Snakes

While unappealing and capable of evoking fear in many of us, most snakes are truly beneficial to the home gardener. Even poisonous snakes have use in a garden so long as care is taken around areas where these snakes have been known to roam and hunt.

Some snakes keep the numbers of pesky insects in check especially smaller snakes like the garter snakes and ribbon snakes. Garter snakes, like all snakes, are carnivorous. Their diet consists of almost any creature that they are capable of overpowering: insects, slugs, snails, earthworms, leeches, rodents, lizards, amphibians, and baby birds. When near the water, they will eat fish. The ribbon snake in particular loves frogs (including tadpoles), readily eating them despite their strong chemical defenses. Food is swallowed whole. Although dining mostly upon live animals, they will sometimes eat eggs or even carrion as well. If disturbed, a garter snake may strike, and will often coil, but typically it will hide its head and flail its tail about.

Many bigger snakes keep the populations of rodents like rabbits, squirrels and even groundhogs and gophers to a minimum this reducing the damage sometimes done to gardens by these critters.


Ladybugs

Those cute little red and black insects crawl along our plants searching for food. A main source of food for them are aphids. Aphids are damaging to many plants and it is common for them to be known as plant lice.


Praying Mantis

Praying mantises are terrific pest exterminators. They keep down the population of bugs that are a threat to farming. A master of disguise, the praying mantis can be an able assistant to farmer and gardener. Camouflage is very important for the praying mantis' survival. Because they have so many enemies such as birds, they must blend in with their habitat to avoid being eaten. 

The praying mantis feeds mainly on damaging insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, butterflies, and spiders Some species of praying mantis have also been known to even eat small tree frogs, lizards, mice and small nesting birds.


Bees and Wasps

Most stinging wasps and bees are beneficial and should be preserved unless they pose a direct hazard to humans. Some, including the honey bee, are important pollinators essential for the propagation of plants, including many agriculturally important crops. Honey bees also produce honey and beeswax. Most wasps and hornets are efficient predators and help regulate destructive insect populations which might otherwise adversely affect our health, homes, or crops.