*chortle snort* Not this century.

There are plenty of books already written - from gardening encyclopedias to Organic Gardening for Dummies
.
.
Which I just realized has not been reviewed. Guess I should get busy and write a book review.

Does anyone have suggestions on getting rid of a groundhog? I live in a townhouse and one has burrowed underneath my place and the house next door. Lots of people have pets, so I hate to spray a poison that kills everything that moves.
On the other hand, he wasn't too friendly when we met, so I want him out of there quickly.
Thanks, Dave

Sounds like a situation for a Hava-heart trap and some woodchuck bait. Whatever that is.

--Bob

I put some poison in the hole and covered it up. I haven't seen him in 24 hours...maybe he went away! -Dave

I am in the city of Los Angeles and every summer we get one in our front yard, tearing it up. It even gets into the walls of the house and one night from midnite to 1 am I was hiting the ceiling with an umbrella directing him out of the house.

I did a google search and learned of a product that costs about $15 that has the scent of the fox, known to be their enemy.

So one morning at 7:30 I see his head pop out and could not bear to kill him. Then a few nites later at 7 PM I saw him again. Got my 10 year old out with me and we took several photos over the course of a few nites. He was quite amusing peaking out and eating up the weeds.

Then I asked my landlord for help and they did the hose all the way down the hole for about 30 minutes and never saw him again, been about 2 weeks now.

I advise getting the book Tiny Game Hunting - it has a section on gophers.

Bonnie

Quite an experience,Bonnie. I'm so glad that the landlord helped you out.

The problem is that these things are so cute, unlike the darned rats that I'm still being plagued with.

Rats just LOVE dog food. They store it all over, the ol' Roy Rounds and the liver snaps - It took us a year before we realized this. So, if any of you leave dog food out at night, I'd advise you to pick it up till daylight.

Why do these things, gophers and rats, work only at night? Smart, aren't they?

Thanks for sharing your experience, Bonnie

Lorace

Great advice, Acropolis. Thanks so much.

I'll surely try this, too.

Lorace

Hi!

I have been swarmed with fruit flies or what I think to be them, insanely this summer. I found a couple of gross looking "worms" about 1 cm long. Could this be the larve? I wouldn't think so since that is sizable and the fruit flies are smaller, but it is quite a coincidence. Any thoughts? Thanks!

That would be the larvae of the fruit fly. If not killed, they will form a hard little oval shell about 2 mm long (looks kinda like a seed) which will hatch into a fruit fly.

First, you need to get rid of whatever is drawing the fruit flies. You can kill the larvae with a soap solution with a bit of rubbing alcohol mixed in, or a citrus or mint liquid soap.

Hi!

Thanks so much for the replies, you have all been awesome help. I found these larvae/worms under some newspapers on the ground in my kitchen and also on my sofa chair that we never use. Gross huh? I just picked them up with a tissue and flushed them down the toilet.

I am not sure if these are fruit flies persay. I tried the vinegar cider and have caught none. These are the little black flies that swarm towards the light and perch on the light bulbs even though it kills them. What are these pesky flies? Are they actually fruit flies? I am getting so grossed out by this whole thing!

-Cindy

Those might be Fungus Gnats

Thanks Ada! I was wondering if they might be gnats after they didn't take to the cider vinegar. The weird thing is that we have absolutely zero plants or soil around. Do you have any idea why they might be cropping up so much inside? They are just nasty. I'm hoping they perch up on my lightbulbs and fry themselves.

I'm not sure. The ones I get are coming in because I have plants in pots, and the potting soil contains mushroom spore.

Fungus gnats are drawn to (Duh!) fungi, so you should check for mold. If they were on an old, unused chair - is it possible that the chair stuffing has mold?

Adults are drawn to yellow sticky traps, if you can find them in a garden store in your area.

I have bought and used fly traps that are like hotels. They are white cardboard and shaped like a triangle sliced in half. There are entrance holes in the top.

You set these in a window frame and the flies go in and will not be able to get out. After a few days, I peered into mine and lo and behold, it not only had captured flies but, also, was loaded with fruit flies and/or gnats!

This has completely rid my home of the "plant gnats" that had driven me crazy. I wish I had saved the wrapper, but we bought them in a grocery store and they came in packages of two, very reasonably priced.

Hope this helps,
Lorace

Just happened to run across this page looking for a solution for what I "think" may be a fungus on my zinnias outside. But if you can stand another suggestion. I just had an attack of the nasty fruit flies ( seems like it happens every year at this time).Someone told me to put a piece of banana and the peel inside a small bowl, cover the top in saran wrap ( I also used a rubber band to secure it, and rubbed the top with banana) poke holes in the top, and for some reason the little buggers can get in but not out.I kept mine near the kitchen sink along with a bottle of citrus cleaner if I caught them landing around it I shot them with the cleaner, needless to say I have the cleanest counters of anyone I know.I also clean all the drains in the house as I believe they will live in any small clog or drain. This works along the same principle as the other suggestions, but I thought it might help if you needed substitutions.

Thanks for the tip! If this keeps going, Epinions may come to be known as "You know, the site you go to when you want to kill fruit flies."

Hey, if it helps, I'm all for it!

--Bob

I like this one and will sure try it.

Thanks so much for adding it,

Lorace

By the way, all this discussion reminds me of the old saying:

Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana.

--Bob