Why do I feel under attack here....... (Phoenix, Tucson: tornadoes, gated)

[Marcy1210]

Originally Posted by Helena and mike

I love lizards, really do wish we would have more in our yard but we have a wall up around the house, guess it keeps most out.

Lizards are excellent climbers. A wall won't keep them out. Ours climb up the walls of the house and scurry down. If they want to come in your yard, they will.

Tarantula hawks are awful. I've read that their sting is one of the most painful things a human can endure.

From Wikipedia:

"The tarantula hawk is relatively docile and rarely stings without provocation. However the sting, particularly of Pepsis formosa, is among the most painful of any insect, though the intense pain only lasts for about 3 minutes.[3] Commenting on his own experience, one researcher described the pain as "…immediate, excruciating pain that simply shuts down one's ability to do anything, except, perhaps, scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations."[2] In terms of scale, the wasp's sting is rated near the top of the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, second only to that of the bullet ant and is described by Schmidt as "blinding, fierce [and] shockingly electric".[4] Because of their extremely large stingers, very few animals are able to eat them; one of the few animals that can is the roadrunner."

We do have a lot of roadrunners in our neighborhood, thankfully.

[Helena and mike]

I have yet to see a roadrunner. Is there any kind of food we can feed the lizards to get them in our yard? I think that would be the coolest thing.

[Jukesgrrl]

Originally Posted by Helena and mike

I have yet to see a roadrunner. Is there any kind of food we can feed the lizards to get them in our yard? I think that would be the coolest thing.

For some reason its been a quiet year for lizards where I live (about a mile from Oro Valley). I usually have a lot sunning themselves on my yard wall, but they've been fewer this summer. My bug guy was here last week and I asked him about it. He said all the critters are on weird schedules this year -- he thought it was due to the unusual cold spell we had late in March.

I still have my big guy, who seems to live on my patio, but the others haven't appeared as often and seem to be smaller than usual. (I leave him alone, but I'm getting a little sick of cleaning up his poop -- the bigger he gets, the bigger it gets.) I also haven't seen any baby quail -- a first in the five years I've been here. We've even had hatchings in our yard, but nothing this year. Maybe things will change up now that we've had some good rain.

[Helena and mike]

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

For some reason its been a quiet year for lizards where I live (about a mile from Oro Valley). I usually have a lot sunning themselves on my yard wall, but they've been fewer this summer. My bug guy was here last week and I asked him about it. He said all the critters are on weird schedules this year -- he thought it was due to the unusual cold spell we had late in March.

I still have my big guy, who seems to live on my patio, but the others haven't appeared as often and seem to be smaller than usual. (I leave him alone, but I'm getting a little sick of cleaning up his poop -- the bigger he gets, the bigger it gets.) I also haven't seen any baby quail -- a first in the five years I've been here. We've even had hatchings in our yard, but nothing this year. Maybe things will change up now that we've had some good rain.

I would love to have them running around. You can drop off your big guy here lol. I do love nature and want more of it in my back yard. We were going to feed the birds but I am afraid that will bring the hawks. We have 2 very small dogs that a hawk would love to eat. I do hope that the wild life will come alive after the rains, I wouldnt even mind the beautiful spiders but mike would. All we have been getting is flying ants and beetles, lol. I can live without them.

[vjsoto]

Originally Posted by Mike_

Ok, been here 2-3 months and virtually no bugs....Now...wow! First termites or flying ants, now these beetles......these things are all over the place. We can't go outside and enjoy the good nights without being attacked.

The pic doesn't really show the entire picture but I chose this one becasue it shows the beetles the best. There are atleast 50 of these on our patio door, the termites/flying ants were even worse. What is next? Will this seige ever end?

Yup, we had a huge nasty rain storm roll through last weekend and the termites started swarming the day after. Then another big storm came through and killed em all! It's been pretty bugless since then. Just the regular assortment of crickets and spiders. The lizards in my yard seem to be quite gluttonous these days.

[vjsoto]

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

For some reason its been a quiet year for lizards where I live (about a mile from Oro Valley). I usually have a lot sunning themselves on my yard wall, but they've been fewer this summer. My bug guy was here last week and I asked him about it. He said all the critters are on weird schedules this year -- he thought it was due to the unusual cold spell we had late in March.

I still have my big guy, who seems to live on my patio, but the others haven't appeared as often and seem to be smaller than usual. (I leave him alone, but I'm getting a little sick of cleaning up his poop -- the bigger he gets, the bigger it gets.) I also haven't seen any baby quail -- a first in the five years I've been here. We've even had hatchings in our yard, but nothing this year. Maybe things will change up now that we've had some good rain.

We have some domestic birds and toss birdfood leftovers out in the back yard that wild birds love to chomp on. We've seen many Quail (and other birds) in our yard because of it. Just three days ago in the early morning we saw a large family (2 "parents" with 5 or 6 little babies) chomping down on some seed. If there is something to eat, they will come. We've also had several roadrunner back there and we get plenty of hummingbirds and other birds too. Between that and all the lizards, it's a little wildlife refuge back there. If I killed off all the bugs, I'm thinking I'd also loose a lot of my visitors.

[Helena and mike]

we were thinking of feeding the birds but I think that will bring the hawks, we have 2 small dogs so dont want to do that. But we will be getting some hummingbird food, use to feed them in NH also. They are so cool. Hey VJsoto can I come and sit out in your back yard? lol.

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by Helena and mike

we were thinking of feeding the birds but I think that will bring the hawks, we have 2 small dogs so dont want to do that. But we will be getting some hummingbird food, use to feed them in NH also. They are so cool. Hey VJsoto can I come and sit out in your back yard? lol.

I agree, Helena . . . Hummingbirds are fun to watch.

All you need around here is a Hummingbird Feeder plus a bag of Sugar and add water. The "pushy" little buggers do the rest.

[Marcy1210]

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

I also haven't seen any baby quail -- a first in the five years I've been here. We've even had hatchings in our yard, but nothing this year. Maybe things will change up now that we've had some good rain.

I saw a Quail family~~mom, dad, and 7 babies in June. Then a week or so later, it was 5 babies, then around July 1st, 2 and now I don't see any of them. I asked the guy at Wild Birds Unlimited, where I get my birdseed, and he said the Quail haven't done well this year, but the doves--both Mourning, and the obnoxious White Winged, have been here in greater numbers than he can remember. I've also had more Cardinals this year, as well as Thrashers and Cactus Wrens. Hummers, a ton.

Helena~~hummer food is 4 parts water, 1 part plain, white sugar. The WBU people suggest not using the powdered hummer food or using red food dye as the red makes the egg shells thin, and they break too easily. As long as there's red on the feeder, the hummers will find it. Also, try to get a feeder where the "flowers" aren't yellow. Yellow attracts the bees which can overwhelm the feeders in fall and spring.

[vjsoto]

Originally Posted by Helena and mike

we were thinking of feeding the birds but I think that will bring the hawks, we have 2 small dogs so dont want to do that. But we will be getting some hummingbird food, use to feed them in NH also. They are so cool. Hey VJsoto can I come and sit out in your back yard? lol.

Hehe.. my yard isn't that pretty after this last winter, but it looks better after a couple of beers. Yes, you need beer goggles to look at my yard! By the way, hawks generally speaking don't attack other birds. They are usually scavengers or attack lizards and rodents. Putting out bird seed for the wild birds wont attract em. Although if your dogs look like small rodents, then they might be in danger! Actually, the road-runners are pretty curious, and a bit aggressive too. Same thing with hummingbirds, but they hardly pose a threat to anything more than an ant.