what can i do about grasshoppers

help there are so many grasshoppers this year they are eating my yard and everything in it i don't want to spray any bad chemicals the kids play here everyday it's like a plague of locusts does anyone have any ideas
thank you shirley

Just a thought:

If you've got kids around - offer them a penny per grasshopper. If they're typical kids, then you should have a bucket by evening :)

(Problem is - what do you do with them then? :(

I feed them to this kewl spider thats in the yarrow!
Dograsshoppers eat any bugs-aphids or anything besides plants!???

guineas,guineas, guineas. They sure took care of my grasshopper invasion, and they're great fun to watch as they chase them down!
Also, never heard of a grasshopper eating any bugs, just plants.

i wish i had some guineas i think they are so neat i love to watch them and they are good guard dogs but my husband who is a city person won't let me get any
in the meantime the yard looks like salt lake city when the grasshoppers invaded the mormans fields if only the sea gulls came this far inland i would be all set i guess i will have to poison them i hate to use anything because of the groundwater contamination but the well is 185feet deep so mabye i won't glow in the dark if i drink the water thanks for all the answers i appreciate talking to you all
shirley

horseshoe...do you have guinea pigs that you let out for a stroll in your garden at sunset every night, or do they live in your garden? i guess i'm not much of a country girl, i'm unable to imagine it. are they fenced in or on leashes??? you are talking about those funny looking rodent type animals that every 7th grade science classroom houses, right? don't the eat lettuce? sorry if i sound really stupid (but i am, so it's normal for me), but i think i'd try to find another solution than getting a pet rat on a leash...hehe!

I think they are guinea hens meiyu. Some type of chicken. LOL! I don't know for sure either, but we have a neighbor down the road that calls her chicken looking things guineas. From a distance, they look kinda blue colored? I've never seen them up close.

LOL!!! boy, ya learn something new every day you ask questions, don't you??? well, i enjoyed the visual i created this morning of a guinea pig on a little leash, out for his morning grasshopper hunt!!!

HAH!...meiyu, you're messing with me, eh!? Hah! What a picture you just painted in my mind (and it's kinda scary in there sometimes!).
I can just see it...herds of guinea pigs, patrolling my land, rooting around flushin' out grasshoppers, then lunging into the air and taking 'em down one by one by one! The sound of their little teeny footsteps running hither and yon mixed in with squeals of delight permeating the air! And after a long day at work, there they lay at rest, under the big acorn tree, their little bellies completey full and pokin' out like little water-balloons, the look of satisfaction on their little hairy faces! Ah yes, the life of a guinea pig on patrol!

This message was edited Friday, Aug 30th 5:09 PM

HAHAHA!!!! FOL (Falling Over Laughing!!! just made that one up!!) Horseshoe, I've read a couple of your comments, and I've gotta tell you...that imagination coupled with your gifted creative writing skills should make you rich someday!! Or maybe you already are a famous writer, undercover...hehe. Tell me something, are you as funny in person, or are you one of those people who only find their gift of gab in their fingers? I'm guessing male, strong, probably kinda handsome, a country boy with a huge smile and a loud, contageous laugh. Often the life of the party when you haven't had too much of grandma's secret receipe moonshine? hehe...i'm probably way off, and you're some little 21 year old blonde, thinking of becoming a nun...nah!

Hey Meiyu,

Shoe isn't a 21 year old blonde, and he definitely isn't thinking of becoming a Nun LOL.

Here he is in his full glory at the recent roundup.

He is the most colourful character on DG, an done guy I would just love to meet. http://davesgarden.com/showforumphoto.php?imageid=14264

To get back to the grasshoppers though, BIRDLADY, why don't you, as was suggested, give the kids a penny for each, then when you have a couple of bucketsful, dip them in chocolate, and flog them off to some French restaurant in your area. They would pay good money :-)

*munch-crunch*

Wintermoor

(Wintermoor! You showed Meiyu the pic of me with teeth clenched, and growling! Sheesh!) (One of my favorites!)

As for dipping g'hoppers in chocolate....sounds like time to get rid of the guinea pigs...I'm losing money!

Meiyu, Welcome to DG! Looks to me like you're gonna feel right at home!

Hahaha, Wintermoor...Somehow I just didn't think so! I was a little worried that he may have been a she, though, hehe...cuz I realized there was nowhere that indicated he was a he, he just sounded like he'd be a man. So, was my first intuition close??? I'm with you, Wintermoor, I'd like to party with Horseshoe!!! Colorful and articulate, that's for sure!!! I'm not sure I'll ever get the image of him steering his guinea-pig patrol towards the scene of the latest grasshopper invasion!! And now, I've got you pictured chopping on grasshoppers with your mouth open, drooling chocolate saliva down the side of you mouth, laughing at Horseshoe's jokes!!! I'll bet you're not the type to sit quietly in the corner either, eh??? Oh, this is gonna be fun, I can tell!!!

Horseshoe...don't mean to talk about you in front of everyone!!! (next time we'll do it behind your back, okay?) You'll have to tell me when your next round-up appearance will be, and get that book or screen play or something underway soon!!!! That way you'll have time to spend your millions!!!

Oh, this thread is TOO MUCH FUN! Meiyu, you're so cute! I love that picture ~ "The Great Green Grasshopper Guinea Pig Patrol!" ROTFLMBO!!!

Yeah, you should read some more of 'Shoe's stories, girl! He's our court jester. http://davesgarden.com/showthread/249782.html Winter's the jester sidekick ~ no funny hat, but maybe a skirt... http://davesgarden.com/journal/viewentry/18993/index.html(Ouch, Winter!!!! I caught that rotten 'mater right in the kisser! You've got great aim!)

Cool!...Have never seen Wintermoor in a kilt. Nice sequence of pics and info!

I've done a song for years called "The Scotsman's Kilt"...thought it might be a bit too risque for the Tenn Roundup so held off. However, don't tempt me at the next one folks!...you might be justly rewarded!

http://www.guineahensrus.com/
This is a real Guinea hen that Shoe is talking about.

hahaha...just got back from a long road trip, and have missed this site for a whole four days...it was like the first time i had to leave my boyfriend! course, once you marry them it's fun to leave once in a while...hahaha!
i wasn't surprised to see wintermoor in a skirt..hehe...i thought he was a she!! i find that i tend to assume that unless told otherwise, or get some other indication, like just the way horseshoe talks and the nickname just sounds masculine....i pictured him much bigger bellied though!!! are any of you going to that round-up thingy that i think "eyes" is doing by the border of texas and oklahoma? i think its in october? peter just told me today that we can go, so i'm gonna get plans made this week...would be a blast if all of you are there, but it could be trouble...hahahaha!!!!