I used to believe a few garden pest myths, but no longer do.
Ants
How many times have I stepped on ants on the sidewalk? How many times did I try to get rid of them in the yard? I believed they were pests. Now, I know differently. Yes, it’s a bit annoying when I find them around the cat food dish in the kitchen or when I have to brush one off my arm during a cookout. But did you know that ants eat the larvae of harmful insects, like aphids and mealybugs? They also aerate the soil better than earthworms do. And when they take food into their nests, they introduce organic matter into the soil. And they do not eat plants. They may go after the “honeydew” or sap secreted by the flowers, but they don’t bother the plant. So now, I do put something down to repel them from the kitchen or brush them off when one crawls up my arm, but I no longer worry about any nests I find in the corner of the yard.
Roly-Polies
I also used to believe that the Roly-Polies living in the flower pots on my deck were bothering the roots. They’re not. They’re living on decaying organic debris in the soil and breaking it down. They accelerate the release of composting nutrients and return them to the soil. An interesting fact—they aren’t insects! They are crustaceans—related to lobsters and crabs!
Snakes
And I was afraid of snakes. Now I know that while I might not want to share my deck with one, they do us several favors. First of all, I shudder to think of how many rats and mice we’d have destroying our houses and gardens if snakes didn’t keep them under control. And one thing I didn’t realize: they also eat crickets, cockroaches, mealworms, and grubs, among other insects.
Bats
Finally—bats. Yeah, they do look a little bit creepy fluttering around overhead, but did you know what ONE bat can eat over 4,000 insects a night? And because their echolocation (their method of hearing) is so highly evolved, the chances of them actually getting caught in your hair is slim to none! Now I’m more inclined to invite a bat to hang around and bring some more of his mosquito eating friends with him.
As for the snake (I call him Freddie) that lives in the woods behind my house, I’m more than happy to have him on the deck at night as long as he keeps rats and mice away.