Pest prevention wasn’t much of a problem in Nevada.
Our biggest hazard was black widows. Carelessness meant painful bites and possibly antivenin. They crept in dark corners and under cabinets — essentially, anywhere we didn’t sweep often. Black widows also populated my hoop house and lived between my bale gardens. If they took up residence in my house, I removed them to protect my family and pets. But in my garden, I just watched where I placed my hands. All my spiders had names and jobs, especially during fly season.
Garden pests included squash bugs, earwigs, and tomato hornworms. Good soil meant roly-polies, which also ate my melons and cucumbers if I allowed those plants to lie on the ground. (Pro tip: Place a paper plate under those fruits, or let them grow within an organza bag to keep the pests out.) All of those pests were easy to deal with organically, and they didn’t cause much damage if I remained vigilant.
The pests for pets occasionally included mosquitoes and ticks, depending on whether we lived near woody areas or standing water. (I went 15 years without a single mosquito bite.) The air was too dry for fleas. And while we had to be wary of West Nile virus and Q fever, other tick-borne and mosquito-borne diseases weren’t prevalent in the area. I never had to worry about fowl pox in my chickens nor orf in my goats. Flies were the worst vector in my area of the desert, thanks to all the agriculture, so I kept medicine on hand in case my goats got pink eye. And I’ve never had to deworm any of my livestock unless I’d purchased them in California.
Then, we moved to Kansas.
The dogs are on medication for heartworm prevention. We’ve already removed a few ticks the dogs found just from lying in the backyard, and I’ve already had my first itchy experience with chiggers. All kinds of pests munch on my garden, and I’m still learning just what those are. But — and this surprised me — they don’t include rabbits. In Nevada, we had so little nutritious wild forage that not fencing your garden meant all the wildlife considered it a buffet and it could disappear overnight. Here in Kansas, the deer and rabbits have enough forage that they don’t touch my vegetables.
So while natural pest prevention is important, what’s needed and what works clearly differs depending on where you live. We’re happy to share advice from Jennifer VanBenschoten, an herbal guru who offers safe and effective flea and tick control for pets, no matter your location. She also provides crucial advice regarding which products are toxic to pets. I’ll be mixing up some powdered neem and diatomaceous earth for my dogs as an added defense against all those parasites that could make them miserable. I’ve seen how well neem oil works against pests in Nevada, so I’m optimistic for its use in Kansas.
What tips and home remedies can you offer regarding pest prevention — whether livestock parasites, pet pests, garden invaders, or dangers to your families? Write to me at MAmes@MotherEarthNews.com so I can try your recommendations and share them with other readers.
May your pests be manageable,
Marissa Ames
Originally published as “What’s Pestering You” in the August/September 2023 issue of MOTHER EARTH NEWS magazine and regularly vetted for accuracy.
