Scaring it won't work and if we plug the hole it will make another one on other side most likely.

Aww, well I do hope you can successfully capture it and dispose of it before an accident happens!

Give 'im a good one in the head for me, Amanda. Don't miss.

Groundhogs are the most destructive critter I've had. - their appetite and their digging.
There was the one I watched eating clover- I started swearing at, then 'she' turned and there was a baby next to her.
Voles can be bad. Rabbits are around but don't bother much. I do have a fenced veg garden. that is mostly effective. I think I have fewer voles since we had chickens for 3 years.
The micro critters give me more problems- various insects, slugs, etc.

Today my morning started off with those pesky wrens. They act like singing at the crack of dawn is vital to their existence because there was a mild storm going on out there and it wasn't stopping their stinking, shrill song. Other birds just aren't that persistent; they're smart. Wrens have a that type of persistence I do not admire. Especially after a poor night's sleep.

Nothing visible so far but the spotted lantern flies are due to hatch soon. I haven't found them doing much damage to the garden plants because what they like are trees but I do see the young 'uns climbing up and down the stalks and stems. We have a pretty serious infestation in the field next to the parking lot where I work. They've already killed one tree and their egg masses are large on several other trees. I sprayed the one I could reach with Brake Clean. Don't know if it'll work or not. The masses are flat against the tree until the weather gets warm enough for them to hatch. Then the flat greyish smears swell and that's when they begin their journey. The babies are black with white dots and they are an aggressive insect even at that stage.. My cats to a pretty good job of "lantern" control on the porch. Lots of dead bodies scattered around. A spray of vinegar kills them immediately. Yes I have the wrens too. They return every year to the bird house at the back of the garden. Yes They are noisy. And busy birds. In, out, in, out all day. They don't bother me though.

Ants that bite me, put pests all over the trees, attack if I try to pull weeds, kill potted plants, and bury the brick edgings of my flower beds.

Mosquitoes severely limit my time outside. I would be outside during all daylight hours if not for the stupid things. My yard would look a lot different.

Not to brag or anything, but we don't get mosquitoes in SD...although I guess they're replaced by the horrible grasshoppers.

Deer ticks even get me in the backyard, because mice are major hosts for some of their life cycle- but since having chickens, the ticks have been rare!
Yes to skeeters.

purpleinopp said: Ants that bite me,

Mosquitoes severely limit my time outside. I would be outside during all daylight hours if not for the stupid things. My yard would look a lot different.

Spray OFF! on you whenever you go out and or wear a long sleeve with pants. Don't let water sit anywhere and use mosquito dunks if you can. Do you have hummingbirds? I think they eat them.

Put up a bat house. Bats live on skeeters.

Thanks for all the advice, if its for me I know and do all that except using off with any regularity. Tell my neighbors about their water in odd dishes or whatever. Even a flower vase or drain pipe. My skeeters itch a bit but don't really bother me that much.

Yes there are hummers living somewhere nearby. Saw the first one of the season about a week ago, and daily since. There are all kinds of other birds, have a bat house, burn a lot of incense, thousands of spider webs everywhere, no standing water except a bird bath that I change too often for wigglers to mature into adults. Can't do anything about swampy areas nearby.

I have cans of bug spray by both doors, but I can't spend most days covered with OFF, unable to sit down for a minute inside. I don't want stinky greasy residue on my furniture. I spray it when I have several projects lined up, like on a Saturday, but when I'm trying to do laundry & house stuff in between short bursts of outside activity, it's not practical. It's too hot to wear much clothing outside (usually, not today) so it takes a lot of it to cover most of my body. I'm not sure it's harmless, and I don't put it on my hands and face. If I had an outlet outside, I could use a fan and spend more time porch sittin'.

Mosquitoes will bite 24/7 here. No time of day when they're not ready for a donation. I cherish the days when it's not too hot to wear long sleeves & pants but not too cold to go out at all. Most outside activities besides quickly watering pots, are limited to those days.