Animals - Identifying from Droppings
Many is the time I've seen animal droppings and wondered about their source.

Was it a raccoon, possum or dog that wand more...

Ant - Indoor Control
My friends Lisa and Laura are gourmet cooks. Their kitchens always contain the beginnings of (or the remains of) a feast for more...

Ants - Control in the House
Ants are a nuisance more than a threat to your family. But whether it's a solitary searcher scouting for food or a line march more...

Aphids - Control
If you want to become an aphid expert, early summer is the best time to easily find them in your landscape. The tips of rose more...

Argiope - Spider ID
Remarkably large garden spiders are often seen in September. They are black with yellow markings on their underside and their more...

Army Worms - Insecticides
Fall armyworms are the caterpillar stage of a nondescript, small gray moth which overwinters in Florida and the tropics. Flor more...

Army Worms – Control
Fall armyworms are the caterpillar stage of a nondescript, small gray moth which overwinters in Florida and the tropics. Flor more...

Asian Ambrosia Beetle
A new pest of woody shrubs and trees has appeared in the Atlanta area. Ambrosia beetles bore into limbs and inoculate the woo more...

Asian Ambrosia Beetle - Control
I wrote in 2001 about my travails with a flowering cherry tree in my back yard. It was a large one and my wife had noticed th more...

Asian Ambrosia Beetle - Scientific Research (easy to understand)
Scientific papers are usually mind-numbing. However, we have to know LOTS more about the Asian mbrosia beetle (AAB) before we more...

Avoiding Stings
Dr. Paul Guillebeau is a writer, father and professional entomologist. Here are his thoughts on how to avoid stinging insects more...

Azalea Lacebug - Control
You may have seen the damage lace bugs do to azaleas without knowing who did the dirty deed. Lace bugs suck the juice out of more...

Bagworm
Junipers, Leyland cypress and cedar trees can be skeletonized in August by bagworms. Examination of a rapidly disappearing sh more...

Bagworm
My colleague Newton Hogg used to say “When I can see their damage at 50 miles per hour, I KNOW someone has a serious problem more...

Bat - Control
The old-time farmers who sat on the rickety straw-bottomed chairs in front of Paul Lamb’s General Store called it “gu-ann-er” more...

Beautyberry - Mosquito Repellent
Many are the plants and plant oils that are reputed to repel insects! From the citrosa geranium to the lemongrass plant, ther more...

Bees - Removing from a Wall
When I moved into my home in 1990, one of my first neighborhood friends was delighted to learn that I worked for the Extensio more...

Birds - Attracting
To attract birds at any time of the year, select plants that provide nectar, fruits, berries or nuts. There are many trees a more...

Biting Midge (No-See-Um)
Atlantans may be bothered by fire ants, mosquitoes, chiggers and ticks....but there is at least one biting creatuure we don't more...

Bluebird - Placing Houses
The first scouts of our bluebird population arrive in early spring. If you have a wide expanse of grassy land, free of trees more...

Butterfly Puddle - Building
Butterflies love the nectar from flowering plants but they also need minerals and salts for their diet. One of the easiest wa more...

Camellia - Cranberry Rootworm
When a gardening friend first described the damage to her camellias on Sea Island, I thought the holes in the leaves must be more...

Carpenter Bee - Identification
S. M. e-mailed to ask what is the difference between a carpenter bee and a bumble bee. Since I am not a trained entomologist, more...

Carpenter Bee Control - Bert's Method
Carpenter bees are a most annoying spring nuisance. They hover around decks and gutters and bore holes in exposed wood surfac more...

Carpenter Bees
Carpenter bees are frequently seen throughout Georgia in late spring and early summer. They resemble bumble bees and can dam more...

Cat - Control
Cats digging in a flower bed can be a confounding problem. There are no repellents that are really effective. When I offered more...

Chameleon - Feeding
I had an interesting call this week - a fellow who raises chameleons needed to know how to culture fruit flies to feed to the more...

Chigger - Control
"There was a little chigger and he wasn't any bigger than the head of a very small pin.

But the bump that he raise more...

Chimney Swift - in Chimney
A chorus of shrill "cheeps" coming from the fireplace chimney in May does not signify bats. Bats almost never live in chimney more...

Christmas Tree Insects
You get the Christmas tree home, take it inside, string the decorations....and suddenly discover critters among the ne more...

Cicada
When a new baby was introduced into my rural Georgia community, my mother would be one of the first visitors. “That’s such a more...

Cicada - Emerging from Shell
You've probably seen their shells stuck to pine tree bark.....and wondered if small aliens had landed!

The brown thin more...

Cicada Killer Wasp
The cicada killer wasp (or digger wasp) is about l 1/2 inches long and has yellow markings on its body. The wasp digs burrow more...

Cluster Fly
You’ve seen them...I’ve seen them. Big flies that appear out of nowhere inside your house.

I didn’t know what they wer more...

Crayfish - Control
There are about 100 species of crayfish in North America. Most are strictly aquatic but a few live in non-permanent water or more...

Deer - Control
In another article, I listed plants that are least appetizing to deer and suggested that they make good choices when living i more...

Deer - Repel with Baby Formula
In a strange but promising study published last year in the journal HortScience, Bruce Kimball and others at the National Wil more...

Deer and Rabbit Control - Using Plantskydd
"I heard you mention the product Plantskydd repellant on your Saturday broadcast a week or two ago. Here is a rosarian's expe more...

Deer Control - Resistant Plants
In 2002, Charles Seabrook wrote a very helpful article in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution on native plants that produce more...

Deer Control - Using a Scarecrow Device
From a local rose grower.

"We have a large lot (1 1/2 acres, more than 200 roses). We have seen as many as nine deer a more...

Deer Repellent - One Gardener's Experiences
Deer can cause a LOT of damage to a landscape in winter. With their normal green food gone, your shrubbery and pansies look p more...

Deer Repellents - Scientific Research
There are many repellents for deer; some are sold commercially and some are concocted by homeowners.

I found two artic more...

Diagnosing Holes in the Yard
Sometimes many heads are better than one when it comes to solving a problem. Wade Hutcheson, my Extension colleague in Spaldi more...

Dog - Eats Cicada Skin
Here's an odd note from a dedicated gardener and animal lover:

"Not only are the discarded skins of cicadas a delight more...

Dogs - Landscaping for
If you have a dog or dogs, you know the damage they can do to a landscape. Whether digging under shrubs or pounding out a dir more...

Earthworms – ID Mounds
We're all familiar with "red wigglers" but indeed several species of earthworms inhabit the underground. They are quite benef more...

Egg Candler - Building
If you're incubating eggs...or just want to determine how fresh an egg is, a candler is a useful tool.

Farmers once u more...

Eggs - How They Are Made
You look at an egg and wonder.....just how did this get made inside a chicken?

And how exactly does a baby chick get more...

Eggs - Incubating
One of the most memorable experiences I had as a young teenager was attending the Poultry Embryology class at Rock Eagle 4-H more...

Ermine Moth Caterpillar Webs on the Web
DOUBLE YUCK!!!!

When a friend sent me a link to pictures of moth caterpillar webs I could not believe my eyes.
more...

Fall Webworm
The large webs of the fall webworm begin to appear in July - August on pecan, oak and other landscape trees. This caterpillar more...

Fipronil - Effect on Native Ants
In solving garden problems, I am often reminded that applying pesticides can affect non-target creatures as well as the pest more...

Fire Ant - Control
Fire ants can be a real problem in home lawns. While they do not directly affect the grass, they can cause damage to mowers more...

Fire Ant - Control Organically
Fighting fire ants is tough enough...but doing it organically is even tougher.

Dr Bart Drees, at the Texas Imported Fi more...

Fire Ant Control - Comparison of Cost and Effectiveness
If your math skills are as rusty as mine, this link from Auburn compares the cost of fire ant control products for homeowners more...

Fire Ant Control - Even Faster!
You've heard about the Georgi more...

Fire Ant Control - Grits
There is much to be learned “over the fence” when you’re gardening. Your friends and neighbors can tell you how their plants more...

Fire Ants - Control With Club Soda
My friend Eddie Rhoades is a unique individual...and more...

Flea - General Control
Great fleas have little fleas
Upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas,
And so ad infinit more...

Ground bee
We’re all familiar with honeybees that live in colonies but ground bees prefer the solitary life. They nest in burrows in the more...

Grub Control - Poor Results in Spring
We do a lot of dirt digging in spring and sometimes discover white grubs in the soil. The grubs are immature beetles (Japanes more...

Hemlock Adelgid
Note from entomologist Keith Douce:

"This insect is indeed a major concern to anyone who has hemlocks. As far as I kno more...

Hemlock Wooly Adelgid - Donate
The State of Georgia desperately needs your help. As you have probably heard, the hemlock trees in North Georgia are now unde more...

Homeowner Q&A about Pine Beetles
The following was written by Terry Price, Georgia Forestry Commission.

How do I know if my trees are currently infe more...

Hornet - Control
It is startling to pass by a shrub or small tree in the yard and suddenly notice a gray, football-shaped hornet nest hanging more...

Hornworms - Determining Difference

Taken from Hornworms and “Hummingbird” Moths< more...

How to Handle Dead Birds
With all of the news about Bird Flu and West Nile Virus, it's easy to become concerned when you see a dead bird.

Could more...

Identifying Insects and Animals
My neighbor Chrissy has taught me more about the insects that live in my neighborhood than any adult possibly could have. Eve more...

Insect Stings - Severity
Although a velvet ant sting can make you whoop and holler, it is actually less powerful than other common insects. A research more...

Insects – On Patio Plants
Porch and patio plants can carry aphids and spider mites when you bring them inside each fall. First, examine the underside o more...

Japanese Beetle
Each summer promises to be a banner season for Japanese beetles. The coppery-green beetles hatch in the lawn in June each yea more...

Japanese Beetles - Control Options
Each summer promises to be a banner season for Japanese beetles. The coppery-green beetles hatch in the lawn in June each yea more...

Japanese Beetles – Employment for Son
Few things are more disheartening than finding three little Japanese beetle bottoms sticking merrily in the air as they munch more...

Lady Beetle (Ladybug) - Traps
One ladybug is a curiosity. Four ladybugs are beneficial insects. But hundreds of ladybugs are a downright nuisance!

more...

Lady Beetles - Do They Bite?
I love a scientist who takes hhis work seriously.

Seriously enough to offer his own hand to lady beetles to find defin more...

Lawn Insects - Soap Flush
Lawn insects can be hard to find, especially when young.

One way to detect them is to use a soap flush.

Mix 4 more...

Love Bugs
Who can forget traveling in south Georgia or Florida and finding the front of the car covered with mating "love bugs"? Adult more...

Mealybug - Control
Mealybugs can attack several kinds of houseplant. Mealybugs look like small white, cottony masses usually at the joint betwee more...

Millipede - Control
Spring rains often bring creatures which are not seen at other times of the year. The millipede is one of those cyclical pe more...

Milorganite for Repelling Deer
Numerous are the products that claim to repel deer from your garden!

While many of them may deter deer temporarily, f more...

Mole - Control
Moles live underground and seldom venture out of their burrows. They are most active in the early morning and late evening ho more...

Mole Control - Castor Oil
Moles can be a real bother in a lawn. Many times the best control option is to mash down their tunnels with your shoe and for more...

Mosquito - Ultrasonic Repellers
taken from HortIdeas

High-Frequency Mosquito more...

Mosquito Control - Advice from the Experts
When it comes to mosquito control, over-the-fence advice is not good enough. Even though Uncle Mardy chewed garlic every day more...

Mosquito Control - Automatic Misting Systems
Mosquito control can be a maddening exercise. No matter how hard we try, it seems nothing can stop their appearance on summer more...

Mosquito Control - Health Effects from City Foggers
Mosquitoes are more than a summer nuisance. They can spread serious disease to humans and animals. However, people are justif more...

Mosquito Control - Walter's Thoughts
Summer rains can cause a population explosion of mosquitoes! Two kinds of mosquitoes are commonly seen (and felt!): the "swam more...

Mosquito Traps - Comments
When I asked subscribers to my "Georgia Gardener" e-mail newsletter for their experiences with propane-powered mosquito I exp more...

Mosquito Traps - Univ. of Florida Report on CO2 type
UF/IFAS News Release May 19, 2005
Carbon Dioxide Mosquito Traps No Magic Bullet, Say University of Florida Experts
< more...

Mosquito – Control
Mosquitoes generate the most ire of any of the summer insects. We can tolerate insects that nibble leaves and disfigure fruit more...

Moth Control - Cedar Closets
At public gatherings on the first cool nights of winter, the scent of mothballs from stored winter clothing can be suffocatin more...

Moths - Control
Few things are more disappointing than donning an expensive wool sweater, only to find that moths have been snacking on the t more...

No BS! Free HS! - Getting Horse Manure for your Garden
Gardeners have used animal manure for thousands of years to add nutrients and organic matter to their gardens.

In metr more...

Nuisance Animals - Controlling
Controlling nuisance animals can be a frustrating business. They often seem smarter than any educated human hopes to be - elu more...

Orange-striped Oak Worm
"Here today - gone tomorrow" is an apt description of oak tree branches having a population of orange striped oak worms. Thes more...

Palmetto Bug (Roach) - Control
We have noticed palmetto bugs (a.k.a. large brown roaches about two inches long) in vast numbers all over our driveway. My da more...

Pansies – Something Eating Leaves
A skill that gardeners could practice more often is observational horticulture. Sometimes you learn more from just looking ar more...

Pine Beetles - Diagnosis and Control
Several kinds of beetles ferociously attack drought-weakened pine trees in summer. The Southern pine beetle is the most feare more...

Plant Hoppers - Roosting on Stems
The fuzzy white powder covering the upper stems of hosta, azalea and many other landscape plants looks just like a fungus. Po more...

Poisonous Plants - Pets
Poisonous plants in the landscape often concern pet owners. Puppies love to chew - and if they chew the wrong thing for long more...

Pollinators - Housing For
Many landscape plants depend on bees and other insects to move pollen from flower to flower. The insects don’t realize they a more...

Pollinators - Plants for
Many landscape plants depend on bees and other insects to move pollen from flower to flower. The insects don’t realize they a more...

Rat and Mouse - In the House
"We keep a clean house! Why are these mice coming to visit US?!" Jeff Jackson, Extension Wildlife Specialist, says this quest more...

Saddleback Caterpillars
Saddleback caterpillars are one to one and a half inches long. They are distinguished by the large brown spot or "saddle" in more...

Scale
Scale insects range from pinhead size to a quarter-inch in diameter. In general, they are easy to scrape from a twig or leaf. more...

Screech Owl Box
Owls are excellent predators in a small landscape. They capture voles, mice and small snakes. It’s easy to build a box for a more...

Skunk - Odor removal
A chemist in Illinois believes he has discovered a way to obliterate one of the most noxious odors known to humans: skunk. Pa more...

Slug and Snail - Control
I found #133 under the clothes dryer recently. Unfortunately, I didn’t find #133 alive. Only his previous home was back there more...

Snake - Control
Almost all of us have seen a snake in the out of doors. Most people have an immediate urge to kill the snake without determin more...

Snake - Trapping
Rarely, snakes are seen inside a basement or garage or laundry room. How can they be trapped? The best way is to employ the l more...

Southern Pine Beetle
When I was a boy, one of my favorite pastimes was to stack up several soup cans, walk a few paces away, then throw rocks at t more...

Southern Pine Beetle - Links
Following are Internet links to information about the Southern pine beetle:

more...

Spider Mites - Control
Spider mites are difficult to control in the landscape. Symptoms include twisted foliage, "speckled" leaves and tiny webs bet more...

Squash Vine Borer
It's not the "heartbreak of psoriasis" but it's close.....the heartbreak of squash vine borers. You may have a huge zucchini more...

Squirrel - Control
Squirrels present us with one of the most vexing wildlife control problems. The noise they make in an attic can be unnerving more...

Sweet Flag (Acorus) - Scale
Former Extension agent Christi Heidt reports an unusual problem: scale insects on acorus (variegated sweet flag). As far as I more...

Tadpole Identification, Frog Calls
My Rockdale county Extension friend Jule-Lynn Macie says

"In 19 years I've never been asked to identify a tadpole, bu more...

Tent Caterpillar - Control
Even at the posted speed limit along I-285 and Memorial Drive, the webs are obvious to the eye. Tent caterpillars in the wild more...

Tent Caterpillar Wine
If you have tent caterpillars in your cherry trees, the tents and crawly worms are enough for some folks. Taking the “yuck fa more...

Tent Caterpillars
Tent caterpillars in the wild black cherry trees along the interstate have begun building their homes in the limbs. Like mos more...

Termite - Identification
Termites and ants are similar in that both have winged "reproductives." When you see a swarm, are they ants or termites?
more...

Termite - Inspections
Termite control can no longer depend on the injection of chemicals around your house. It is imperative that your house be ins more...

Termite Treatments - Comparing Costs
A RETREATMENT contract is the most frequently issued type of contract. It requires the pest control company to retrea more...

Termites - Spread Through Louisiana Mulch
The panicky emails about the potential spread of Formosan termites have been making the rounds since Hurricane Katrina hit Lo more...

Termites - What to do When Found
One of my earliest childhood memories is the discovery that termites had taken up housekeeping amongst the Reeves family. Whe more...

Termites – Control, Contracts
Dr. Beverly Sparks, Extension Service entomologist, has compiled a list of the most frequently-asked questions about termite more...

Ticks
The sight of a mosquito on your skin is annoying but not alarming. A quick slap and the bloodsucker is bound for parts unknow more...

To a Roach - A Poem
NURSERY RHYMES FOR THE
TENDER-HEARTED

(Dedicated to Don Marquis)

I more...

UGA Wildlife Publications
These publications are available from The University of Georgia.

more...

Ultrasonic - Pest Repelling Devices
It seems ingrained in the genes of mankind to invent ways accomplish a useful task while expending very little physical effor more...

Unseen Biting Bugs
When you have an itch, you scratch it...and you look for a likely cause. Perhaps it's poison ivy, maybe it's an ant bite or m more...

Whale - Not Good to Eat
I build my reputation on research-based advice received from recognized experts. Sometimes, though, those experts are moved t more...

White Grub - Control
It’s common to find one or two “C-shaped” white grubs when you dig the soil in spring. A grub is the immature form of a beetl more...

Whitefly
Whenever we have a cold winter gardeners wishfully hope that the cold will diminish the insects they’ll face the next year. W more...

Whitefly - Trap
Most pests are simple to kill. Mosquito siphoning your corpuscles? A quick slap dispatches it. Whiteflies on your tomato plan more...

Why Do Men Have Nipples?
Great thinkers, from Aristotle to Darwin, have pondered this question. Susan McCarthy at Salon.com has answers:

Why do more...

Wildlife - Attracting
Rick Hindman recently sent me an e-mail requesting information on attracting wildlife. It gave me a great opportunity to brus more...

Wildlife - Attracting with Fruit Trees
Rick Hindman recently sent me an e-mail requesting information on attracting wildlife. It gave me a great opportunity to brus more...

Wildlife - Attracting with Good Habitat
Last week I listed food plants that attract wildlife to a landscape. Persimmon, apple, plum and blueberry plants were high on more...

Yellow Jacket - Control With Glass Bowl
Yellow jackets can be a real pest in late summer and fall. They swarm out of the nest at the slightest provocation, looking t more...

Yellowjacket - Huge Nests
Giant yellowjacket nests???

Sounds like one of those horror movie scenarios doesn't it?

Nonetheless, folks in A more...

Yellowjacket - Summer Behavior
Yellowjackets are a common, yet misunderstood, insect of the South. Most folks only know about their attack behavior when a n more...

Yellowjackets - Control
Yellowjackets are extremely aggressive and will attack if their nest is threatened. When stung, an intruder is marked with a more...