Killer mosquitoes, puma, scorpions, flies, and now a python

[gpop]

Over that last month, it seems that the animals are moving into BA.
(There's a joke in there somewhere )

Just caught the tail end of a story about authorities "beginning" a search for a rogue python. Last night,after over a month hearing about a puma terrorizing zona norte; they said that the authorities FINALLY have a plan to trap the critter. WTF!!! How long does the paperwork actually take?!?! hehehe.
A couple of days ago, Cronica (cuz... you know...they're always good for a laugh) was doing a story on a sudden outbreak of scorpions, and a horrendous amount of flies taking over a community that is near a chicken farm.
Seems that the climate is getting A LOT more tropical and the wildlife is taking notice. Or maybe its a CK plan for getting more votes .

 

[CarverFan]

We're being plagued by giant cockroaches. The worst offenders...

 

[Davidglen77]

I have never seen a cockroach in my apartments, it's really weird, I have had mosquitoes, flies, milipedes, centipedes, moths, bees, butterflies, worms, a bird and yes even a bat come into the several apartments and store I have had in Buenos Aires, but surprisingly never a roach. Being from New York City, I was really familiar with roaches, the biggest ones were in then nicest apartment I lived in on Central Park West!

 

[james p]

The record heat and constant rinsing of sidewalks by porteros is causing the problem. It will all be over soon with winter settling in. Try putting a little roach gel on the grate of your floor drains.....on the underneath side if you have little kids or pets....as for the moths be sure to pick those little caccons off of your walls as soon as you see them....for fruitflies, cover your fruit with a thin towel and dont leave any glasses with wine or juice out.....rinse them right away. I speak as a former Miamian.

 

[gpop]

The giant roaches have always been here. They are a pain because they fly around and land on your table when you are having an asado; but it's the smaller, German roaches that are the ones that dominate in filthy locations and breed in vast numbers.

I personally have issues with other pests on my potted lemon trees: white fly, and leaf miner (although, last year leaf miners were worse, this year... not so much).

@Davidglen77, some of those critters are somewhat useful (biological pest control) if they don't get out of control. Bats eat tons of mosquitoes, so do dragon flies. Worms... I can take them off you hands if you have no use for them, I can use them to condition the soil for my trees. Bees pollinate (but watch out for the huge completely black ones... they are very aggressive and do not tolerate humans getting too close).

I teach my daughter not to be scared of the little lizard running around on the walls at night because they eat up the incredible amount of ants BA is known for.

But the point of my original post: some of the wildlife appearing lately in the news are not "usual" for this latitude. It is getting hotter. Dengue carrying mosquitoes were more dominant more to the north, now their distribution is moving south.

The python and the puma?!?! Seems odd for those species to be in sub-urban locations. I think maybe some people here just don't know how to maintain pets (exotic or otherwise). The scorpions... that one really confuses me.
Pet care and responsibility is ridiculous here, and civic animal control is a mystery to me. I've had problems with stray and feral cats getting on my terassa at night and there doesn't seem to be anywhere I can call to remove the offending felines.

 

[CarverFan]

I've had a problem with cochinilla on several trees in my garden, a white fungus. It killed off half of my beautiful jasmin tree, now a shadow of it's former self. I was advised to spray with a pesticide called Mamboreta, hopefully the rest will survive.

 

[gpop]

I've had a problem with cochinilla on several trees in my garden, a white fungus. It killed off half of my beautiful jasmin tree, now a shadow of it's former self. I was advised to spray with a pesticide called Mamboreta, hopefully the rest will survive.

I used to use liquid dish detergent mixed with garlic water to spray the underside of ALL the leaves on my lemon trees it works very well, but frankly, after 5 years of that... this year I am just letting nature take it's course and see what happens if I don't use anything this time around.

So far I have a few more than last year, and they are larger (a few fist sized) considering that they are potted 7' trees that will probably not grow taller than that within the pots (harvest is roughly 30-40 lemons). I don't like to use any kind of chemicals. Mild dish soap is great for cleaning EVERYTHING!