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Turn out the lights y’all, talk to your neighbors about their exterior lighting, call your electric companies and ask them to put diffusers on those bright led street lamps, and talk to your electeds. The night and its creatures deserve their time of day. Climate change is exacerbating everything, but we can try to make it more liveable for the night dwellers.
Also leave portions of your yard undisturbed year round. Leave those leaves in your garden and spray them down with the hose every now and then if they get dry. Also run all those “mosquito control” companies out of town, because they’re killing all the insects on all the properties around wherever they spray
Also run all those “mosquito control” companies out of town, because they’re killing all the insects on all the properties around wherever they spray
Had a guy knock on my door a few months ago. They were “doing work in the neighborhood” (of course) and offering to treat the yard for carpenter ants. I declined. “It sure would be a shame if your neighbors all got treated and you ended up with an infestation.” Buddy, if all you got is movie mob threats, your career in “sales” is going to go about as well as the last dozen things you tried and failed at.
I had one of those guys come by about 2 months ago, but for windows/siding/roof/solar/gutters. I didn’t decline, figured I’d hear the kid out, but he set me up for an appointment the following afternoon.
Second guy was younger than me (I’m 30), and kept using quotes like “I’ve been doing this a long time,” and “In my professional opinion, I really think XYZ.” I also got a lecture on “needs versus wants” because I wasn’t willing to pay $600+/month for the next 17 years but I had the audacity to own a TV. 🙄 He even took a picture of some “carpenter bees” that were nesting above one of my gutters to try and upsell how seriously this work needed to be done.
He did not like the fact I went outside, checked the spot, and came back to inform him that those were, in fact, wasps, not carpenter bees. And he realized the conversation was over when he finally (about 2.5 hours in) asked me what I do for work, and I told him I’m a general contractor and already knew everything he was telling me, I’m just broke af. 🤷♀️
10/10, well done!
Please share how to run the pesticide and herbicide places out of town. Would love some good options.
A bigger issue is how people maintain their yards. Lawns are the ecological equivalent of a parking lot. Lawns are terrible for the local species, as are all of the non-native species used in modern landscaping. Once you learn what is actually native and what is not, you’ll be completely shocked at how few native species we cultivate.
Another really huge issue is everyone religiously scrubbing their yard of fallen leaves. Leaves need to stay on the ground. They are essentially compost for trees, and tons and tons of bugs lay eggs in fallen leaves, including fireflies.
I quit mowing my lawn and let some native plants grow up in place of grass and stopped eradicating the fallen leaves, and that summer my yard was absolutely lit the fuck up with fireflies.
All of this is currently reversible. We just have to stop buying into stupid capitalist yard maintenance traditions and start working with the native species. It’s honestly much less work than trying to make all of these Chinese species that are in everyone’s yards work.
Fucking nailed it neighbor, well said.
Look into soft landings under your trees, native plants and grasses. If space is limited feel free to target your desired species with their host plants, such as milk weed for monarchs. Don’t be afraid to let your fence rows and ditches grow, low traffic areas are great for growing native plants.
Yeah, I have a native prairie instead of a lawn, even though it is not that big. My city likes to cite native yards, especially in the fall and winter.
I love my yard and the pollinators and vertebrates love it too! Butterflies, bees, birds, bats, fireflies, snakes etc etc. It is good to see them thrive in this little space.
Man, the death of fireflies is the death of wonder. They were one of the few actual joys of growing up in the countryside.
I saw some walking 1 or 2 months ago. I had to stop and watch for a minute because it’s been maybe decades sense I’ve seen them irl. It was by a wooded area, so hopefully they don’t knock down those trees anytime soon. We already had some foxes ran out of their home from construction the other direction.
I’ve seen 2 different kinds in my yard this summer: light bluish-white light ones that blink or pulse, and yellow ones that light up and fly in a downwards “J” pattern. For a long time I would only see the lighter blinking ones but then one day I noticed a few of the yellow “J” making ones that I haven’t seen in a long time.
But 10-20 years ago the yellow “J” ones were most common and very abundant, and I barely recall seeing any of the lighter bluish blinkers.
It’s been years since I’ve seen them. They used to always come out around this time of year when I was a kid, but it feels so rare to see one anymore.
At an old job I had, there was this garden-like section of this courtyard area people would take smoke breaks in. They had a special breed of grass planted there that seemed to attract the fireflies, and I guess it works because they’d actually show up to that little patch of garden almost year-round. I wish I knew what type of grass it was; I’d totally buy some seeds and do some guerrilla gardening around my apartment complex to bring back some fireflies.
Did they have a fountain or pond in the courtyard? We have an above ground pool and are one of the few neighbors with fireflies in our yard. We also have a lot of native flowers though so maybe that helps
There was a pond nearby, but the fireflies would usually gather pretty far from it. I’m pretty sure it was the grass that they were attracted to, but I didn’t consider the flowers! There were a few bushes that I recall, though I can’t remember what type of flower they actually had. But I do remember them being really pretty in the springtime, but that’s not really a helpful description lol.
Stop spaying trees for pests. Stop using crop dusters. Start using modern non chemical methods. During the pandemic they stopped spraying the pine trees around here and the fireflies were nearly as abundant as they were when I was a kid. Now they are back to poisonings us all to save a few trees for profit. As a result they are back to nearly being gone.
Start using modern non chemical methods.
Yes! Let’s start with targeting human biting species of mosquitos and make them extinct!
Nah, that wont do anything to help the fireflies recover. Using non chemical machinery in fields will reduce the use of pesticides that are killing the fireflies. I don’t care if a few pine trees get beetles. Especially since they can go back to eliminating the trees mechanically and spot spraying instead of dousing it throughout the environment with a helicopter. Lets finish with mosquitos and start saving all the beneficial insects first.
I love lightning bugs! Luckily I still see a lot of them in my backyard every year. Fewer than there used to be, but still a lot. I really hope they can be saved.
I remember growing up with them regularly in Florida late 70’s/80’s. Don’t remember seeing them much after that. Then delighted to see them when I was living in Pennsylvania 2010-2020. Im in TN now and saw very few here this summer. Was wondering if it’s the heat?
Also the weird fixation with perfectly manicured lawns with absolutely no debris and no plants touching any other plants.
They like to lay their eggs on leaves and grasses on the ground. Doesn’t mix well with lawn mowers and rakes.
I used to mow my parents property, and I would leave about 1/4 acre unmowed on the side, touching the treeline. They had so many fireflies hanging around the tall grass over the summers.
This summer I moved too far to keep mowing, and they don’t leave anything, and have been complaining they haven’t seen any fireflies all summer.
Good point about the tall grasses.
I would leave about 1/4 acre unmowed on the side
If I did that my entire yard would be overgrown, because it’s smaller than that lol. I did let the backyard mostly go wild a few years ago, had an interesting mix of native species and invasive. Invasive won by a landslide, even while manually keeping the English ivy in check. Creeping Charlie and purple deadnettle went everywhere. Some areas eroded so much due to lack of turf roots (either outcompeted or succumbed to the combo of early direct light followed by shade most of the day) that it’s basically just big baked bald spots. One of these years I’m going to try and figure something out to repair it… just need the intersection of time and money.
Lol I don’t even have a yard of my own where I live now, and to be fair my parents only have 3/4 total.
The first year I took over lawn maintenance, they had poke weed growing in a 10ft tall forest in basically every space possible, it was the entire summer getting rid of them. Then they had English ivy growing along the base of the house and it was creeping into every crack of the siding and choking out some trees.
Even when trying to let it grow “wild” it’s a ton of work…
I was days from signing to check to remove a couple trees in my yard in Pennsylvania when I stepped out back one night and saw dozens of fireflies in them. I hadn’t seen fireflies in years and decided then and there that the trees had to stay.
Also, a note from other comments, I absolutely never rake my leaves
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Mother fucker, I told you to put holes in the lid!
Aside from negative nature consequences caused by humans, they also eat themselves…so yea…sad.
I am so thankful that I’ve had the privilege to see them in my backyard the last few years. I take a video every time (although you can barely see anything, I at least can make out the blinks with my brightness all the way up) and cherish it. I hope they can make a strong comeback.
I saw none this year for the first time
I honestly don’t remember the last time I did see one
c/collapse
A few years ago I saw them in March ( way, way too early). Have not seen a one since.
i hear they all moved to Owl City
We had a bumper crop rhis year. Highly unusual. Often it’s hit or miss. Last year was pretty mild. Year before was almost none. We just moved here 4 years ago. I only spot fertilize individual plants. I don’t do “whole lawn”. I don’t clear all leaves, just mulch them in place. I don’t clear the edges so perfectly with the weed trimmer. I never use pesticide.
Makes me wonder if the previous owner did and they’re recovering.
I used to love spreading their entrails all over the sidewalk as a kid. It was so pretty! I’m probably responsible for this. 🤔
