Carrie, here that could describe crane fly larvae (leathery) or cutworms (curl into a coil when disturbed). I wouldn't know about the crackle, I keep an old pair of pruners on hand for dicing them in two.

Beneficial nematodes, introduced the right time of year, can be helpful for the cutworms (moth larvae)

Hi Carrie,
I'm going to guess wireworms. Check the link below.
Remy

Here is a link that might be useful: Wireworms

Nope - none of the above - They are very common - maybe just called "inch worms" and they are brown, thin and not particularly ugly... (I mean some insects freak me out... I'm such a baby...), but if you press them, they crackle.

I am seeing some now (even though we've had freezing temps and I am wondering if they eat seedlings because I have a lot of reseeds.

Actually, honestly, these worms or whatever are really not my biggest problem in the gardens this winter - there are tremendous deer tracks all throughout my beds, I could cry.

It's really bad this year, I've never seen such tremendous and so many tracks throughout the yard.

Thanks for your replies

Carrie

Feet in front and feet in back inchworms? They are kind of cute - in someone else's garden. DH finds them on himself when coming out of the woods, and knows better than to bring them home. Also moth larvae.

Organic, safe, BT sprayed on your plants while the worms are about half grown and actively feeding takes care of them and doesn't harm anything else. I give them the 'old pruners' treatment too, going out after dark with a flashlight. You can find a lot of stuff you don't expect out at night with a flashlight, just warn any neighbors so they don't think you are a clumsy prowler - mine are used to me.

We've got deer issues here too, I found poop right next to my front steps yesterday, just about a deers body length from my roses so I suspect the other end was busy there.

I'll be hard pruning roses next month so haven't treated them - Bobbex repellent has efficiently protected the deer favorites (roses, delphs, columbine etc) for several years now, occasional spraying is all that's required as rain doesn't wash it off.

here is a site that has different pics of worms / larvae....maybe you'll find a pic of it there
bugs

Bobbex - hmmm need to try that because I now have NO columbines left - and they were wintersown and so special. The deer have been really bad this year and since we have three acres, it's impossible to fence the property, plus they would just come in the front - so there is no way of keeping them off.

Can you get this Bobbex in like Lowe's or HDepot? I had never heard of it and the fact that it can sustain in the rain - well, that's amazing!

Zubababy - thanks for the link - I am putting that in my favorites

Carrie

Carrie,
ME TOO! "I mean some insects freak me out... I'm such a baby...",
Ok Morz, you just made my skin crawl...."DH finds them on himself when coming out of the woods"

My knowing what it is, now, usually helps me not freak out so much. But I still won't cut flowers while bumblebees are on them, and when I find a bug I don't know what it is, I come running inside to the computer to find out what it is. And if it's not a beneficial, I start shuddering trying to figure out how I'm going to get rid of the thing.

Linda

Inchworm, inchworm
Measuring the marigolds
You and your arithmetic
You'll probably go far

Inchworm, inchworm
Measuring the marigolds
Seems to me you'd stop and see
How beautiful they are

--From Sesame Street song lyrics

If you REALLY want to get grossed out, try smashing one of those green caterpillars that likes to eat dillweed. EWWWWW. He bleeds neon yellow and it STINKS. --Ilene

These are really so common, yet I am baffled why I can't describe them correctly and how come I don't know what the heck they are!! They don't "freak me out"... thank goodness, cause I see them everywhere. I tell you what DOES freak me out... it's the huge black wood spiders - geez, those things give me nightmares. Sorry, I am just NOT a lover of spiders! (or snakes, grubs, slimy snails - oh the list goes on....)

Carrie

Oh my, three acres. You might find Bobbex expensive for that.

I don't find it locally at all, I send for it after the bed and breakfast down the street began using it many years ago...all of us in this few block radius are depending on Bobbex.

To give you an idea how far it goes, the qt concentrate will protect 17 large shrub roses, 4 big clumps of delphs, assorted columbine for one year. I usually stop spraying in late winter and let them nibble at the roses then if they want since I'll be pruning those back farther than the deer would prune them in February.

Country Gardens has been my cheapest source

Here is a link that might be useful: Country Gardens

I have instructions given to me from a friend for an egg spray.She says it works well.It lasts two rains,so it does need to be re applied.She said that she had tried the formula for it on line and it didnt work ,but, I do believe she found it in an article,it gave a formula that was a bit stronger and she said it is pretty effective,I am sure not 100%,but that is what she uses and she has had many problems with deer in the past.I am trying it this year because, I have an issue with rabbits(well one very hungry bunny),occasionally a deer and mainly voles.So with this and coffee grounds I am marking my territory!If you are interested in the "receipe" let me know and I will dig it up from my emails for you!:)

Agirlsgirl,

I'd be interested in that recipe! Just enough snow melted this week for me to discover that one of my Heucheras was almost entirely eaten. Even though there are deer tracks through the snow in the yard, none of them lead up to this flower bed, but I did find bunny tracks in the beds for the first time a couple of weeks ago, so I'm pretty sure I know who ate it. I'd love a environmentally safe way to discourage them, especially once I put my veggies out in the spring.

Thanks,
Bonnie

Hi Bonnie! I am going to quote my friend from her email,she is much better with wording this sort of stuff than I am!:)

"......this recipe uses a higher concentration of egg. I used it and was blown away with the results. It is almost 100% effective, it works on flowers, trees, vegetables, etc. Since it is the smell of the protein in the egg that keeps the animals away (though you can't smell it), it doesn't rely on them having to taste the plant and thus nothing gets browsed. It's incredibly easy to make and use, cheap, and since the eggs are in a higher concentration, it sticks to the leaves and lasts through one-two rains, at least.

Put eggs in a blender (without the shells of course) and puree. Measure the amount of eggs, then add four parts water and mix well. Put in a spray bottle and spray your plants. It's that easy. It doesn't store well, so I only make up as much as I think I'll need, and any extra left over, I spray on the ground by the plants. Any less than a 20% egg mixture doesn't seem to work well and needs to be more frequently re-applied, and anything much more than 20% egg may show up on the plants (though it won't hurt them)."

Good Luck!:)

.... and this works?? Okay... going to walmart tomorrow and buying their eggs - since I usually buy really good ones (like pasteurized or ones with omega 3), but hey, the plants are getting the cheap eggs from Walmart! I am LOADING UP! Now if it gets warm, will the eggs "scramble" a bit on the plants - not that there is anything WRONG with that....

Thanks

LOL

Carrie

LOL!!! I can see it now,all the Wal Mart managers are going to wonder why the sudden increase in the purchase of eggs...

I am not sure about the scrambling,I guess we will find out!:)

agirlsgirl - meant to ask you - what benefit are you deriving from coffee grounds? Do they possibly turn off the rabbits, deer,?? Thanks

Carrie

I seen somewhere on one of our forums at GW,more than likely this one,a woman mentioned flicking the coffee grounds left over on her coffee filters, after dumping them into compost,into her gardens and that she seen a decrease in moles and voles.I figure anything is worth a try,I am also gearing up with some 100% peppermint extract.They say rodents are allergic to it and avoid it,also worth a try!
So I have big dreams that one of these will work,I do not want to lose any of my new babies and I am willing to try anything! Anyone else have any suggestions that doesn't include killing anything? Any crazy concoctions that have worked before for you? Believe me I am all ears!:)

Oh and back to the worms,when these worms "crackle" are they dead? I am wondering if you mean the little centipeds,they are a brown color.They kind of dry up when they die,at least that is what it seems like.And they are sort of crunchy, too.

You know, agirlsgirl, I think they are little centipedes and not worms. I read somewhere that if you have moisture in your house, they can appear. I find them under rocks (lots of moisture there) and so I bet that's what they are.

Thanks

Carrie