I love both these tips that were sent in last week!

A NATURAL EARWIG SOLUTION
I have a solution to get rid of earwigs naturally and effectively. In a former house we lived in the homes were extremely close. Our neighbors moved and the new neighbors disposed of a very old wood pile in their backyard. Ever since that happened we were infested with earwigs. I called our local nursery desperate for what to do. We really were trying to stay away from insecticides being that we had a toddler at the time. I couldn't believe my ears when she told me that earwigs have a predator -"TOADS". She proceeded to tell me that toads like earwigs so much that they will actually "gorge" themselves on them. It sounded so ridiculous that my husband and I decided "why not!" "What do we have to lose!". So, the very next warm rainy evening, with closed container in hand, we proceeded into the dark with me being the pilot and my husband being the chaser. We traveled the darkest back roads to avoid traffic and attention. Apparently there must be common knowledge among the toad population to congregate on the shiny, warm, wet roads. Easily, we collected approximately 20 toads in one night. We did this occasionally for about 10 days total (Providing the perfect conditions). People thought we were nuts. But, after about a week of introducing our catch to the endless buffet, our earwig problem absolutely disappeared!

Now, when we moved into our present house we did the same thing (crazy as it sounds) before we even knew if we were going to have a problem and we never have. Toads are no trouble to have around even in large numbers. They hide during the day and eat bugs at night! They are not a threat to children or pets. We did find that if a pet may get the notion to want to pick a toad up in its mouth encouraging the toad to play, the toad will secrete some sort of bad tasting oil that makes the pet salivate terribly. But it seems harmless enough. What better way to control a bug population! ~Sherri

BABY POWDER IS A GOOD THING!
The best thing I have ever done to keep ants from coming in is baby powder (talc free of course if there's kids or pets that might breathe it)-in a pinch, I've even drawn lines with white chalk and for some reason they won't cross it. The kids and I have actually put the powder down and watched the ants refused to cross it and they go back to wherever it is they came from.

Baby powder is also great after a day at the beach or in the sandbox. Put the baby powder wherever you wish to remove sand and presto your little people are sand free. My summer car kit consists of a bottle of baby powder, a medium sized paint brush for wiping it off their body (much more effective than your oily hands), sunscreen and bug spray! ~Jenn R.

MORE: Tips for controlling mice without poison:
http://www.oldfashionedliving.com/mice.html
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Be glad today! ~Brenda

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