DEAR JOAN: A number of days in the past, I discovered a praying mantis hanging out on considered one of my hummingbird feeders. A good friend instructed me that praying mantises assault and eat hummingbirds! Can this be true? Ought to I've moved him to a different location?
Suzanne Renaghan, Walnut Creek
DEAR SUZANNE: Halloween got here early in your yard.
As inconceivable and horrific because it may be, praying mantids can and can assault hummingbirds, however luckily, it’s a uncommon occasion.
The mantis needs to be actually hungry to go after a hummer. The 2 are about the identical size — 4 inches, on common — however the hummer is way greater prey than a mantis usually goes after. It is going to eat the hummer, however it actually solely eats the inner organs, and sure, it’s as bloody and grotesque as you may suspect.
Holding mantids off the feeders might be extra work than it’s price, on condition that hummingbird assaults are unusual. Most different choices additionally aren’t very efficient. You may hold a baffle above the feeder — a baffle is a big, clear bowl-like object that hangs the other way up above the feeder — however some mantids can fly, so the baffle isn’t that useful.
Transferring the feeders away from shrubs, the place mantids may lay in wait, will be considerably useful.
For those who discover one on the feeder, use a stick to softly relocate the mantis to a shrub. You don’t need to do something to hurt or discourage a praying mantis from staying in your yard. They eat lots of bugs, particularly those we don’t actually need within the backyard.
DEAR JOAN: The place do slugs come from?
Out of the blue, they're popping out of my potted crops. They're so slimy! I can’t get their “goo” off my palms with no good scrubbing with cleaning soap and water. Any ideas?
Alexa, San Rafael
DEAR ALEXA: When a mommy slug and a daddy slug actually love one another…
Slugs love moist, hidden areas, like inside your pots, underneath logs and rocks and in unused, shady corners. The slugs conceal out in these areas throughout the day, then come out at evening to eat and depart slimy trails. That arduous-to-scrub-off-your-hands goo is important for them to maneuver round. They use the goo to grease the trail forward.
Whereas hanging out throughout the day within the spring and summer season, they’re additionally laying eggs, which later hatch to provide you much more slugs. Mating is straightforward as a result of slugs are hermaphroditic, that means they've each female and male components, and whereas they often want a companion, generally they fertilize their very own eggs.
The final word and extremely formidable resolution is to create a yard that's welcoming to wildlife, which is able to eat the slugs for you. The faster resolution is to make use of a pesticide. Sluggo Plus works on snails and slugs, and it’s protected to make use of round pets.
In case your drawback is extreme sufficient, you may must repot your crops, changing the soil. Add some weed barrier or mesh within the backside earlier than including contemporary soil and the plant.
You can also put out meals that pulls the slugs to 1 spot after which scoop them up at evening. For those who aren’t already, change your watering schedule to early morning; watering at evening creates damper circumstances, which invitations slugs in.
Contact Joan Morris at jmorris@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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