Fire ants are a truly nasty pest; with their nasty bites, their adaptability, and their long lives it can be hard not to take their existence personally. Most people answer by declaring war on the fire ant; using a lot of poison to completely eradicate a nest will work on that nest, but it will not solve the fire ant issue as a whole and it may even do further harm to other organisms, including humans, as well as the ecosystem in general.

The first thing you need to do when you spot a fire ant nest is to resist the urge to go out and drench it with deadly, unsafe insecticides. Instead, contact a company that specializes in least toxic pest control and ask them to have a look at the situation. It’s pretty familiar territory; each year in the Southwest the federal government spends millions of dollars combating these introduced species. Let’s take a look at some ways that fire ants can be controlled without resorting to a lot of poisons and other chemicals. (more…)

Like raccoons, opossum are medium sized mammal pests that are adaptable and can make life quite a hassle for humans. They are nocturnal and very good at finding secluded spots to nest and sleep, which can make them difficult to control.

Fortunately, opossums are much easier to control than raccoon, in large part because they are not nearly as smart as those wily bandits. In addition, opossums are very vulnerable animals as they are relatively low on the food chain; they possess few natural defences and have a lot of enemies in the wild. This means that least toxic control of opossum pests is a fairly easy proposition. Here are some very effective measures employed by people all over the country (more…)