I’ve wanted to write a post about a few of the pest control tricks I have learned camping this summer for weeks now. What’s been holding me back?? Not all of these are the most ecofriendly remedies (some actually are) but I’ve decided I’m not ashamed. Nothing has made me pull back from my hippy ideals harder than being a mom. I’m just not as crunchy as I thought I was, it’s a fact. Not nearly as crunchy as I thought I would be as a mommy BUT we’ll just add that to the long list of things I spent hard time planning only to go a completely different direction. You just don’t know until you’re in it.
What I can say though friends is that these tricks work. So here we have a few handy cards to keep in your pocket just in case you find yourself with any of these problems.
1. ANTS
Insects, camper problem number one. All sorts, not just the little black buggers (that everyone likes to refer to as piss ants) that terrorized our camper for weeks. They’re tiny and fast and they give me the worst case of the heebeegeebees you could imagine. I tried a lot of things. I read somewhere that chalk would do the trick. The ants wouldn’t want to cross it and you could thusly solve the problem by chalking your perimeters. This method did not work for us. I spent two weeks or so trying to keep lines drawn on my counters and molding. I give the chalk method a solid F. Not only for its ineffectiveness but also it impracticality. Perhaps if our camper was parked in the middle of an asphalt parking lot and I was able to draw a huge chalk circle around it with a giant piece of calk…but it’s not and I can’t.
I tried a store-bought ant traps and they’re too smart for that. Also no good, why would they eat poison when there’s a freshly opened jar of baby food right here. Plus I have the added worry about poison in the house with my little boy.
What actually worked you ask?? Ajax cleanser. A thin dusting of it around the blocks and hitch of the camper (and anywhere else those little jerks can climb on) and our problem was solved in a matter of hours. I only have to re-dust when it rains hard. Another tip from one of Daddy’s co-workers. When he told me I put off trying it because all I could think about were little bunnies jumping in tub cleaner but when the ants really took hold I gave it a try, and darn it, it works…possibly for more six-legged irritants than just ants. Bathroom cleanser is my friend. I give this method a glowing 100%
2. HOUSE FLIES
Yuk. Flies are high on my list of creatures that I despise. It’s a short list. I’m pretty creature friendly ( I really do enjoy the vast majority of insect life) but there is something about a winged creature that leaves it’s vomit behind where it lands that I just can not abide.
That thing you see going around about the ziplock bag full of water that you add a few pennies to is surprisingly effective. I beleave it cut the indoor flies in half. Supposedly, the reflections confuse the flies and it makes them avoid the bag (and the door to the camper where the bag is hanging) I have read some studies that say this method is a bogus theory but it only cost me the price of one ziplock plus three cents to try it. I’d say give it a shot. Half the flies is still better than all the flies right?
The real trick is pine cleaner. I guess flies don’t like the smell of pine…at least that’s what I’ve read about this method. About twice a week I replace my normal cleaning routine with a pine wipe down and it makes a huge difference! I even wipe down the outside patio furniture with it to keep them away. I give the pine cleaner method two thumbs up.
3. GARDEN BUGS
I don’t even know what soft bodied creature was destroying my plants. The basil, the beans, and my poor morning glories. But the answer, my friends is Dawn (blue) dish soap. I picked up this tip from one of the lovely ladies that has a camp near ours.
A really weak solution (like 8 drops to a spray bottle of water) did the trick. I spray them twice week or after a big rain and the bug damage has disappeared. BUT, I have seen a bit of controversy on this one. That it can wilt your plants (Please promise me you won’t do it in the direct sun and the heat of the day or even water your plants then for that matter?) and that Dawn is a detergent and not a soap so it relieves your plants of any organic status they may have achieved. However, my hand sprouted morning glories are doing quite nicely and are very grateful regardless of the chemical make up of Dawn 🙂
*Also, marigolds. NOTHING has touched my marigolds or the things that are surrounded by them. A wiser me might have planted a complete marigold wall around the gardens. I can still hear my grandmother’s voice twenty some years ago explaining that she always plants a marigold border around her peonies because the ants like peonies but wont cross the marigolds to get to them. Thanks Grammy!
4. SCAVENGING PESTS
There is little in the world more disheartening than waking up to a porch covered in garbage. Pipeline mommy has never been a morning person and picking up garbage first thing does not help my mood. We use the mint scented garbage bags. They’re called Mint-X and they’re really easy to spot in the garbage bag aisle with their eye-catching packaging. I bet that alternately here you could use mint essential oil or even bruised mint clippings in your garbage pail. Raccoons (and possibly stray cats) hate the smell of mint it seems. I’d say the bags 98% effective.
I was hoping for a five but I’ve yet to find a really effective solution to the mosquito issue. I’m one of the lucky 1 in 10 that are more appealing to mosquitos it seems. My personal record is seven bites in fifteen minutes. I’ve tried the natural remedies (citronella oil, dryer sheets, ect)but the only option for mommy is the evil Deet. I simply must use it in one form or another. Regularly. It’s that or West Nile Virus or the latest in mosquito carried illness. Plus, given the choice between lots of itchy bites (I actually had to take off my engagement ring for a week because it was driving a pair of bites I had on that finger wild) or the ill effects of Deet…I’ll take the bug spray, thanks. As for The Baby Bug, I simply apply Avon skin so soft and cross my fingers that he’s like his daddy in that respect. (Pipeline Daddy has gotten only two bites all summer)
So that’s it! Your list of four effective, Pipeline Mommy approved, pest control tricks. I hope they’re not to harsh for you, friends
Months ago, when the bug was new, I began an online quest for the perfect mobile for us. I looked into what would be the most entertaining for a newborn bug and read up on how to choose one that served more purpose than just decorating the nursery. At the completion of said quest we found ourselves in the possession of what I still think is the downright neatest mobile in our price range, the Nature Pals mobile by Tiny Love. It played nature sounds and had soft glowing lights and warm smiling faces on the little creatures. The name stuck and I often put The Bug down saying “Lets listen to your nature pals!” in my best mommy voice.
When I say “Nature pals” these days it has an entirely different meaning. Despite our close human neighbors and the high daily activity in tha campground, the wildlife is relatively fearless. It’s a ton of fun to live in close proximity to the woodland creatures and I have vowed that I will take even their most annoying moments in stride. For better or worse, we’re neighbors.
Birds. SO many birds. Humming birds and morning doves, little finches and wrens, big mean blue jays, and pairs of beautiful crimson cardinal. Mr. Owl, whom I never had the pleasure of meeting in person, comes in fairly close in the early hours of the night. A pair of red-headed woodpeckers eat at my feeders twice a day with at least one (maybe two that I see separately) coming in to learn how to eat with their daddy. Evidently it is the male woodpecker who teaches the little woodpecker babes how to forage. I’ve watched them for weeks now and I’ve observed the whole process from the fledgling flying in with dad to see where he’s getting the food that he eventually feeds her, to her eating by herself while dad watches from the branches way above. Only in the past seven days have I noticed that she comes alone. Kids, one day you’re regurgitating suet for them and the next they’re off on their own…or something like that.
Of course there is also He Who Must Not Be Named. He eludes me still. I’ll type his name only after I’ve seen for myself that he is here. So far the Pipeline Daddy has been the only one to see and photograph him.
The search continues.
Rodents of all varieties make their home here in the campground as well. Droves of fat grey squirrels do their acrobatics on my bird feeders every morning. I’m begining to feel as if I single-handedly started an obesity epidemic among the local squirrels. We’re like natures fast food burger joint. Would you like to super size your sunflower seeds and peanuts Mr. squirrel? It’s red guys though that create the real problem. They’re territorial it seems. I’ve caught them fighting with the Blue Jays and the doves and on more than one occasion have had a yelling match with pipeline daddy. They’re not afraid to tell you how they really feel right to your face. I can admire that.
It’s very lucky for the chipmunks they’re adorable, otherwise we would have big problems. They are my nuisance diggers. Every potted plant I tried to start (and more of my garden bed that I’d like to admit) ended up ripped apart. With a tiny bank of sunflower seed left in the spot where my plants should have thrived. Such is the mentality of a chipmunk. They don’t understand that the feeder is always full but they have a great concept of loosely turned up dirt and how it’s much easier digging. (Saving for winter my butt. To me it looks like unbridled gluttony)
The chipmunk population was brough under control by a muscly black stray cat who has moved in. I don’t pet him. I would certainly fall in love with a rambling rouge like that, so we keep our distance. The garden is under his patrol now though and chipmunks don’t take the time to dig there on his watch. Even the particularly clever one with no tail has gone missing. He’s either smart enough not to hang around when there’s a cat about or maybe he’s gone to the great bird feeder in the sky. Rest in peace No-Tail, you are missed.
One night I was sitting here in my outside office typing away and smoking cigarettes when I noticed some action on the bird feeder. It was a dark night and strain as I might I couldn’t make out what could be stealing from the bird feeder after dark. I tried twice to get closer but the creature (s) bolted before i could discern anything but the white belly in the darkness. (My mind raced. Certainly it was a rat, the very henchman of Satan. With black devil eyes, unpredictable movements, and a greasy bald tails. There’s little in the world I hate more than rats.) What I found out later, from one of Daddy’s coworkers is that the mystery creatures were likely flying squirrels. He had seen two on his bird feeders the night before. And pipeline mommy breathed a sigh of relief. (really, anything but a rat.)
The king of our brazen outdoor pets is by far the raccoon. He’s been sneaking in for quite some time I believe. Shy at first, he started by stealing the suet block ment for my woodpeckers. First out of the feeders and eventually just the whole plastic wrapped kit-n-caboodle.
Rocky Raccoon and I are on a first name basis at this point, which is nice because we see a lot of each other. He’s no longer afraid to walk within just a few feet of me while I’m out here. He raids the feeders while im watching but it’s when I go inside for the night that his real fun begins. He moves rearranges the furniture, inspects the tabletop (which includes emptying the ashtrays and knocking over anything in his path. He also does a nightly inventory of our garbage. Our agreement is, in a nutshell, daylight hours on the porch are mine and when it’s dark is his outdoor lounge time. We live here, and he does too.
We have quite a menagerie of co habitants. I’m really getting used to their company. There is a long list of people and things I will miss when we move on. Our nature pals are somewhere very close to the top.
Oh friends, I have so much to tell you.
When I started this blog it was just Mommy and The Bug full-time while daddy worked away from home. We were seeing him roughly four times a month. Sometimes we would get long weekends but it was never enough. I was grasping so hard at the moments we spent together as a family that it was hard to enjoy each other. Pipelinemommy.com was my answer. I thought maybe I could reach out to others in my situation.
To drastically shorten an extremely long story Mommy couldn’t hack it home alone. Oh sure, I could take care of The Bug by myself but there was a part of being a family that we were missing out on. When daddy asked me what I thought about living in a camper I nearly shot out of my seat with excitement.
So, I spent sometime downsizing. I like to lovingly refer to it as simplifying and it’s oh so healthy for the soul. Over the course of a week my sister (Pipeline Auntie from here on out and bless her heart I could have never done it alone) and I thumbed through everything in my home asking ourselves “what am I going to need?” It feels good, friends, to let go of the worldly belongings that make up a home and break it down to just necessities. I’m free from all the “stuff and things” that were anchoring me in one place. Of course home is still there, it’s waiting for us if something should happen and we need it, but honestly, I’m looking forward to a time when I can shake those chains too.
A lot of baby things were given away. All of the things that were filling my closets and the corners of my living room and nursery passed on to someone who needed it. It was hard but keeping all the outfits we had grown out of and swings and sleepandplays were not going to keep The Bug from growing. I finally reasoned with myself that knowing that someone else’s tiny bundle would be utilizing those things was the best way to do justice to mothers everywhere. Use it and pass it on… it’s good on so many levels but we’ll devote a whole post to that another time. 🙂
I love camping. My family being whole again is a huge plus of course, but beyond that the hippy in me says “back to the earth!” and I love that feeling. The camper provides all the amenities of home from hot showers to air conditioning and we have a porch with an awning and a big lot with raised flower beds and fire pit. Pipeline Auntie calls it the outside living room and we’ve adopted the terminology. I planted flowers and vegetables, hung bird feeders, and mastered the art of small space organization and outdoor cooking while I’ve been absent from the blog.
So here we are! Living on the road like a real family and I have a long list of things I’ll be writing about…everything from a personal tragedy that led to a bit of writers block (get your Kleenex ready for another time) to life in a campground and of course The Bug he’s learning so fast mommy can barely keep up 🙂
So we’ll be changing our focus here from modified single mom to life on the road. Just another day for The Pipeline Mommy.
Thanks for the patience, loyal followers, I appreciate it with all my heart.
Pipeline Mommy 