2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The shrew is a small and very cute animal, but at the same time quite dangerous, because in the shortest possible time it can easily ruthlessly shovel the entire site! At the same time, it is not so easy to detect these pests. Nevertheless, it is still possible to overcome them, however, for this you will need to get to know them better and with measures to combat these miniature animals
Getting to know closer
Shrews are so tiny that they are often mistaken for the most common field mice. Nevertheless, they have a number of external differences - the head of the shrews is more elongated, and the nose resembles a proboscis. Their tail is quite long, and the coat is very fluffy. In addition, all shrews are subdivided into several independent varieties: shrews with white-toothed shrews, as well as elephant and water shrews.
In modern summer cottages, you can most often meet shrews - they are considered the smallest among all their relatives: the length of their body almost never exceeds five centimeters (excluding the tail). And their interesting name is due to the fact that the teeth of these animals are covered with a characteristic brownish enamel. And their fur is also brownish-brown.
Shrews feed mainly on bears, slugs, earthworms, leaf beetles, spiders, caterpillars and May beetles. However, despite the fact that they destroy a huge number of garden pests, they themselves cause quite serious harm to summer cottages. In addition, they are not at all averse to feasting on the rhizomes of growing crops, grain and seeds of various plants! During the day, a single shrew is able to eat four times its weight!
It is not so difficult to understand that shrews have appeared on the site - new small passages are constantly appearing on the soil, and tiny heaps of loosened earth rise around them.
Drastic control measures
Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to prevent the appearance of tiny shrews on the site, but it is quite realistic and not so difficult to drive them out of there. To combat them, many summer residents resort to the use of a wide variety of chemicals - especially popular "Hunter Anti-Rodent", as well as "Nutcracker" or "Rat Death". The first agent is in the form of briquettes containing cheese with flour and a number of other substances that attract funny rodents, the second is a dense thick substance placed near the minks of animals, and the third agent is a tough poison that is allowed to be used only in the most extreme and especially neglected cases. In general, most chemicals contain components that either cause internal bleeding or affect the respiratory system of animals. And, of course, such a meal leads to the inevitable death of shrews!
Humane methods
There are also more humane methods of struggle - for example, you can plant such crops with a very pungent odor as lentils, wormwood or mint throughout the territory of the site, or you can scatter naphthalene around the shrews' holes, spread pieces of rotten fish, or pour kerosene. Some summer residents put several branches of freshly cut hemp inside the minks - when it decays, it begins to emit an unbearable stench. You can also fill the minks of animals with kerosene, diesel fuel or water. And to scare malicious animals, sometimes gas bombs or smoke bombs are used.
It is quite realistic to build scarers for these rodents and from improvised items - for this it will not hurt to stock up on cut plastic bottles or small cans: subsequently they are placed on sticks up to a meter high, setting them in such a way that when gusts of wind, these containers begin to publish extremely unpleasant sounds. Shrews are very afraid of unfamiliar noises and strive to leave their homes as soon as possible. Also, if you wish, you can always purchase an ultrasonic device for scaring away shrews.
Another very effective way to get rid of pretty fed up shrews is to build a so-called underground wall. For this, sheets of metal or slate are dug into the soil to a depth of about one and a half meters (of course, along the entire perimeter of the site) - with this approach, the shrews simply cannot come from the neighbors!
Or you can simply plant several beds of winter garlic and onions - agile shrews cannot stand their smell, so this method also very effectively scares them off the site. If a shrew accidentally got into a living room, you should not try to deprive her of life as soon as possible - these animals are completely not adapted to life in closed spaces, so very soon the animal will leave on its own!
Recommended:
Ways To Deal With Strawberry Mites
The strawberry (transparent) mite very badly damages young strawberry and strawberry leaves, which subsequently turn yellow and, wrinkling, begin to gradually die off. As a result, the plants take on a dwarf appearance, and the strawberries so beloved by many cease to delight with a magnificent harvest of ripe and juicy berries. If bushes with wrinkled small leaves of a yellowish-oily shade appear on the site - it's time to start fighting the strawberry mite
Ways To Deal With The Bread Beetle
The bread beetle, also called the Kuzka beetle, knocks out hard grains onto the ground and eats away grains of cereals during their milky ripeness, thereby causing serious damage to the crop. Most of all harm from it in the steppes and southern forest-steppe. Barley, rye, wheat, grains of wild cereals are the favorite food of bread beetles. And their larvae, among other things, do not hesitate to eat the roots of wheat, rye, beets, tobacco, corn, potatoes, sunflowers and fruit seedlings in nurseries
How To Deal With The Asian Locust
The Asian locust damages all garden, forest, field, horticultural and melon crops. Grasses growing in reeds, in pastures and hayfields also suffer from its invasions. It is most widespread in southern Russia and is considered the most voracious locust
Italian Prus And How To Deal With It
The Italian locust is a ubiquitous pest that damages all kinds of forest and agricultural crops, fruit trees and grapes, legumes, herbs and grains, corn, cereals, melons, medicinal, vegetable and industrial crops, as well as forest species mainly in young plantings and nurseries ( white acacia, aspen, oak, poplar, ash, birch, etc.). These insects can easily cover distances of several kilometers
Cucumber-lemon: Is It Realistic To Grow In The Country?
Lemon cucumber, which is often called ogurlimon or crystal apple, is interesting for its fruits - round shape and unusual yellow color make them look like lemons! This culture bears fruit throughout the summer, and sometimes up to the onset of the very first frosts, and up to ten to twelve kilograms of harvest can be easily harvested from a single bush! At the same time, ogurlimon is grown with equal success both in greenhouse conditions and in open field conditions! Already
