Are battalions of bugs harvesting your house, feasting on your fabrics or gobbling your garden? When left alone, ants, aphids, termites and other bothersome bugs can wreak havoc. So here is the question: How do you get the bugs out--and keep them out? Generally speaking, opt for the least toxic method that will solve the problem. Considering that the more effective and powerful insecticides can be dangerous and their long-term effects to our bodies and environment are unknown, prudent avoidance is the best policy. Also, most chemical pesticides wipe out the good, the bad and the ugly bugs, which may ultimately cause some types of infestation problems to worsen. Here are a few helpful steps you can take: Caulk and seal. Your first line of defense against bugs in your house should be to block access routes. Armed with a caulking gun, seal up cracks and crannies where bugs might enter, including openings around pipes and heating ducts. Also weather-strip doors and windows. Fix and clean. Eliminate areas that encourage or foster termites and other insects, especially damp areas or places where drainage is poor. Repair any rotted wood. Be sure no parts of your house are in direct contact with the ground. Clean up and clear out areas that provide safe harbor for insects. Store food, liquids and garbage in sealed containers. Look for problems. Early detection can be half the battle. Most insects increase their numbers very quickly; obviously, getting them before they multiply lessens the needed actions and potential damage. If you suspect that termites or other house-eating bugs may be present in you home, don't wait for the problem to get worse. Though some termites take years to damage a house, others notably Formosan termites can devour tremendous amounts of wood in a matter of months. Professional inspection. With termites, your best bet is to call a pest inspector. Detecting the location and extent of termites and other bugs within the structure of a house is something of an art. Inspectors use a combination of probing, tapping, listening, and looking. Some may use fiber optic scopes that can peer inside a wall. Some even use dogs that can sniff out the presence of termites inside walls. After finding insect infestation, a good inspector will recommend one or more options for eradicating the bugs, and discuss the pros and cons of each. If you've caught the problem early, the solution may be relatively simple and inexpensive. Boric acid, a powder that's relatively safe to use indoors, will treat small, localized infestations of ants, silverfish, firebrats, fleas and cockroaches. Be sure to follow the label directions precisely. Chlorpyrifos, a chemical pesticide that's available in powdered (as well as liquid) form, will kill carpenter ants, powderpost beetles, carpet beetles and a variety of other insects listed on the label. A strong spray from a hose may be enough to dislodge aphids, whiteflies, mites or other plant-sucking insects. Insect soap spray, commercially-available, penetrates the waxy covering on many plant-sucking insects, suffocating them or attacking their nervous systems. Make your own by mixing 3 to 6 tablespoons of dishwashing soap with 1 gallon of water, but test for damage on part of a plant. Organic pesticides are necessary for killing stubborn infestations of plant-sucking insects or heartier plant chewers such as beetles or caterpillars. Deadly to bugs but considered safe for humans, these are not quite as effective or long-lasting as chemical pesticides; but they're safer to use. They generally must be re-applied every 7 to 10 days. Most of these are plant extracts deadly to bugs. The category includes pyrethrum, rotenone, sabadilla, BT (bacillus thuringiensis), neem and horticultural oils. Chemical pesticides are deeper into the hit list for plant, bug they're more powerful and longer lasting. The first choice in this category would be systemics that treat from the ground up (but don't use them around children or pets). The least toxic chemical pesticides are generally considered to include malathion, chlorpyrifos, diazinon and carbaryl (Sevin). Carbaryl will kill honeybees, so be careful with it.
DON GET RID OF THEM! the enrich the soil and have a major role to play in the natural world. they decompose the dead bodies of other organisms and dead plants. it then turns into compost, where then it becomes GREAT to plant plants in, due to the nutrients the soil has gained from the dead lifefourms. even if u r not an envoiornmentalist, and don't care aboue the earth, soil is connected to EVERYTHING! example: if u kill the earthworms, the soil wont be as nauturaly rich, so u put fertilifers on it. the soil is poor and the fertilizers mix with the soil, and because the soil is not healthey enought to stay in one place, it runs down hill until it reaches the lake. there, it settles and creates major problems to the city and environment it is in. it causes sediment and water pollution, and to get the sediment out, ( sediment is when soil runs downhill into a river and sits. this causes many other bad things to happen.) the city has to dredge it out, which costs thousand of dollars.
You be brave and pick them up and trow them outside.
stab it in the heart and buried it alive in the jungle in new zeland tell it to fly now and say goodbye so fly little eathworm goodbye
Potting mix does not kill earthworms.
Yes, because earthworms need wet soil to live. Also, the rocks will cut them.
Yes, chlorinated water kills earthworms. The worms in question must breathe through their outer layers. The "skin" needs to be kept moist, but waterlogged, with the consequence that too much of any water -- not just chlorinated -- will kill earthworms.
Yes, based on my own experience, seven dust kills earthworms.2nd Answerer says: I concur.
The waste matter from earthworms are nutritious for plants. Earthworms also keep soil loose when they dig and move around the soil. This helps roots and water penetrate through the soil easily. Earthworms are widely encouraged in organic vegetable gardening and are categorized as beneficial animals. It is also claimed that chemical fertilizers and pesticides kill off earthworms thus gardens loose the benefits that these worms bring.
no but roots can be damageable to them but they do not kill earthworms
Potting mix does not kill earthworms.
Take them to the animal shelter.
putting the dog to sleep
Humanely with a rifle or captive bolt.
Efixitiation by means of C02 generally works, another humanely way is to put it in a freezer to die slowly and asleep.
No, but it must be done humanely.
Yes, because earthworms need wet soil to live. Also, the rocks will cut them.
No, they don't. They don't kill any type of creature.
Nothing. Pet rabbits can only be euthanized (humanely killed) by a vet.
Iodized salt.
A ten dollar k-mart slingshot can humanely kill lizards birds,rabbits,snakes,and squirrel and housecats and small dogs