Lady of the Flies

Method A

Method B

Materials for Method B

Inattentive to bin hygiene, hundreds fruit flies wing through my garage, the workroom of the worms. Fruit flies, as my friends remind me, are a pest in Oregon, a major agricultural state. My duty is to eliminate the impact of my soil creation operation.

Digression: Soil creation? Ok, I’m a worm wrangler, which is to say that I employ worms to produce soil from parings of vegetables and fruits, coffee grounds, tea bags, and flour that I let age and is being consumed by larvae of some sort. I can’t stand to waste anything and I can’t make topsoil on my own, and gosh do we human beings need to give the topsoil back. Thus, my worm obsession.

To avoid purchasing insecticide (the “-icide” is your cue that it’s deadly) , I tried two approaches to fruit fly control. Either control methods I tried is effective, but my preference is for the simpler and quicker Method B.  Within an hour of composting the results of Method B and “reloading,” another 150 or so fruit flies had taken the plunge.

Please don’t send me letters about the sanctity of fruit fly life.  I get it. But, I’m concerned about harboring an agricultural terrorist in the heart of one of the richest agricultural districts in the United States.

The proportions of the mixture don’t seem to matter much.  Take one-half teaspoon of Dawn, dissolve in water.  Add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.  Set the mixture near the infestation and wait.

Fruit flies reproduce rapidly.  The eradication program has to continue until no flies are left.  This, by my estimate, will take several months.  Eggs laid yesterday will hatch in the future.  So, it’s not just those you see, but those that you don’t see.

Happy trapping.

Home Alone: Barking

Last week my best friend Bette got the dreaded call.  A neighbor confessed she was ready to strangle Bette’s dog for barking, barking, barking.  A horrified Bette explained she didn’t know her dog was barking when home alone.  Many of us are like Bette.

Barking dogs are serious problems.  Not only does your dog suffer, but your neighbors suffer mightily. Worse, there is no “quick fix” for the barking dog.  Sorry folks, but that’s the truth.

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Home Alone:  Back-To-School Transition

If your pets are like mine, they thrive on household hustle and bustle.  Over the summer, our bustle index was high—kid and dog visitors, hikes and swims.  That’s over. Starting this week, we’re at work and school. Our faithful companions are dozing through Judge Judy and Oprah so they’re fresh as daisies with enough energy to make our homecoming memorable.

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The # 1 Cause of Pet Problems?

As my readers know, my house is full of “restless pet” syndrome. I had a chance to get away to Seattle for a day and took it. My father spent the day with my animals. He arrived at 9 am and left at 10 pm watched television and read. He reported, “Your dog did not bark and the birds did not make noise.” I considered the possibility that he had slept through chaos, and then shrugged the animals’ reaction as appropriate to a new person in the house.

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Onyx’s Advice for Backyard Harmony

You: Backyard planting, trimming, adding cool furniture and features.
Your dog:  Planning a home-alone assault on your backyard improvements.
 
You share your back yard with your dog. You may resist this notion, train her to stay out of your heirloom tomatoes and place “scat mats” on that extravagant chaise lounge that you had to have.
The fact is, your dog has nothing to do except break your resistance. And you will break. You will re-think your yard design. As my Doberman said when I delivered her peanut butter treats during a stay-out-of-the-tomatoes training session, “You all crumble, eventually.” 

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Toilet Train Your Cat

Toilet Train Your Cat? You’re Kidding, Right?

Katie Cline, President of Brothers Cat Products, offers something you might not believe —The “Scoop No More!™ Cat Toilet Training System. I thought this looked like something you’d buy from the shopping channel after too many Martinis.  However, I was wrong.  (See how to win one at the end of this article.)

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Kitten-Proof Your Home

“The expression, ‘curiosity killed the cat’ has some truth to it,” says Dr. James R. Richards, Director of the Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine. “The little guys, kittens, are like adolescent kids. They don’t have a lot of judgment and experience.” Think like a kitten when you look around the house to detect danger areas, advises Richards.

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Crate Training Your Dog

Why Crate Train?

An overwhelming majority of dog professionals suggest crate training when you first acquire a puppy or adult dog. Most suggest active use of a crate throughout your dog’s life (1) to ease the process of training positive behaviors (2) to restrict or transport when necessary and (3) to prevent formation of bad habits.

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Adopt An Older Pet?

People new to pets don’t know to consider older dogs or cats as an alternative.  Puppies, contrary to what most people believe, are not the way most people should get started with pets.

“The ‘awww’ factor makes many people wanting to add a family dog think of adorable puppies,” says Denise Sproul of Cascade Beagle Rescue. The puppy is appealing at first, but the demands of a puppy are often more than the adopters expect and last for much longer than expected. “However, older dogs are usually mellow, housebroken dogs, a whole different type of dog.” These dogs often fit better into the life of a family.

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Kids, Kindness, and Pets

Children learn kindness through contact with animals. With your children, do something special for your pet and discuss the importance of caring for something other than oneself.