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Comment by foxhop | Hacker News Reader

We used technology to make the earth sick. The insects are fleeing to safe havens in places like my small backyard. Seriously all I did was stopped mowing, and instead use simple nudges to guide the manifestation of a natural system! So much abundance here, with some practice we all can make habitats for humans and animals (including attracting animals and humans by growing tasty food).

We will rebuild stronger together, nature abhores a vacuum and will repair with us if we allow it to manifest. Thank goodness.

Ref: https://youtu.be/aYewfMjRH0c

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I don't use any fertilizer or *cides on my lawn. I do mow it once every month or so. When I walk down the driveway in the summer, there's a constant hum of insects.

The only pesticide is a line of diatomaceous earth around the house to keep the ants from setting up shop inside.

Do the ants come up to your skeletal wall of ancient ancestors and flee in fear?

DE disagrees with any invertebrate with an exoskeleton through physical mechanisms.

It ultimately dessicates insects (and other invertebrates) that come in contact with it. It is safe for mammals.

Example with a cockroach: https://youtube.com/watch?v=lAKQO7duPHU

I used to want a backyard wildlife refuge until I realized this also means having a backyard refuge for ticks. I'd love to know if there's a way around this

Keep the deer out?

There are a lot of things that eat ticks. eg: Chickens will turn ticks into eggs.

One way to lower your risk of ticks is to manage the parts of your yard you use most. Mowing paths into your yard instead of mowing the entire yard can help and allow the other parts of your yard to grow, planting patches of yard with native plants and allowing plants to grow instead of turf.

If you can find a way to attract Opossum they are net tick destroyers. Keeping out deer will only help so well, as small mammals(chipmunks, mice, etc) are primarily the sustainers of tick populations.

Do you get them even in the suburbs? If your yard is big enough, keep an area mowed short and a 3-5 meter buffer between that and tall growth. But that takes quite a lot of space.

My 85y old grandma got lyme this year and she hasn't left the city in more than 5 years. Birds can transfer ticks from thousands of kilometers away. Her garden is very nice though with the long grass and all that.

Guinea Hens are great at eating ticks.

Encourage possums.

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