Buddhist pest control

General discussion, particularly exploring the Dharma in the modern world.
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avatamsaka3
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Buddhist pest control

Post by avatamsaka3 »

Does anyone have any ideas for how to manage pests without causing harm to them? I believe my ancestors used to put some kind of non-harming spice in the corners of the room: this would encourage them to find another place to live. If this is accurate, does anyone know which spices are effective?
shaunc
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by shaunc »

It depends on which pests. Mint works well for ants. Broken egg shells work in the garden for snails and slugs, chilli and garlic are pretty good repellents for pumpkin beetle
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Rinchen Dorje
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by Rinchen Dorje »

I just catch them and toss them outside..no harm, no foul
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Indoors, you can control some pests by controlling their food supply: no food, no temptation to stay. You might also be able to limit the places they can live and breed - typically dark, damp, sheltered.

Yes, this is hygiene 101. It works, though.

:coffee:
Kim
avatamsaka3
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by avatamsaka3 »

It depends on which pests. Mint works well for ants. Broken egg shells work in the garden for snails and slugs, chilli and garlic are pretty good repellents for pumpkin beetle
Cockroaches. The room has been thoroughly cleaned. There should be no food for them in there... I'm still seeing some.
Orgyen
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by Orgyen »

Termite are the only one unable to deal with once they in the house they dont leave . Others are quite easy by cleaning the house .
People may speaks marvelously, highly intelligent but they have no integrity, the dharma do not function in their life .
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Orgyen wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 5:31 am Termite are the only one unable to deal with once they in the house they dont leave . Others are quite easy by cleaning the house .
How hard it is depends a LOT on what kind of house you've got and where it is.

:coffee:
Kim
Orgyen
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by Orgyen »

Kim O'Hara wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:28 am
How hard it is depends a LOT on what kind of house you've got and where it is.

:coffee:
Kim
Sorry do you mean all kind of pests ?
People may speaks marvelously, highly intelligent but they have no integrity, the dharma do not function in their life .
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Orgyen wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 9:04 am
Kim O'Hara wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:28 am
How hard it is depends a LOT on what kind of house you've got and where it is.

:coffee:
Kim
Sorry do you mean all kind of pests ?
Yes.
Where I live, it's not unusual for possums to take up residence in the ceiling space. They are hard to evict. Have you tried? On the other hand, a python in your roof usually scares the possums away, or eats them (they will deal with the rats, too). Either way, problem solved ... but you're living with a python in your roof.
Where I used to live, frogs would invade in the rains season. They didn't make too much mess, but they were hard to evict, too.
And geckos don't make too much mess, either, and at least they keep the mosquitoes down a bit.

How many of those have you dealt with?

:coffee:
Kim
Orgyen
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by Orgyen »

Kim O'Hara wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 11:03 am
Orgyen wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 9:04 am
Kim O'Hara wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:28 am
How hard it is depends a LOT on what kind of house you've got and where it is.

:coffee:
Kim
Sorry do you mean all kind of pests ?
Yes.
Where I live, it's not unusual for possums to take up residence in the ceiling space. They are hard to evict. Have you tried? On the other hand, a python in your roof usually scares the possums away, or eats them (they will deal with the rats, too). Either way, problem solved ... but you're living with a python in your roof.
Where I used to live, frogs would invade in the rains season. They didn't make too much mess, but they were hard to evict, too.
And geckos don't make too much mess, either, and at least they keep the mosquitoes down a bit.

How many of those have you dealt with?

:coffee:
Kim
Okay i see , possums and python would be troublesome . Other than termites , my problem would be rats , snakes (previously) , water monitors but they don't attack on people , squirrels bitten my car wires I had to catch them and release far away in the forest , birds for this last two or three years has been troubling me bcuz due to housing developments they find no place to nest somehow they always would defecates on my car , cockroaches a bit irritating but I always catch n release them , geckos or lizards not doing anything harmful though. In all cases I would chants the three refuge and mantras for them .
People may speaks marvelously, highly intelligent but they have no integrity, the dharma do not function in their life .
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Car? You own a car??
:jawdrop:
That makes you one of the richest people on the planet!
No wonder you think everyone can get rid of pests by simply cleaning their house.

Yes, okay, I'm being a little bit silly here - but only a little bit. I have been trying to help you realise that you have no idea how other members live or what their difficulties may be. All we really know about each other is that we have internet access, a bit of spare time, some competence in English, and some interest in Buddhism.

:namaste:
Kim
Orgyen
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by Orgyen »

Kim O'Hara wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 12:46 pm Car? You own a car??
:jawdrop:
That makes you one of the richest people on the planet!
No wonder you think everyone can get rid of pests by simply cleaning their house.

Yes, okay, I'm being a little bit silly here - but only a little bit. I have been trying to help you realise that you have no idea how other members live or what their difficulties may be. All we really know about each other is that we have internet access, a bit of spare time, some competence in English, and some interest in Buddhism.

:namaste:
Kim
Thanks for highlighting . :tongue:
Yes I don't know how others living conditions but I did say keep the house clean it would be easier . Oh btw just my third hand old car and I am trying hard surviving . Seems you are good at it . Keep it up man. Hawaii 5 o' !
People may speaks marvelously, highly intelligent but they have no integrity, the dharma do not function in their life .
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by Kim O'Hara »

:thumbsup:

I might have been over-compensating for the enormous gap I see between what my friends and neighbours think is a "normal" level of material comfort and what I've been seeing on TV news from Brazil (slums, and mass graves), USA (bashings, riots and riot police), Beirut (total destruction after the explosion), Bangla Desh (one third under water after monsoonal flooding), etc.
Most of us here are indeed enjoying a fortunate rebirth and should try to be mindful of it.

:meditate:
Kim

:focus:
TMT
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by TMT »

Well for roaches catnip boiled into a solution is supposed to work. You can google something along the lines of harm free roach repellent or substitute roach for whatever unwelcomed guest your dealing with. PETA should have some relevant articles. Also check the buddhism subreddit, it might have some relevant threads.
ZhengShen
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by ZhengShen »

I've got fruit flies, I think. They probably came in on some vegetables. They do no harm, but there are more and more of them... any ideas?
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narhwal90
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Re: Buddhist pest control

Post by narhwal90 »

We've been grappling with them for a while too. They showed up in late Nov and had something of a population explosion. We're being very careful with sources of moisture and food (only dry stuff exposed in the trash, nothing left out on counters, sink kept clean, a brief splash of simple green in the sink after cleaning so there is no residue of water for them).

It seems to take weeks for the population to run its course. Because it gets a bit gross to have them flying all over the kitchen and seeing them laying trails of eggs and getting through the house I vacuum them off the ceiling once an evening or so, to keep pressure on the population. So far we're more or less in a deadlock, with some occasional days of them in abeyance.

Fruitfly traps do get them I guess but not a whole lot. Definitely not going to be spraying anything however.

Stinkbugs et all get chauffeured to the window which is still a death sentence this time of year due to the temperatures. So yeah all of it is doing harm, but we can't have a house full of fruit flies either.
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