Agriculture & Natural Resources

Testing & Sampling Procedures

We provide testing for:

• Soil analysis
• Water quality
• Feed & forages
• Pesticides & hazardous waste
• Plant tissue analysis
• Radon Gas

Prices vary depending on the type of test needed.  Please contact our office (706-453-2083) for more information.

Monte's Minute Musings

You Can't Stay Here

If you are a homeowner here in Greene County, you can deal all sorts of issues inside to outside of the house. Whether it’s a repair to an existing appliance, the landscape needs a makeover, fix a broken window or patch a leaking roof there is always something to tend to or fix at anyone’s home. That “always something” can be taken up to the ninth degree when it comes to wildlife setting up shop at your home. No matter if it is mammals, reptiles or insects; they love to eat, breed, leave droppings. The challenge comes when that formidable opponent is not just passing through but decides to squat on your premises without your permission and take over. Nuisance wildlife can make your home life very frustrating to say the least.
Let’s start with the bees. Honeybees like to forage for food and water then come back to the hive make honey and reproduce. It’s that simple but they like finding a nice place to reside in the eaves or sides of your homes walls and that becomes a problem. This is not good, especially when you can have not just hundreds but potentially thousands. The problem can be alleviated but please don’t got get the gas can or insecticidal sprays. Remember, they are beneficial pollinating insects, we need them. Honeybees sometimes can be easily relocated with the help of a local bee keeper. However, if the problem is bigger than they can handle, then call a license and bonded professional wildlife removal specialist. Moreover, make sure you they cleanup all of the honey, if not the bees will smell it and return.
Millipedes, scorpions, spiders and roach’s removal success depends on spraying timely on the inside of the house and spreading a granular product around the foundation of the house and landscape every 6 months so that you are maintaining a boundary. Influx of these insects is kept to a minimum.
Second, mammals that like your attic are bats, birds and squirrels. These can be alleviated, if you search and find the hole in the vent where the squirrels, bats or birds are getting into the house. You don’t want to close of any entrance to the squirrel’s nest, especially if there are young inside the house. The squirrels would act aggressively to get back into the dwelling by chewing on wood and making a complete mess of the exterior walls of your house. You should to go the attic and do a reconnaissance mission, pinpoint the location of the unwanted visitor so that you effectively eliminate them. Traps can be effective in catching the squirrels but closing the entrance with hardware cloth when none are left inside the house is best. As for bats, care must be taken to protect yourself. If you have a large number of droppings in your attic, you could potentially get histoplasmosis from inhaling the spores. DIY cleanup can be done but minimize the disturbance of the guano. Wear a mask so that you don’t breathe in the spores. Remember, finding out how they got in is key. Bats will go looking for food at dusk and stay out until daylight. If you are able to find the opening, close it as they leave at night so that they cannot return and get back in morning. If more bats remain, repeat the process. If you find yourself in a job that is too big for you, and safety is an issue, please remember to call a wildlife removal specialist.
Finally, snakes come be the most troublesome of the all. They see you and you don’t see them. I encourage all homeowner to remove debris and around the home, minimize the amount of pine straw and mulch so that you can effectively see in areas that you and family frequent. Close off areas around the basement and crawl space so that cannot get in. If you find them there, that potentially means there is a food source, so you will also need to get rid of rats and mice. The last thing anyone want is to be bitten by a snake, especially a venomous one.
I hope these are some firm pointers which can help you take back control of your home from some these unwanted guests. Animals that are trapped have to be disposed of humanely. If you would like more information on how to manage and effectively control nuisance wildlife please don’t hesitate to give me call at the Greene County Extension Office at 706-453-2083 or email me at cmonte@uga.edu.