Garden

[Icegoddess]

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@Sweetbay magnolia wrote:

I have some of those king skinks around!  The big boys are impressive.  I have found they live in dens undergound, so now I know what the holes in the ground I see, are for.  They lap up ants.  Ants can be useful but they also get out of control so the skinks corral them to a better balance.

@Lilysmom1 , my next door neighbor had one in their house and it really freaked them out.  They're sweet things and want nothing more than to live and let live.  And to eat ants and other bugs.  BTW I just got a new phone so I will take some garden pics to share with you, soon.

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@Sweetbay magnolia , most of my holes are due to chipmunks.  I have a ton of them and they dig up everything, especially any new planting.  They seem to know when the dirt has been disturbed and they want to dig there.  They just toss the plants to the side.  They also apparently chew on wires.  My neighbor just spent another $200 due to either squirrel or chipmunks chewing on the wires to her AC unit.

[Snoopp]

It's a stand off!

[Sweetbay magnolia]

Lets talk moles, @Icegoddess !  They can push mounds of waterlogged soil around.  Amazing.  The skink holes are tiny in comparison.  Fortunately the moles here are towards the back, away from utilities.

[Snoopp]

Last year I had a war with chipmunks.  I did win.  They finally moved from the front of the house to the rear.   It was brutal.  They kept returning.

Now I have a fox in the rear that might be helping me keep these critters away. 

[ValuSkr]

He looks like the GEICO gecko!  But I'm glad we don't have skinks here in PA.

[MoonieBaby]

@Icegoddess 

Our local weather wonder woman Cecily Tynan LOVES them, when she visits the PHILA ZOO she gets in a lil visit time with the skink (one of the many varieties the zoo has on hand) - and her adoration shows.

She educates everyone how cool they are and to appreciate them.

I love all creatures great and small - this cutie pitutie is no different.

A smiling lil reptile, what's not to love?!

[Icegoddess]

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@catter70 wrote:

For you guys with the skinks, what part of the country do you live in, if you would like to tell me?

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@catter70 I'm in N AL.

[catter70]

@Sweetbay magnolia, @Carolina925 ,@Icegoddess, I just googled skinks and they are also here in my state of Pa. Mostly in southern Pa., but also in the Pocono area. You learn something new every  day. 

[candyagain]

Snoop, I know your pain! I had a crowd of chipmunks a few years ago. Two got into my house, i think when the basement door was open. They are quick.

I got them both out of the house by trapping them, one under an empty box and the other by chance -- it went into a flip top garbage can which i secured and brought outside.

When the hawks and coyotes moved in the next year the chipmunks were gone.

They're all over my work site now 15 miles away. People think they're cute, not me.

[Sweetbay magnolia]

Chipmunks sound like a herd of deer when they rustle in the leaves!