With groundhogs I’ve had a lot of success using pommelo rinds. They aren’t in season right now, but you might be able to use grapefruit rinds. I found out it worked by sheer luck. I wanted a place to put them and chose a groundhog hole in a place we didn’t want it. The first time (maybe two) the critter just dug it out, so I replaced it. S/he gave up and moved their hole.
We have places we let groundhogs live (being nature lovers) and other places where we don’t want them (damage to buildings, open fields ponies run in, etc). We still kill a bunch who leave their “territory,” but I’ve used the pommelo trick more than once to get them to abandon places.
A huge maple sheds tons of leaves each fall. Small backyard. We sometimes put down bird netting (flat on the ground) in order to simply roll up the leaves.
In looking to order some, I read raccoons and opossums don’t like the feel of the netting underfoot, will stay away. The stuff can be quite inexpensive. Less than $10.
We have raccoons and opossum who traverse our yard nightly, walk the top of the back fence. Wild turkey who visited. Skunks who scurry when I walk the dog. And, we’re at the edge if a smallish city.
Operation “Bye Bye Rocky Raccoon” has begun. Ammonia soaked rags and tennis balls in spots where he left me gifts. Cayenne pepper on the dirt and gravel around the house. Let’s see what happens!
It took 3 applications of ammonia to stop a groundhog from digging under our fence. Full strength 2 qt. bottles each time. Poured into mulch along the fence.
Hmmm, Irish Spring 1/2 bars of soup sound like a fairly neat option to try, and pomolo rinds. Fascinating things we learn. Maybe we can use those to discourage the neighbor’s cat from using our yard as her litter box.
As an ecologist, and as somebody who is committed to conservation, I heartily approve. If I could, I would find extra “costumers” for the hogs. The more invasive hogs that are removed, the better it is for the rest of the wildlife. If the removal is both fun and tasty, so much the better.
As an ecologist, and as somebody who is committed to conservation, I heartily approve. If I could, I would find extra “costumers” for the hogs. The more invasive hogs that are removed, the better it is for the rest of the wildlife. If the removal is both fun and tasty, so much the better.
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The Tuscans are very good at transforming their wild boar into tasty dishes and salumi.
We are having a tough time getting rid of deer. My husband has tried everything. He even extended a fence above our other one several feet, but the deer crashed into it and came over anyways. He is now surrounding all the important vegetation with fencing and trying to plant things they don’t like to eat. If anyone has an idea on how to get rid of deer, it would be appreciated. Or how to get rid of Kai.
Raccoons are nasty. I hope you find a way to get rid of them. They are vicious and will bite you. Be careful.
It has been a week and Operation “Bye Bye Rocky Raccoon” has been successful. I have not had any gifts left for me since I put out the ammonia and cayenne pepper. Thanks to those who suggested the ammonia soaked rags (as that was something I had not seen in my google searching.) Can always count on CC to get you the answer!
@kiddie - Thanks for the feedback. It’s great you found a solution. Is this method safe in a dog yard? My neighbor has critters under her deck that drive the dog crazy… but she has mentioned that the dog is a big odd, eats some of her flowers.
I think dogs would not like the ammonia smell any more than the critters you are trying to get rid of. So you wouldn’t want to use it in a place you want your dog to enjoy.
So after something like 10 days of nothing, we found some dropping on the deck steps today. This was right after seeing a big black cat in our yard. Thinking now it was cat droppings all the time. We refreshed the ammonia and hopefully the cat will go elsewhere again.
We have had big problems with deer eating vegetation, even stuff they supposedly don’t like. My rhododendrons all started to look like bonsi trees with all the lower branches gone. And they have been eating my roses. What I have found that works is cayenne pepper. I make a big batch by adding 1/4 cup to a gallon of water, let it soak overnight. I then spray it on the stuff I do not want them to eat. You have to respray each time it rains, but it worked.
