stray birdseed at the feeder. The first plan of attack is to make sanitation your number one priority in and around the barn.
• Keep the barn clean. Avoid sprays that have a sweet odor.
Battle Plan:
• “Keep garbage and feed contained,” advises Jenifer Nadeau, associate professor and equine extension specialist with the University of Connecticut. “Clean up any spills right away and practice good barn hygiene.” • “Prevent animals from entering the barn as much as possible,” says Nadeau. This is difficult in the barn environment, she admits, but installing a solid exterior style door on the feed room can help. This will keep skunks and raccoons at bay as well. Mice, however, are better at finding access—consider that a mouse can squeeze through an opening the size of your thumb. • Set snap-traps in safe places, out of reach of curious cats and equine muzzles. Snap traps are considered one of the most humane methods of rodent control— glue traps and poison are not recommended for the barn environment (see sidebar). • For serious problems (around chicken coops or under dirt foundations), consider digging a very narrow trench along the outside wall of the barn and sink hardware cloth to a depth of 12 inches. This will discourage most pests from burrowing underneath the barn. • Attract raptors and barn owls to keep rodent populations down naturally. “An average Barn Owl family consists of four to five chicks,” says Alex Godbe, director of the Hungry Owl Project in Marin County, CA, “and each chick has an enormous appetite, eating up to six or more rodents a night, which can mean, including the parents, as many as 3,000 rodents in a four month breeding cycle.” In good years, barn owls raise two clutches. “That’s a lot of inexpensive and efficient rodent control!” points out Godbe (see sidebar for tips on creating an owl habitat).
Bees and Wasps
Battle Plan:
• Keep tight lids on all trash cans. equine Journal
| 2017 Pest Control e-book
• Look around the barn for places bees might like to set up camp: a stack of wood, old pallets, a discarded bale of hay. Remove them if you can. • Never disturb a nest or crush a wasp. When wasps and bees sense danger they release an alarm pheromone that signals wasp guards to attack. • If you discover a beneficial bee’s nest (honeybee or bumblebee), but it’s in an inconvenient place, consider calling a local beekeeper for help in relocating the nest to a safer spot.
Mosquitoes and Flies
Mosquitoes and flies live fairly short lives, but are one of the most prolific barn pests. Consider that a single female mosquito can lay up to 400,000 eggs in her short lifespan—a period of a week to a little more than a month, depending on the weather conditions. Despite their diminutive size, mosquitoes are a very real threat to horses, capable of spreading EEE (eastern equine encephalomyelitis), WEE (western equine encephalomyelitis), and WNV (West Nile virus).
Battle Plan:
• The most effective strategy is to reduce standing water, says Nadeau. “Check gutters, buckets, drain spouts, and wheelbarrows for standing water. Consider planting buffer plants that will take up excess water around paddocks and driveways. • “Remove as much organic matter as you can,” Nadeau suggests. “It’s a breeding ground for flies.” • Mosquitoes and flies are adept fliers, but a strong breeze dampens their enthusiasm. “Keep the air moving with fans,” suggests Nadeau. • Utilize parasitoid wasps that feed on fly larvae. • Create good bat and bird habitats. Bats and some birds, including Barn Swallows, Bluebirds, Purple Martins, and Cedar Waxwings offer safe and excellent mosquito control by feeding on flying insects. • Limit exposure at peak mosquito feeding times; dawn and dusk. • Use fly sheets to protect your horses from painful bites. • Test all fly sprays first to be sure your horse won’t have an allergic reaction even if the label says it’s safe for use on horses.
If you have a barn, chances are you’ll have to battle a pest problem eventually. The key is to make cleanliness your number one priority and to remain vigilant. A little persistence goes a long way as well.
PhOTO: iSTOck.cOM/ AlE-kS
While bees and wasps rarely present the disease threat that rodents bring, they’re dangerous residents in the barn environment. Even one sting can spook a horse on cross-ties, multiple stings can prove deadly. But, aside from the painful stings bees and wasps deliver, some, like the carpenter bee, can cause significant damage to structures as they bore holes to create a habitat. Keep in mind, though, that many bees, including the honeybee, bumblebees, mason bees, and leafcutter bees are critical to pollination. Because so many bees are in trouble these days, it’s bad practice to use oldfashioned insecticides. Worse yet, spray insecticides can irritate delicate equine airways. That doesn’t mean you have to live with a bee or wasp problem, though. Here are a few tips on keeping them at bay:
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• Never leave open soda or drink containers. Bees are attracted to sweet scents.