<p>I do not know who said it first, but it is so true! Nevermind the wars our country is engaged in. I’m finding myself stuck in a quagmire of my own: an endless battle with cottontails and, to a lesser degree, squirrels that are devouring my precious plants. The bunnies are so bold and gutsy that they’d just sit in the middle of my garden, with the shepherd just a few feet away, and munch on whatever they’d like. The dog does not chase them, either - may be he remembers our pet rabbit. Deer do not venture onto my property because of, I suspect, the presence of the shepherd soundly asleep on the back porch. However, small pests have a field day in my garden! Sweet pepper plants, eggplants and beets were mowed down to the ground as soon as I planted them. Fortnately, tomato plants and onions seem to taste yucky to the cottontails, and the squirrels avoid them, too.
I’ve been contemplating to surround my garden beds with chicken wire fence. I know, it is an ugly looking solution, but I could not think of a better one. My technology loving H though differently, and in a couple of hours on a sunny weekend in July the garden was surrounded by an electric fence made of two almost invisible wires just a few inches off the ground to deter the furry mowers. The manual said it would not kill the animals. I personally tested the zapping power of the fence to make sure it was not going to electrocute the critters (it felt like a pinch). The dog stepped on it a couple of times and learned to steer clear of it. The fence seemed to work and saved my second attempt at radishes, but unfortunately, it was too late into the planting season to get another set of peppers and beets going. No dead cottontails.
However, his past weekend, I discoverd a dead squirrel hanging on the wires. H was summoned to disposed of the deceased, and when he picked up the critter, the squirrel was holding onto the wire with its teeth! Here is what I think happened. Apparently, it was going for the low hanging plums next to the wires, and got zapped! The stupid squirrel turned around and bit the “attacker”… Sigh. Stupid, stupid squirrel.
What do you do when garden pests are after your precious crops? Please share your stories.</p>
<p>Son shoots them with a 22. Squirrels only. We don’t have bunnies. We have plenty of deer though, but they only come through in the winter when they are desperate for foliage and go for trees and shrubs in the yard.</p>
<p>This year, We “had” an overgrown mole that dug like a gopher. A solitary mole too.</p>
<p>My question, How do single moles find other moles. Do they wait until their holes intersect by chance?</p>
<p>Yep, it’s a war.
A war I’m always on the threshold of losing.
I have had ground squirrels, gophers, deer, badgers, skunks, wild boar, wild turkeys, quail, the neighbor’s dogs and once a neighbor’s 1,200 lb. angus bull all attacking my garden each in their own way. Add in the hassles of heavy clay soil, no rain since March, the well is half mile away and 400’ lower in elevation than the garden, temps over 100 half the days this past summer, clouds of yellow jacket wasps and regular visits (like today) by rattlesnakes… </p>
<p>And just why do I go work on it most everyday…</p>
<p>Because it’s fun and relaxing…</p>
<p>I’d guess when your squirrel bit the wire the jolt caused an involuntary muscle contraction closing his jaws and it couldn’t let go. That’s why you test it with the back of your hand.</p>
<p>For me the war is with Gophers and gray squirrels.</p>
<p>After 5 years, I am happy to report that I am finally am gopher free. Of course that means they will be coming over from the neighbors as I type this - but I haven’t had a single gopher in 3 months.</p>
<p>Key was a pair of great traps - the black hole and a willingness to use them the minute signs of the gopher appeared. I must have caught more than 100 gophers with these traps.</p>
<p>Squirrels are another matter - the golden retriever has been trained to chase them - so for the most part they stay away - except for the months of September and October when the Walnut tree is in full production mode. Then they brave the teeth and make a mad dash for the trunk. Once up there, they eat all day long, pausing occasionally to laugh (chatter) at the golden barking madly below. </p>
<p>Haven’t figured out how to keep them out of the tree and avoid the mess - so I just pick it the debris and move on.</p>
<p>I quit growing tomatoes when the squirrels pulled the green ones (bigger than the squirrels) and ran off with them. They would suck out the inside and leave the rest of the tomato in my yard. Our dog chases them when he’s outside, but is inside most of the time.
The chipmunks are a problem too, and the occasional possum and raccoon. We had a bunny a few years ago but he hasn’t been around in a while.
I gave up on an edible garden and just grow lots of flowering plants. None of the creatures seem to want to eat what I grow.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>MoleDate.com</p>
<p>over30, my squirrels do not touch tomatoes. I found that planting tulips is a losing battle, and switched to daffodils which have inedible bulbs. The squirrels still dig them up, look at them - “yuck, not edible”, and leave them scattered on the ground! H says he’ll make me wire cages for my bulbs this year.</p>
<p>the neighbors have pin oaks, so the squirrels are busy with their acorns.
Diversion is the trick.</p>
<p>Are you counting slugs/snails, cat “poo” and errant “gardeners” ? The stories I could tell!</p>
<p>What about ants, moth, butterflies? They are the ones I have to deal with now.</p>
<p>I have just conceded the entire 2 acres to the gophers.</p>
<p>We live in the dense burbs of Long Island, so you wouldn’t think it would be an issue, but–
out of my six tomato plants, I got only TWO tomatoes. There were plenty, but the crows get them as soon as they start to turn from green. Daughter’s little dog gets the ones they drop. I hate to put netting over the garden because I’m afraid a bird might get caught.</p>
<p>Not too much trouble with bunnies or squirrels. Surprisingly a red-tailed hawk built a nest in the huge pine tree across from our kitchen this year, so very few rodents in the yard.</p>
<p>This is the time of year for half-price trees and shrubs, BTW, if anyone’s looking. Got a viburnum (best smell ever) and lilac yesterday.</p>
<p>A red-tail hawk couple nested very close to my property - did not make a dent in my bunny problem. Sigh. At least the nasty, noisy crows are gone! Crows used to be a huge issue last summer waking us up at 5 or so in the morning until we bought a stainess steel gas grill. We assembled the grill, and since the weather was nice, we left it uncovered on the back porch overnight. We could not believe we slept until 8 the next morning! The shiny grill turned out to be a perfect scarecrow. Then the red-tailed hawks drove the crows out of the area.</p>
<p>I agree - it is a good time to buy trees and shrubs, since they still can be planted. Nurseries are clearing out them out so they do not have to worry about them during the cold months when no one buys plants. Japanese maples are half price at Molbaks.</p>
<p>Earwigs ate holes in all my basil leaves. The raccoons ate all my grapes and to add insult to injury, pooped the digested grapes on my deck. One raccoon was so bold, it came to my front door and laid it’s head on the front step for a whole evening. :eek:</p>
<p>Wow! Some of you really are waging a war. Makes me more complacent about the wildlife we’ve seen wandering through our yard – a flock of wild turkeys, deer (4-6 at a time), red fox, and a coyote. (And, of course, many, many squirrels. Our poor dog never gives up trying to catch them – but if he did, he’d probably be more scared than the squirrel!) Most just meander through and move on through the woods. Even the deer don’t linger, so I guess the previous owner planted deer resistant stuff. BUT, sometimes I feel as if we’re living in a jungle – can’t keep up with the weeds.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention the rats - in the yard and in the attic! We’ve had to call a rat man twice to get rid of them. They knock stuff over, chew through everything and sometimes die a smelly death.
I went to light the gas grill one evening and when I opened the lid a giant rat scrambled out. I used the oven instead.</p>
<p>We just let the circle of life spin. Moles all over in the backyard. Birds nest in the window frame of master bedroom. Something scurrying in the attic. Ants all over the deck and fence. We waged war for years and now just co-exist. The roof hasn’t fallen in. Also letting the backyard go completely natural - no more trying to grow grass. I tell people I’m encouraging native flora. Still mow the grass in the front and thank goodness for my DH’s knack with hydrangeas. Otherwise, we are complete non-gardeners.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Six feet tall with very long incisors??</p>
<p>Exactly! (Not sure what he did with his tail)</p>