What would I do? What have I done? All of it. Not only have I walked onto the neighbors dogs on a rampage trying to get at my llamas (thank god for strong fences) they then turned on me and I had to make a weapon out of anything I could grab. I have found tom cats killing my cat's kittens inside my house after they tore off the screen in the window to get in. I have beaten raccoons in the head with an extra large flashlight with all of my 200+ lbs while they were trying desperately to get into a bird cage where I had a breeding pair of cockatiels - only to have them hiss and walk away, and I mean I hit them hard over and over. You won't win. The only thing to do is build a super strong fortress around your place and only let your animals out when you can defend them. At one time I had many large coops for show poultry as well as the llamas and some sheep. I could only afford to build super strong pens for some of them. It took a lot of management, I had to spend a lot of time shuttling animals from secure pens to pasture. It was a big pain - but after building the fortress I never lost another animal, I never had to poison or trap anything, I never had to shoot anything, I never had to confront another neighbor over what their dogs were doing on my property. My animals adapted to the routine and it made living in the country much more peaceful and not a war zone. At the time I didn't have a dog and I was amazed at my neighbors behavior. We would have neighborhood meetings to discuss problems and I would loudly announce that the best thing about the fourth of July was that hot dog weiners and antifreeze were both on sale and that I wasn't going to waste my bullets teaching their dogs manners. I never poisoned anything but you would think these people would realize the problems they were causing. Nothing worked. I eventually moved away and now years later I have once again moved out in the country. Everybody that visits asks when I am going to get livestock again - they miss the llamas and the sheep and the chickens. I don't plan on getting anything until I build a fortress around the whole place, strong enough to keep my stuff in and their stuff out. You need strong fences if you want to run guardian dogs - sometimes they mistake a jogger or someone walking the road as a threat and they slip through the fence to bite the intruder. You'll have another problem if your dog kills someone on a public street.

I think Rhizo is imagining you've got more good plants with Old McDonald weeds, here-a-weed, there-a-weed... between a lot of "keepers." If it's more like that, it would be a matter of asking yourself, do I have the time to pull all of these plants up? Some people opt to remove the "good plants" to make it easier to smother large, unbroken areas. Wherever there's a gap in the smothering, weeds are, well, not suppressed, so if it's thin strips between good plants, smothering won't help much. As perspective, in my minds' eye, I see your beds as mostly devoid of desirable plants, with much space between those that would be "keepers." Although I wouldn't begrudge someone's use of chems to establish control, it would be preferable to me to smother where possible. I would define possible as any spot where I can completely cover a patch of weeds with newspaper or cardboard in large enough areas around existing plants so I could cover it with several inches of mulch without having the mulch wash "into" the existing plants. It's not that I have anything against using chems to establish control, but that's only part of the issue. If it's been lawn or neglected "flower bed," likely the soil does not have good tilth, fertility, drainage. Even this type of very basic lasagna can be incredibly helpful in all of these regards. If your dedication and determination extend as far, it's so easy to add other amendments as part of/when smothering. I like to put bagged lawnmower clippings under the paper in case it has seeds in it. (Then when the paper/cardboard contacts it, you've got a good green/brown thing composting under there.) Between the paper/cardboard and the mulch, one can add compost, leaves, whatever seed-free, easily decomposed organic matter is available. When you stick a shovel in later, that fall is OK if you want to add some shrubs/perennials, next year for summer annuals and anything more, you should be amazed by the difference. There's also an impatient form of smothering where one uses whatever they can keep in contact with the soil. A tarp or sheet of plastic, pieces of metal, the bags of mulch you will eventually use in that area, anything that will cover up the weeds until they die. After a time, you remove the cover and see if it's dead. Once you determine everything is, cover with mulch, compost, whatever your plan is, then start gardening. IME with using both methods many times, a smother layer of paper and the longer wait is worth it in the future. The quick-smother often results in the sprouting of many seeds that were at the surface but just hadn't decided to grow yet, especially right where you dig holes to add the plants that couldn't wait until next year, pretty much thwarting your efforts. With options, you can choose the best one, which you may decide is spraying. If so, putting a cardboard box upside-down on nearby plants can be helpful to avoid the mist from getting on them. Try to do when...

We get them really bad around here in late summer. I bought an expensive bottle of conserve three years ago and it's only down by a quarter bottle, so that's been worth it to me. I haven't used regular pesticides for anything during that time because I wanted to maintain a nice ecosystem in my garden. Spinosad on its own hasn't made any obvious difference to that. I've got bees, butterflies, ladybugs, dragonflies, lizards, birds, squirrels, frogs like crazy and about two million mosquitoes - urg. I'm really happy with it. Mind you, I am a very laid back gardener. In the spring come the aphids, early summer bring the June bugs (beetle), grasshoppers do their thing as do regular flower thrips. I ignore them and the issues sort themselves out. Except for thrips, who coat each flower in the hundreds and ruin at least one flush. That is annoying, but nothing can be done. I'm not going to run around spraying every flower or add poison to the soil. Doesn't work for these numbers anyway. BTDT. Best to disbud when it gets crazy, usually the second flush. Obviously none of that pertains to chilli thrips who are another beast entirely. I first had them in 2010, a minor epidemic, but didn't know what they were. In 2011, boy I learned quick because they went on a rampage that lasted for months. I had not recognized the early damage, so the numbers were able to swell and absolutely decimate my garden. I lost several plants that year, killed by CT. It happens so fast. Having battled these monsters several years running, I can spot them on peoples roses as I drive past their house. I spray the second I see the first little signs of damage and it knocks them down. They were determined this year and I sprayed three or four times, more than usual, but I had no big pruning to do, and no big epidemic.

Saw on the news that a baby squirrel was rescued from the Houston flood waters. I think the plan was to relocate it to the sanctuary city of Austin where they are protected? Hopefuly I heard them wrong. Also saw where the fire ants make a raft to float in the water taking the queen and eggs with them. When they find a dry spot they have a ready made colony. This is the time to exterminate the colony while they are all together and helpless. EDIT: This is an interesting link and worth the read https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/08/30/the-terrifying-science-behind-floating-fire-ant-colonies-and-how-to-destroy-them/ They suggest using soap to kill the fire ants but the soap will also kill beneficial insects too. I would give a propane or welding torch a try, the problem is you have to get close with either method.