If you’ve ever turned your ankle in a gopher hole, you know that these animal pests can be hazardous as well as make your lawn look unsightly. In addition, these rodents can also cause problems beneath the foundation of your home and other structures on your property. Therefore, it’s important to be proactive about managing you rodent-related issues as part of your overall lawn management plan. Read on for more information about dealing with specific animal threats:

Ridding your lawn of gophers

Typically, you can identify the presence of gophers living in the soil beneath your lawn by the large holes that provide access to their burrows. These tend to be open holes that are fairly easy to spot. Unfortunately, spotting a gopher hole doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s inhabited. As burrowing species go, gophers are known for abandoning their burrows, so disturb the ground as little as possible when setting traps. For the most part lethal traps found at any lawn and garden store are the most effective way to rid your lawn of gophers, but be careful that children and pets don’t accidently get caught in the traps.

Sod Web Worm and MothSod Web Worms, also known as lawn moths, are usually ½ an inch to an inch long. They infest turf grasses in the United States and can be a major problem for any homeowner. These insects are usually dormant during the daytime, but feed on your grass during the night resulting in brown patches in your lawn. Among the grasses where these insects are most prevalently found are bluegrass, bent grass, buffalo grass, and zoysia grass. Sod Web Worms are not a major problem in the wintertime, however, they can be a major problem during the summer if they are allowed to reproduce and continue to feed on your grass.

If you suspect that your lawn may be infested with Sod Web Worms, there are two courses of action that you can take. You could call and exterminator to rid yourself of these insects, or purchase a product at your local home improvement store that is designed to rid your lawn of Sod Web Worms. Calling an exterminator can be quite expensive so I suggest that you do not do so unless your lawns becomes overly infested with Sod Web Worms, or you cannot seem to get rid of these bugs by yourself.

These red ants may just be ¼ inches long, their bites can be very painful and dangerous, when suffering from many bites at the same time. As a result, many homeowners want to rid their property of Fire Ants. Now, these ants can build up colonies that are one or two feet high, housing thousands of these Fire Ants. Controlling the spread of these Ants can be very difficult as thousands can be killed and more will still appear in coming weeks.  

Mole crickets are small brown insects which are about 1 inch long when fully grown and often infest turf grass areas. In the United States, Southern States are usually the states who have to battle constantly with Mole Cricket infestation from North Carolina to Texas and parts of southern New Mexico. Mole Crickets are especially damaging for golf course owners as they eat the grass blades from the root up so that it must be replanted. Now, these insects do not eat much and thus, only large populations will prove damaging in most cases.Mole Cricker

Mole cricket infestation leads to unattractive brown patches which can take days to replant and retain their green coloring. Hence, it is best to avoid mole cricket infestation. There are multiple ways to do this, but in my opinion, the best way is to use pesticides on your turf grass which you think may be infested to exterminate mole crickets from your lawn. These pesticides are the easiest way; however, some gardeners prefer using organic methods which require more time and effort. If you believe that your lawn may be infested with mole crickets, I would strongly suggest going to the local home improvement store and buying a pesticide to eliminate Mole Crickets before the problem grows and spreads throughout your lawn. Mole crickets also do have a positive impact on your lawn as the tunnels they dig loosens up soil making it more arable, however, the costs outweigh the benefits and thus I recommend that you attempt to avoid them or exterminate them.

Ticks and Fleas will not have a damaging effect on your lawn; however, they can prove very annoying and even dangerous to your pets if you have any. They can also temporarily feed of humans. Fleas and Ticks are potential carriers of diseases and thus keeping yourself and your pets tick and flea free improves your and your pet's overall health.

The best thing, obviously, is to avoid Ticks and Fleas. This however, cannot always be done. Hence, the best way to resolve this problem is to shower daily and maintain proper hygiene for yourself and your dog, especially in the summer, hot humid months when tick and flea infestation rates generally begin to rise. There are also a wide variety of chemicals on the market which can easily be purchased to kill these pests. These methods are safe for your pets and yourself and it is often recommended that one uses one of these chemical products along with maintaining proper hygiene to full rid themselves of fleas and ticks as no chemical is 100% effective. When buying a chemical to rid yourself of fleas, take into consideration your geographical location as different species of ticks and fleas reside in different parts of the United States. Your local home improvement store and pharmacies should carry the chemical products that are suited for your area, but it cannot hurt to double check the label.

Spider mites, also known as Tetranychus urticae, is a plant eating pest found usually in dry climates. These pests eat rapidly and can destroy a garden in a matter of days to a few weeks so it is very important that they are spotted and controlled before they can do any major damage to your lawn. These pests are very closely related to ticks in the genome naming system, and are more distantly related to spiders, hence the name Spider Mite. These pests feed on almost any plant in your lawn, such as flowers and fruits and vegetables. They eat the cell contents from the leaves of the plants, which eventually calls the plants to die and loose their coloring. Examples of crops that are most often infected with spider mites are strawberries, roses, beans, corn, potatoes, and many other vegetables.

They are very very small, less than 1 mm long and thus very hard to spot. Yet they travel in large a pack which is why they are able to cause havoc in a garden in a short period of time. This makes them a major concern for gardeners and landowners as they can potentially destroy all of your crop and plant life before you have a chance to react as they are very small and hard to detect. Hence, the preventive method is best when dealing with Spider Mites. I strongly recommend buying a pesticide to eliminate Spider Mites before infestations so that you can rest assured that your lawn and garden will not be ruined by these little pests. Spider Mites can also reproduce rapidly which accounts for their extremely large population numbers and makes them even more of a danger to gardeners. Pesticides to rid yourself of these pests can be found at your local home improvement store.

Scale Insects are very small insects that are parasites of many plants and a very difficult problem to have as their small size makes them hard to detect and exterminate. These insects are also known as Coccoidea.Coccoidea

These pests are parasites of many plants and fees on the natural sap that plants produce. Once Coccoidea insects find a plant, they usually become immobile and fees off the plant for the remainder of their life. Apart from their small size, adult scale insects can be especially tough to exterminate has they are often invulnerable to pesticides due to their covering. Pesticides are often only effective against young scale insects who have not yet developed their coating but these insects are always moving and thus can be difficult to detect.

The Japanese beetle is a small beetle, just greater than ½ an inch long, which have come to the US from Japan. They are destructive to grape vines, rose bushes, and many other plants. These beetles are not dangerous to your family or your lawn, but can ruin gardens in a matter of weeks if not controlled. The best way to control this pest is the use of beetle traps. Japanese Beetles are weak fliers and thus often fall when flying, especially when they make contact with an object. These beetle traps emit a scent that attracts the Japanese Beetles and once these beetles make contact with the trap, they fall into a pit and cannot escape. Pesticides to control the growth of Japanese beetles can also be used but many people prefer to have organic gardens and thus steer clear of the use of chemicals to exterminate pests.Japanese Beetles

A pesticide or beetle traps to control the infestation of Japanese Beetles can be found at your local home improvement or hardware store and are fairly inexpensive. Since Japanese beetles came to the US over 200 years ago, they have caused havoc for gardeners and homeowners across the United States. If you think that your lawn may be at risk, it is suggested that you act quickly to remove these beetles before they grow to become a major problem. If you grow fruits and vegetables or other plants meant to be eaten, I strongly suggest that you do not use chemicals and pesticides in your lawn as they can be dangerous and harmful to you and your family. However, if your garden is composed of plants that are not edible, than pesticides many be a good way to eliminate these beetles. You can determine which extermination method to use depending on your needs.

Chinch Bugs are very small insects that dry out the grass in your lawn. These little pests drink the juices in the grass that gives them their green color. As, a result grass loses its coloring and appears brown or yellow. Chinch bugs are usually only a problem if you have St. Augustine grass in your yard. Like most other insects, Chinch Bugs can grow to become a major problem in the summer months. If your lawn does become infested with these bugs, it is recommended that you water your lawn every day so that your grass retains its green coloring and to use various treatments, such as Dursban or Diazinon, to kill the bugs in your lawn and to prevent their reproduction and growth throughout your lawn.

These bugs are usually a major problem in hot dry climates such as those of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and other South Western states. Cinch Bug infestation can easily be controlled and eliminated so there is no need to seek professional help. One can apply one of the various exterminators that can be found at most home improvement stores on a regular basis to rid themselves of this problem. Like most other exterminators, one can either buy the "crystal solid pesticides" or the spray pesticides. In the case of cinch bugs which usually remain on the ground, I suggest sprinkling the "solid" pesticide over potentially infected areas to exterminate these pests. You can also put these pesticides on all of your grass, although this may prove to be tedious and dangerous as pesticides often have many negative side affects if one is overly exposed to them. There are dozens of brands to choose from, but like all other extermination products, all exterminators are essentially the same and itv does not matter which one you choose.