They slip through the woods under cover of darkness. They drop from the sky shamelessly in broad daylight. They tunnel furiously through the earth. Their destination: your garden. Year after year, your garden is the target of insects and gophers and birds and slugs seeking a free meal. While you may be willing to share part of the crop, damage sometimes gets out of hand; then it's time to take action.

Bugs, Slugs and Other Thugs is for gardeners who've lost more than their fair share of the garden to bad-mannered insect and wildlife pests. It's a practical guide to pest controls that are safe for both the user and the environment.

Author Rhonda Massingham Hart equips you with information that will help you identify the intruders and then offers a host of practical, environmentally sound solutions to your pest problems. Remedies range from the latest scientific advances to tried-and-true folk remedies that really work:

-- Interplanting vine crops with corn will keep raccoons away; they dislike the unsure footing.

-- Clippings of cat or dog hair might be enough to ward off rodents and other pests.

-- A mulch of eggshells, gravel, or oak leaves sends slugs packing.

Consult Bugs, Slugs and Other Thugs before surrendering another season's garden to insect and wildlife pests. A healthy, bountiful harvest can be yours this season.

Hart suggests hundreds of ways to stop pests without risk to the user or the environment — from folk remedies to the latest scientific discoveries.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-208) and index.

Rhonda Massingham Hart is a master gardener and the author of several Storey books, including Dirt-Cheap Gardeningand Bugs, Slugs and Other Thugs. Hart lives in Washington state.

Introduction

Chapter 1 Bad Birds

Blackbirds

Crows

Starlings

General Berry-eaters

Chapter 2 Rodent Warriors

Gophers

Moles

Porcupines

Rats, Mice, and Voles

Squirrels

Woodchucks

Chapter 3 Big Game

Bears

Coyotes

Deer

Opossums

Rabbits

Raccoons

Skunks

Chapter 4 Friends and Neighbors

Dogs and Cats

Farm Animals

Kids

Chapter 5 Lowlifes

Slugs and Snails

Turtles

Chapter 6 What Bugs You?

Plant Health

Soil Health

Soil Solarization

Crop Rotation

Timed Planting

Companion Planting

Resistant Varieties

Plant Coverings

Ultrasonic Devices

Sprays and Dusts

Know thy Enemy

Aphids

Beetles: Flea Beetles, Colorado Potato Beetles,

Cucumber Beetles, Japanese Beetles,

Mexican Bean Beetles

Borers: Squash Vine Borers

Bugs: Harlequin Bugs, SquashBugs

Caterpillars: Cabbage Loopers and Imported Cabbageworms,

Corn Earworms, Cutworms, Tomato Hornworms

Earwigs

Fire Ants

Flies: Carrot Rust Flies

Grasshoppers/Locusts

Leafhoppers

Leaf Miners

Mites: Spider Mites

Nematodes

Root Maggots

Thrips

Wasps: Yellow Jackets

Weevils

Whiteflies

Wireworms

Chapter 7 Getting Help: Acquiring and Managing Beneficials

Birds

Fowl

Bats

Dogs, Cats, and Ferrets

Snakes, Turtles, Toads, and Decollate Snails

Beneficial Insects

Appendix 1 Plants and Their Pests

Appendix 2 About Traps

Appendix 3 Live Traps for Mammals

Appendix 4 Mail-Order Suppliers

Further Reading

Index