Chafer

[gbaglo]

Lawn has been getting chewed up. I hear skunks and raccoons are the culprits, searching for the chafer beetle.
Tonight I was grabbing a beer from the bar fridge on the patio and I spotted a large skunk in the back yard, digging up my sod.
So, I covered the entire area with dryer sheets.
I've read on the internet that they don't like the smell.

[rbryan4]

Sprinkle some Critter Ridder around the yard once every 30 days, maybe more frequently if it rains a lot. Skunks, raccoons etc won't come back.

[padlin]

2 birds with one stone. Park the trailer in the middle of it and no mouse worries.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Sprinkle some Critter Ridder around the yard once every 30 days, maybe more frequently if it rains a lot. Skunks, raccoons etc won't come back.

It never rains in Vancouver, well not every day!

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

It never rains in Vancouver, well not every day!

Hi: Jim Bennett... Only rains on days ending in"Y". I use powdered laundry detergent. Was better when it had the phosphate part of fertilizer in it. My son said the neighbours would think it funny when the lawn started to foam up!!! The skunks and raccoons provide free service as I never pay to aerate my lawn Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[NW Cat Owner]

Crows are the culprits for our yard. They've really chewed it up, but since we don't have a nifty yard, we're not too concerned about it. And, according to one article I read, it's actually good that they're doing this as the grubs can eat away at the roots of your grass and destroy your yard that way.

[amirie]

Talk to Doug at the rally with his on going saga of the chafer beetle.... It has been quite the saga!!
We only have a very small patch this year. and he thinks he got most of the larvae there...
It is an on going battle...

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Glenn
In the north central USA we have the Northern masked chafer, better known as June Bugs. They fly around in late spring mate, lay eggs in the grass and die. The eggs hatch and burrow into the soil where they develop into grubs that eat grass roots and in turn are eaten by skunks and coons.
Controls
1. Kill the eggs with an application of granular grub control in June or so
2 kill the grubs with an application of Dylox
3. Catch and relocate the skunks and coons with live traps
4 Rake out and overseed
5. Do nothing, go camping, have a crappy yard smile at your neighbors.
Live trap. For skunks from The Snare Shop in Litterdale Iowa Tube Trap style
For Coons Cage type trap, havahart etc.
Iowa ( the skunk boy of Lincoln Elementary School) Dave

[gbaglo]

Yup. I've researched the chafer and controls on the District of North Vancouver website. Illegal to use chemicals and natural controls don't work at all until mid-July, so there is nothing to do, other than put the sod back as best I can. Doing nothing suits me.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Hi Glenn
In the north central USA we have the Northern masked chafer, better known as June Bugs. They fly around in late spring mate, lay eggs in the grass and die. The eggs hatch and burrow into the soil where they develop into grubs that eat grass roots and in turn are eaten by skunks and coons.
Controls
1. Kill the eggs with an application of granular grub control in June or so
2 kill the grubs with an application of Dylox
3. Catch and relocate the skunks and coons with live traps
4 Rake out and overseed
5. Do nothing, go camping, have a crappy yard smile at your neighbors.
Live trap. For skunks from The Snare Shop in Litterdale Iowa Tube Trap style
For Coons Cage type trap, havahart etc.
Iowa ( the skunk boy of Lincoln Elementary School) Dave

Hi: Iowa Dave... Up here in the "Great White North" all we can do is sit on a beer case and sip Molson's to a munchie tune. I get my DW to pick up the largest size of laundry detergent available and pour it on with my spreader. The grubs can't digest the detergent so they die!!! I request plain stuff but the last time she got Lemon scent. Nice southern smell!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Jake930]

Aw! The June Bug. I live in the bonnies, my back yard is reclaimed Horse pasture. So the Skunks and Coons can have at it. I hope they get everyone of them. Anybody ever have the pleasure of getting one of these suckers pininged off the forehead at 60 mph on a motorcycle at night? Quite an experience!

[Iowa Dave]

I pretty much knew that turf chemicals with any efficacy were verboten in many parts of Canada but thought that naming a couple of control methods for UUA folks wouldn't hurt. Trapping and relocation of skunks and coons is allowed in many municipalities down here but not all. Golf courses have quite a time with them too.
I've hit both June bugs at night and bumble bees in the day while riding a motorcycle. Knot (on your head) fun. Facemask or at least goggles good,, helmet even better in those cases.
I loaned out my two big live traps to a woman who is trying to sell her house and keep her yard nice. She got two raccoons so far. Out here in the country we practice Montana 3S control.
Shoot, shovel, shut up.
You ain't lived till you're face to face with a civet cat.
Dave

[padlin]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

3. Catch and relocate the skunks and coons with live traps

We're not allowed to relocate a pest, you catch it you either let it go or you dispose of it.

A covered Havahart & baloney works for catching. Caught 5 of them a few years back.

[rbryan4]

I know you can't use it in Canada, but I've found Bifenthrin 25% works very well on beetles, grubs, chinch bugs, even fire ants which are a real problem here. After they banned Diazinon, most insect controls went to a water based or organic solution. Thing is, they simply don't work, or they work for a week, forcing you to reapply frequently. The Bifenthrin lasts the whole season.

[David H]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Yup. I've researched the chafer and controls on the District of North Vancouver website. Illegal to use chemicals and natural controls don't work at all until mid-July, so there is nothing to do, other than put the sod back as best I can. Doing nothing suits me.

Or, remove the lawn and install decorative stone with contrasting shrubs. Bonus, it does not need mowing.

[gbaglo]

Somehow, stones and gravel doesn't seem right. A guy in New Westminster paved his front yard and painted it green.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

I know you can't use it in Canada, but I've found Bifenthrin 25% works very well on beetles, grubs, chinch bugs, even fire ants which are a real problem here. After they banned Diazinon, most insect controls went to a water based or organic solution. Thing is, they simply don't work, or they work for a week, forcing you to reapply frequently. The Bifenthrin lasts the whole season.

I am currently using Avalon by ProKoz as my Bifenthrin source. A gallon is about $60 and lasts me a long time. I make a few spray rings around the house. I used to get it on a granular on potassium 0-0-7 then as a light fertilizer on Nitrogen from E C Grow but they quit making it. As a licensed applicator I can get it for my personal use. I have a $1 million personal liability to help keep me out of trouble and post the application. I was also licensed as a nuisance wildlife control operator but let that lapse but still have a lot of equipment. I had a number of those kind of certificates when I was superintendent for a 4,000 acre municipal park system mowing 975 acres of parks and 4 golf courses. 3 18s and 9 hole.
I miss it but just the people, not the politics.
Dave

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by David H

Or, remove the lawn and install decorative stone with contrasting shrubs. Bonus, it does not need mowing.

Can't make myself do that. Got to dance with the one that brought me.
Dave

[gbaglo]

I parked the mower and have a crew that comes twice a month to "mow, trim, blow and go".
I timed them once. They arrived at 3pm and left at 3:11pm.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

I parked the mower and have a crew that comes twice a month to "mow, trim, blow and go".
I timed them once. They arrived at 3pm and left at 3:11pm.

Same here. I actually enjoy doing yard work, but I don't usually have the time. The crew comes in and they're gone before we know it.