As I have mentioned in the past, we do not use insecticides on our Littleton, Colorado, farm. However, we do host hundreds of assistants that keep the insect population in check, working for nothing more than their meals.
Chickadees, nuthatches, bushtits, woodpeckers, warblers, gnatcatchers, catbirds, house wrens, western tanagers and Bullock's orioles glean insects from the trees and shrubs. Flycatchers, Say's phoebes, cedar waxwings, tree and barn swallows, broad-tailed hummingbirds and western kingbirds snare them from mid air, joined by little brown bats and common nighthawks at dusk. American robins, crows, starlings, grackles, flickers, blue jays, magpies, kestrels and spotted towhees scour the ground for insects and grubs, assisted by garter snakes, lizards and the occasional toad. Even a few insects (primarily dragonflies, ladybird beetles and wasps) take part, not to mention most spiders.
In return for their work, we offer a wide diversity of native foliage (including berry crops), brush piles, a source of fresh water and an insecticide-free landscape. Quite a deal for us and a choice that all property owners can easily make in our joint effort to protect the environment.
Chickadees, nuthatches, bushtits, woodpeckers, warblers, gnatcatchers, catbirds, house wrens, western tanagers and Bullock's orioles glean insects from the trees and shrubs. Flycatchers, Say's phoebes, cedar waxwings, tree and barn swallows, broad-tailed hummingbirds and western kingbirds snare them from mid air, joined by little brown bats and common nighthawks at dusk. American robins, crows, starlings, grackles, flickers, blue jays, magpies, kestrels and spotted towhees scour the ground for insects and grubs, assisted by garter snakes, lizards and the occasional toad. Even a few insects (primarily dragonflies, ladybird beetles and wasps) take part, not to mention most spiders.
In return for their work, we offer a wide diversity of native foliage (including berry crops), brush piles, a source of fresh water and an insecticide-free landscape. Quite a deal for us and a choice that all property owners can easily make in our joint effort to protect the environment.
