PVCC Puma Press: March 2005

During Arizona’s spring season, the beauty of the desert blooming creates visual sensations unmatched anywhere in the world. Trees, grasses, flowers and cacti emerge from a winter slumber and display an assortment of colors and scents. Birds begin to nest and mammals give birth. Reptile start moving a little more with increased temperatures. Along with this rich beauty and renewal come the typical organisms we consider pests—mice, weeds, pigeons, insects, etc. The emergence of these undesirables attracts a response of treatments and chemicals, including insecticides, herbicides and rodenticides, all of which are usually dangerous for us, the land, water and wildlife.

As the spring brings beauty and gives rise to these pests, hardware store sales also rise. Their aisles are now busy with weekend do-it-yourselfers buying the strongest and nastiest insecticides, mouse bait and weed sprays available to those without a license; and the number of company vehicles bearing spray hoses and bug cartoons increase on already overcrowded roadways.

Along with this annual bustle to rid our homes and properties of pests, the number of songbirds, reptiles, small mammals and raptors are decreasing. They are victims of our chemical conveniences. Not only do these conveniences have acute and deadly affects on wild animals, they have chronic affects in soil, water and potentially in our bodies as well as those of our pets. These chemicals can produce immediate results against weeds, mice and other unpleasant “things” crowding the spring air, but what about the long-term impact of chemical poisons? Aside from their build up and persistence in the environment, they can often cause problems to escalate and new ones to occur.

One common problem can be seen with pigeon populations. Pigeon poison is popular and is effective in killing pigeons, but is very ineffective in preventing more of them, unlike a natural predator. Dying or sick birds are easy to catch and eat for a Harris’ Hawk, a formidable predator that includes Valley pigeons in its regular diet. The hawk will hunt in a way that consumes the least energy, which will mean attacking a sick or injured animal. That’s the raptor’s role in nature—to feed itself and its young. An offshoot of the raptor’s life style is maintaining healthy prey populations by eliminating the sick and weak. If it comes across a poisoned pigeon in a flock of healthy ones, it will obviously take the slow mover and kill itself as it tries to feed itself. In this situation, the natural predator and only one pigeon are dead. The rest of that pigeon flock will be breeding prolifically ... in your eves and under your air conditioning units; after all, there are no predators in sight.

At least with the predator, you had daily pigeon control, and if the hawk had offspring, you’d be doubling or tripling the effort. The hawk’s simple act of flying about would have also scattered the pesky birds away from your rooftop and keep them from roosting. The same goes for rodents such as mice, an owl delicacy. It can take several days for a rodent to succumb to poison, and in the meantime, it’s continuing with normal activities and is potentially in the eye of a predator that will also eat the toxins absorbed by the rodent. If the rodent has been back to the bait several times, the poison has accumulated and the owl will have a magnified exposure.

More examples can be seen in your backyard. Weeds, whiteflies, aphids, slugs, hornworms, mites and caterpillars create a lot of frustration for anyone who keeps plants—whether they are in a desert landscape or in garden beds and lawns. Homeowners repeatedly add chemicals to kill weeds, fertilize, and kill insects. Again, creating a very hostile environment in which only those problems will exist. For example, weed sprays (herbicides) and insecticides kill not only weeds and pest insects, but also beneficial organisms in the soil, reptiles, birds and beneficial insects such as pollinators, mantis, ladybeetles and nematode wasps—all of which are essential to a balanced predator-prey relationship in a thriving and reproductive environment.

The sprays kill the birds that eat the insects from the weeds as well as seeds from the plants themselves. Reptiles are crucial to a healthy plant environment. Most little Western Fence Lizards and Mediterranean geckos, both very common in Phoenix, have diets consisting of only insects, including mosquitoes, and they can consume great amounts.

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One common Mediterranean gecko can consume more insects in a season than a full pesticide treatment.
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According to an Orkin exterminator, one common Mediterranean gecko can consume more insects in a season than a full pesticide treatment ever could. Unfortunately, the geckos are very sensitive to insecticides. A yard without little reptiles in the Phoenix area will most likely be one that is chemically treated and overrun with insects. All of these organisms work together to create healthy conditions for their environment, which can be yours, too. Finally, another problem with chemicals is that organisms repeatedly exposed to these toxins can and usually become resistant and even the most toxic controls will be less effective.

Use of poisonous controls is convenient, but damaging; there are safer alternatives. The first alternative is to allow predator/prey relationships to develop with minimal disturbance. It may take several months to see results, but once the balance is established, you will notice a great reduction in insects such as aphids, ants, moths, caterpillars and especially crickets. If you have an insect problem, the reptiles will find your yard. As for other predators, you can purchase insects with voracious appetites for other insects at nurseries.

Ask for lacewings, mantis and ladybeetles. Fruit flies are a common springtime nuisance, but can be attracted by apple cider vinegar and will drown in a semi covered glass jar of it. Finally, ants can be controlled with a little dish of cotton balls dipped in boric acid and sugar. This is a minimally toxic and inexpensive way to get the ant killing mixture back to the queens.

For your landscaping, start using natural fertilizers such as mulch and apply it in the spring and fall. Establishing a compost bin will also help you create the best soil possible, while keeping excess waste out of the landfills. Grass clippings, leaves and coffee grounds are common compost ingredients. You’ll never need to use synthetic fertilizers again. A healthy lawn and garden also strangles weeds and reduces or eliminates the need for their removal. When it comes time to remove irritating weeds, it’s always best to remove them by hand or use natural, biodegradable products such as horticultural vinegar. Your local nursery can provide more detail.

Biodiversity in your own habitat is crucial for the health of your family, landscape and the wildlife around you. Controls do not work—prevention does. Natural preventative techniques for pest control will never eliminate all pests from your yard, but neither will chemical controls. The difference is that natural preventions will work far better and indefinitely and do not have residual or harmful effects.

For an environmental breakdown of pesticide, herbicide and rodenticide dangers, log onto www.epa.gov and use the search box. Using a basic search engine such as Google or Yahoo! to check on the dangers of these chemicals will reveal hundreds of thousands of documents. There are many more methods and alternatives to toxic controls that can easily be found online.

The thought of life without weed control, monthly insect treatments, rodent bait or even bug spray may sound impossible or fanatical, but it is achievable, and once a little ecosystem is established at your home, you won’t believe the results.