Rob Delisa

Squirrels have become a huge problem for us too, but they don't seen interested in the fruit on our pear or apple trees. Instead they have made it very difficult to attract birds. They completely destroyed one of my squirrel proof bird feeders by eating an entire hole through it. The other big problem for me is that the cat is constantly chasing them. I would hate for her to get a hold of one of them.
One solution might be to attract a family of hawks to your yard. We have had some very large hawks that have arrived later in July and I have noticed very few squirrels!

Kirk Hutchison wrote:  Squirrels have been eating the unripe peaches on my peach tree lately. How do I stop them? (without poison, of course)

You really got me thinking about this. Maybe it is not good to get rid of all wasps, however, it is very hard to tell the difference between a paper and a yellow jacket wasp from a distance. The nests are easy to spot and I am sure most of the wasps I see are paper. Yet, there are still those darned yellow jackets mixed in and I've had quite a sting from them. They are very unpredictable. I feel much safer seeing no wasps at all, but I realize that's not the way an ecosystem works. There is good behind all living creatures.

Tj Jefferson wrote:I would caution against eradicating the paper wasps. I did that the first year in this house and then the yellow jackets were out of control. The next two years I left the paper wasps pretty much alone (not allowed in the garage or on doorways) and have had no stings and haven't seen a yellow jacket in 18 months!

There are paper wasp nests all over the place and I thought people on here were a little daft about them, but they really do seem to have no interest at all in us. I have even disturbed a nest and as long as I don't go back to it right away, they haven't chased me. I have had to eradicate a couple nests for the above reasons but maybe 2-3 in that period. It's pretty cool. And they have completely eradicated the cabbage worms. They love them!

Aggressive wasps are a huge problem in my backyard. A few years ago, I discovered what I thought at the time was the best Wasp Attractant in the world. I simply used a hummingbird feeder syrup - (Simple Sugar and Water), and put this into one of those yellow wasp traps instead of the formula that you purchase for them. As you can see from the link, the hummingbird nectar did far better. However, I have not been able to duplicate this success since. I am now kicking myself for not knowing more about the wasps that were captured. I believe these may simply be just paper wasps and not the more aggressive yellow jacket wasps which are intended by the more popular formula used for the common, yellow wasp traps.

Does anyone know are paper wasps attracted to sugar, but not yellow jackets?

Sorry to hear that, Mark. May I ask what brand you were using? Like I said, there seems to be some quality control issues. It's too bad, because the Kobalt Lawn Mower has completely changed the way I feel about mowing. It's so easy.

My allergies are worst at night and I don't know of any medicine that offers long-term relief without side effects. I tried Flonase, etc., but these products don't always work and they do have side effects. I decided to live with it, but I have found some ways to get short term relief so I can at least get back to some reasonable form of sleep: How to get rid of a Stuffy Nose

These pepper sprays: Sinus Plumber and SinuOrega give you a quick blast of cayenne and other herbs. It burns temporarily, but does help clear things naturally so you can get back to sleep. I keep them by my bedside at night just for that.

I completely agree. I purchased a 40 volt mower by Kobalt at Lowes 5 years ago and it is still going strong. I will never go back to gas. On reviews, I see that some people have posted some bad experiences with the Kobalt Lawn Mower. This is unfortunate if it has steered people away from battery-charged mowers.  There may have been a few bugs or quality control issues to iron out, but the mower remains one of the best investments I ever made. I can mow my entire lawn even when it is long and slightly wet and still have enough battery juice left over to use the Kobalt blower.