Enjoying Outside, Inside - Natural Pest Repellants

Kristie Ehrhardt • February 12, 2024

Pelargonium citronellum  by Gawie Malan

Okay, okay; having outside critters sneaking inside your house maybe doesn’t really count as “enjoying outside, inside” but it’s bound to happen when someone opens a door. I found some natural and maybe even pleasant ways to help keep those little buggers outside where they belong.

Most of us have probably been around a citronella candle to keep mosquitoes away but did you know that you can grow a citronella plant in your back yard or in a pot on your patio? Citronella essential oil comes from a type of lemongrass (C ymbopogon ) but there is also a citronella plant ( Pelargonium citronellum ) that is in the geranium family and can easily be grown in Northern California. Simply having the plant nearby doesn’t repel mosquitoes but if you “fluff” it up a bit to expose the oil or crush up a couple of leaves and rub the oil on your exposed skin, it should repel those nasty little guys. Side note, the citronella plant, also known as a mosquito plant, has also been known to repel black flies, fleas, and ticks too. And if that wasn’t a good enough reason to plant one, it’s bee and hummingbird friendly too!

If you have ant invaders, try and spice things up by sprinkling ground cinnamon, paprika or garlic around doors and windows where they can sneak in. You may have to repeat the application weekly to keep the spiciness fresh though and do watch out for your kitties and pups as the spices might repel them as well. And do keep in mind that garlic is harmful to dogs so maybe only use that in places where Fido’s nose can’t reach. If ants have already made their way into your house, try a one-to-one mixture of vinegar and water to wipe down areas where you found them. Ants leave a pheromone trail to help other ants find the food source and vinegar works to neutralize the PH level of that pheromone. Fun fact, if you squish an ant and take a whiff, you can actually smell the pheromone.

If your furry friend is adventurous and likes to explore areas where the vegetation is tall and thick, it can be pretty easy for them to carry hitch hikers like fleas and ticks back inside the house. Those buggers can be hard to spot on dogs and cats with long hair and even harder to get rid of. Using a few drops of essential oils on your pet’s neck can help repel them. Some good ones to try include:

  • Cedarwood - actually deadly to ticks and their larvae but safe for people and pets and it has a great musky, outdoorsy scent
  • Lavender - also toxic to ticks and tick larvae and smells so, so nice!
  • Peppermint - not only smells fresh but ticks (and rodents) hate it. Typically, kitties don’t care for it either so maybe make sure they’re ok with smelling like toothpaste before you put it on them because bathing a cat is no fun
  • Citronella - has already been hailed as a great mosquito repellant but combine it with Thyme essential oil and you’ve got a very effective at tick repellant
  • Pennyroyal - a robust member of the mint family but it’s best used on rugs or under patio cushions, not on skin
  • Garlic - also effective against ticks but nobody wants to smell like they’ve been in the kitchen all day so it’s best used on outdoor areas where you don’t stick your face

Fun fact, ticks are icky and hopefully you won’t find one but if you do, look closely. Bugs like beetles and ants have six legs but ticks have eight and are related to spiders.

If you’re finding cockroaches inside your house it’s because they like hanging out in nice places too. If you really prefer they NOT be inside your house, try diatomaceous earth which is widely available in the gardening section of your local hardware store. Diatomaceous earth is the fossilized remains of diatoms; minute aquatic organisms that have accumulated the bottoms of oceans, lakes, rivers and streams. It’s essentially nontoxic to fish, wildlife, pets, and people but kills all kinds of things we don’t really like having inside including cockroaches, crickets, fleas, ticks and spiders. It works as a desiccant and dehydrates them from the inside out. It can be used indoors or out and even though it’s non-toxic to pets, I’d still only use it in places where curious pets won’t disturb it.

Hopefully these ideas will help keep the outside critters from enjoying the inside of your home.

-Kristie Ehrhardt ( kehrhardt@tuleyome.org )

Tuleyome Land Conservation Program Manager

Looking for more articles like this? Click the hashtag below!

RECENT ARTICLES

Beavers, otters, and more – new Conaway Ranch game camera footage!

By Geoff Benn • June 4, 2026
A beaver at Conaway Ranch We’ve got new footage from our game cameras at Conaway Ranch! This camera site was chosen by 4 th graders from Dingle Elementary during a recent field trip to Conaway. The camera is near the otter slide we’ve previously filmed, but is a few feet away from the entrance to the slide, allowing us to film the animals as they approach. We saw beaver, otter, a fox, a raccoon, and more! Click here to watch the video . Tuleyome works with Conaway Preservation Group to offer educational programs at Conaway Ranch, including programs for K-12 groups and the general public. If you have any questions about the game camera footage or our programs at Conaway, please reach out to Education Associate Geoff Benn at gbenn@tuleyome.org.

Policy Corner: It’s Time to Fight for Our Public Lands

June 4, 2026
The current administration has released its proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year. It proposes drastic cuts to our public land management agencies. The proposed budget would significantly reduce funding for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), including a 34% cut to its total budget, a 27% staff cut, a 76% cut to the National Conservation Lands, which encompass 38 million acres of protected public lands, a 61% cut to recreation management (including campsites and trails), and total elimination of funding for cultural resources and wilderness management. It also would shift priorities towards extractive uses of public lands instead of conservation and clean energy. The administration’s budget would also drastically cut funding to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), eliminate several offices, state and federal research stations (six in California) and transfer all fire fighting to BLM. Notably, in the face of all these cuts, the budget would increase funding for extractive industries; funding for timber sales would increase 450%. The reductions and policy changes would impair these agencies’ abilities to protect public lands, cultural resources, fresh water sources, and wildlife, while also impairing access to them and recreation on them. The President’s budget is now in Congress, where committees in both the Senate and the House of Representatives are amending and voting on the bills in preparation for full House and Senate votes. Now is the time to take action for our public lands and the environment by urging Congress to reject the proposed budget and maintain funding for BLM, USFS, and programs that protect and steward our public lands. Let your representatives know that you oppose the cuts to BLM and USFS and the rollbacks to our public land protections. And let them know why these special places are important to them. You can voice your opinions to Congress in multiple ways. You can: Call their offices Send a letter to Congress - we’ve pulled together a template for you to use, but don’t forget to let them know why public lands are important to you – download sample letter here Contact them on social media Meet with a representative in their District offices. Don’t know how to reach them, go to Congress.gov and find their phone numbers, addresses, district offices, websites and so much more if you’re interested. Now is the time to speak up for our public lands! Mary Lamborn (Communications Intern) and Sandra Schubert (Executive Director)

Monumental Questions - Another Monumental Vegetable?

By Kristie Ehrhardt • June 4, 2026
You betcha! Wild carrot, also known as Queen Anne’s Lace, is a common sight within the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument region. With its straight and sturdy stalk, bright green, frilly leaves and white, flat-topped flower clusters, it is identifiable even from the limited viewing scope of a traveling car. Queen Anne’s Lace ( Daucus carota ) belongs to the Apiaceae (carrot) family. All members of this family display flower clusters arranged in an upside-down umbrella shape called an umbel. It is native to Europe and is the plant that tasty cultivated carrots originated from. It was brought to North America for its medicinal purposes and has since naturalized across the continent in disturbed and natural areas in mountains, valleys and coastal areas. It can be so prolific that it outcompetes native plants and can also be mildly toxic to livestock. Queen Anne’s Lace is an herbaceous biennial (it doesn’t flower until its second year and then dies) that can reach up to four feet tall in optimum conditions. The stem of the plant is bright green, straight and sturdy and is covered in short, coarse hairs which is a very helpful identifier. I recently learned a clever and helpful quip that I will never forget: Queen Anne has hairy legs (referring to the hair along the stems of the plant)! The tiny, white flowers all originate from the same point and splay out in an airy, flat topped cluster (umbel). Another identifying feature is that oftentimes (but not always) the flower umbels often have a single dark purple flower in the center of the cluster. This purple flower is not always present but when it is it can be used to positively identify the plant as Queen Anne’s lace. The leaves are finely divided which gives them a lacy appearance and look almost identical to our cultivated carrot plants. Although wild carrots are edible, the whitish tap root isn’t as robust or flavorful as the cultivated carrots we are used to. Warning! There are plants such as poison hemlock that are incredibly similar looking so eating things in nature is never advised unless you can absolutely identify them! Poison hemlock has basically the same growth pattern as wild carrot however the stem of poison hemlock lacks the tiny hairs and mature plants have very definite purple splotches up and down the stems. All parts of poison hemlock are toxic but it is particularly potent in the seeds and roots. Poison hemlock is notoriously known as the poison that killed the Greek philosopher Socrates. Edible cousins of wild carrot include plants such as caraway, celery, parsley and parsnips. Although the root of the wild carrot plant is edible, contact with the sap may produce an allergic reaction in some individuals that are sensitive to it. Native pollinators such as butterflies and bees appreciate the abundance of flowers for their nectar. Wild carrot is currently blooming in all its glory so keep an eye out for it on your next trip to our favorite monument!