This year, when our lawn finally came out of it’s winter dull-dums, and turned green again, we noticed a big patch where the grass not only didn’t come back, it had virtually disappeared. My husband called it, “Grubs!”. Off he went to the hardware store to buy something to take of care them. He thought I was silly, but I made him stake off that area in our front lawn. Because while we don’t have any pets, nor would our kids play in that part of the front yard – I didn’t want any of the neighborhood kids or pets to get into there.
Homeowners may not realize that they could potentially make their pets sick by using pesticides on the lawn and gardens. Since pesticides are developed to kill some living things such as insects and unwanted weeds, they may also be harmful to your pets. When you think about it, it’s important to know the dangers of pesticides and the effect they could have on your pets.
Pets can sometimes mistake these poisons as food. And, since they are considerably smaller than we are, when they absorb the pesticides through their skin or ingest it they are exposed to a higher concentration. The results can be reproductive problems, birth defects in any babies your pet has, skin irritation, cancer, and even death.
If you feel you must use pesticides in your yard or around your house, be sure your pet stays inside while they are being applied. Remove anything your pet uses outdoors – feeding bowls, water dishes, outside toys – from the area. Using pesticides in pellet form could be confusing to your pet and they may think its food.
Instead of using chemical pesticides in your yard, you may want to do research into the possibility of natural pesticides. With the emphasis on everything “green” you can probably find a good bit of information in the library. If they don’t have information, you may want to check with a county extension agency, agriculture department at a local college, or farmer’s co-op. There is also a wealth of information available on the internet.
