What is IPM or Integrated Pest Management ?

            

Spring and these considerations are coming soon.

  I owe my dislike of insecticides and chemicals to my father.  I was scarcely two when he discussed the dangers to a growing neurological system and the neurotoxins in bug spray.  I know this, because he continued all of my life, and it was a bit of a joke in our family.  Apparently, as I recall from the lengthier lecture I received from him when I was four, that almost no pesticide which has lethal effects to insects has absolutely no effects to human beings, especially those who are continuing to grow.
               By the time I grew up and had children, I not only shunned bug spray, but I made my own furniture polish, cleaners etc.  My daughter won her elementary school science fair with a demonstration of all household cleaners which could effectively and safely be made at home. She set up a variety of demonstration centers and she already knew what we used at home.
              By the time we moved to a farm, I thought I might have to rethink my no pesticide angle.  Termites were a terrible problem in heavily wooded Virginia.  Ticks were abundant and carried disease. Wasps set up rather impressive nests within a weekend inside barns in just a weekend.   Our builder did use a chemical to sterilize the area around our house several months before we eventually moved in, especially after his non salt treated "built by" sign was handily eaten by termites within a couple of weeks.   European hornets also had to be dealt with by a licensed exterminator.
               However, the biggest challenge to us were the ticks.  Ticks carry a bevy of really serious diseases, and we wanted to find a non-chemical way of managing them here.   We tried the Integrated Pest Management method or IPM.

               By strictest of definitions, IPM or Integrated Pest Management uses a variety of reasoned techniques in order to keep undesirable pest populations down. The goals of IPM are to minimize risks to human beings, control pests in an economic fashion, and to use the interventions which are best for the environment. This might sound as if these are opposing goals, but many times, they are possible.  IPM can be applied to both undesirable insects or to undesirable plants as well.  Since so many products are shipped all over the world, undesirable or "thug" plants or insects often enter an environment in which they should not exist.  (Remember kudzu in the US, and Gypsy moths, for example. Both of them existed in other environments in balance, but were disastrous when they came to certain regions of the US.) IPM is about facilitating natural balance whenever possible.
               With this in mind, what works as Integrated Pest Management in Florida won't work here. What works in New Jersey won't work here, and what works here for certain pests or issues won't work in Alaska.  Different states and different regions of states have their own ecosystems. In fact, my farm may be a different ecosystem than my friend Jan's farm which is in the same zip code.
                Since coming to this farm I can think of at least two ways in which we have used IPM techniques. When we built our first farm we had a terrible problem with ticks. To help abate this problem we applied the IPM technique of using ladybugs.  The local guidelines were to use one package of 10,000 ladybugs purchased from a local vendor for each acre for which you wished to diminish ticks.  We decided to decrease the tick problem on the three acres which we used most often and so we purchased three packages of ten thousand each. We liberated these as per the directions, from their gauze bags, one evening, by hosing down the gauze bag with water.  The lady bugs flew away. The intent is that the ladybugs will eat the tick eggs and dramatically decrease their population.  The following year, we were amazed that our dogs, and all of us, didn't have ticks at all.  This was invaluable in a place where Lyme Disease is a very big problem, and where one of my dogs was treated for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever one year.  This does increase the population of ladybugs in your house in Fall. If you wish to relocate them, put a raisin on a plate and when they collect there, relocate the plate.
               Another technique is using an organism which is relatively harmless to us, but rids us of a serious pest.  In the last few years we have had an increasing problem with Gypsy Moth caterpillars in our trees in Spring. These can be a serious problem.  Again, as per the directions of our local extension agent, we bought
something called bacillus thurigiensis.   This bacillus is an organism which is employed as an insecticide.  Bt was discovered in 1911, but not available for us as an insecticide until the 1950s. There are a number of varieties of Bt. The one we use can be placed on leaves, and then when Gypsy Moth caterpillars eat the leaves. It reacts with their intestinal systems killing them by starvation.  It is not a nerve poison and so it is not a hazard to other animals, or to human beings.
                If you wish to see if IPM methods could be helpful in your yard, or farm, contact your local extension agent. They are very willing to show people who will listen, how they can avoid the use of pesticides which wind up in our own water.

Look at the lovely Wisteria hanging on this building.

Other posts that may be of interest



 http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-advent-of-new-tick-borne-illness.html

http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2012/04/avoidance-of-tick-borne-illnesses.html

Avoidance of Tick-Borne Illnesses

If you must walk through taller grass, wearing pants and tucking softs on the outside, then spraying tick repellant on the outside of the clothing can go a long way to preventing tick bites. (Photo: tickencounter,com)

This is the second post in a series of two, concerning Tick-Borne Illness.   Please see the prior posting also.    

  
       Since the diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne illnesses can range from fairly simple to quite complex, by far, the best strategy is avoidance of these types of infection through prevention.  We are fortunate that ticks are unable to jump to attack us.  They wait in taller, or even ankle high grass and simply crawl to us.
         These are some of the things you can do to help avoid ticks, tick bites, and the infections which can accompany them.

 1. Since mice are the primary breeding area for ticks infected with anaplasma and babesia, then remove or kill mice when possible.   This is easier said then done, because they are extremely prevalent in field, rural and suburban areas, and sometimes they look quite clean and harmless.  Still, you do not need them within structures you or your family inhabit.
 2. Some people annually spray yards for ticks. We do not.  We purchase 10,000 ladybugs for every acre we need tick free, each autumn, and then liberate them by spraying the netting they come in with water.  The ladybugs eat the tick eggs and the amount of ticks you see the following year are noticeably less.  We beef these up every so many years.  Keep in mind that the ladybugs do want to come in to stay warm over winter, so you will need a ladybug house for them in a warm area outdoors, near a building.  This is an integrated pest management approach to reducing ticks. (IPM)
 3. Protecting yourself from ticks also involves protecting your pets. Ask your vet what type of tick preventive is recommended in your area. Check your pets regularly for ticks and remove them with tweezers reserved just for them.  We drown the ticks removed from animals in a small container of alcohol.
  4. Protect yourself when outside or in forested areas, by wearing well covering clothing. Many tock preventives can be applied to the outside of ones clothing.  For years our family used "Skin So Soft" the Avon product, because it repels ticks because they apparently dislike the odor. Depending upon where you are, this alone may be adequate.  In other places, you will need to modestly apply pyrethrins to the outside of clothing and shoes.  Take great care with young children not to overdo pyrethrin use.   A couple of times a day, check your children's scalps, and bodies for embedded ticks.  These should be removed with tweezers immediately if found. Then, you need to check the site every day for a few days for infection, and then every week for a few weeks noting rashes.  We write down the tick bites and dates because some summers, it can be hard to keep track.  Of course, adults will need to check each other.  It will be necessary to bathe daily in summer in tick regions.  This is such a problem here, that we have an annual Lyme titre drawn on everyone here, when they see their physicians for annual physicals. There was a Lyme disease immunization for humans, but there is no longer.  Perhaps a safe reliable formulation will be developed. There is one for pets.


     






        Two diseases that are also may be tick borne are Tularemia and Babesiosis.    Tularemia is also known as rabbit feve, and the causative organism is Francisella tularensis.  The handlinf of sick or dead animals can also result in Tularemia.  It has sudden onset with chills and fever. An uncer develops at the site of the initial tick bite, and the infection spreads through the lymph nodes, and there is resultant enlargement.  Ciprofloxacin and other antibiotics of the tetracycline class are used to treat Tularemia, usually for a couple of weeks.     Babesiosis is caused by Babesia microti, a microscopic organism contracted through the tick. Although some people feel relatively well, fever, chills, sweating, headaches, fatigue, malaise and nausea are more common.  If left untreated,  destruction of red blood cells (as in hemolytic anemia) and thrombocytopenia, (a dangerous drop in blood platelets), and end organ damage can result in death.  This disease is often treated with Clindamycin or Azithromycin.

Great tick information and avoidance resources:

http://www.tickencounter.org/news/news_05182006


I hope this quick primer, Parts One and Two, help you to keep tick avoidance in mind, whether you are at home, or vacationing this Spring and Summer.


Please also see a new post on this subject:

http://rationalpreparedness.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-advent-of-new-tick-borne-illness.html