Not for the squeemish or the "huggers"...

Sorry, but if you are one of those that believes we should embrace all the problems that rodents, critters, and yes even birds bring with you, then this is not your thread to watch or read.

Having said that, if you read on, you relinquish the right to complain or chastise me for doing what I am doing.

Agreed?

Have I given you ample time to bail and find another thread?

Ok, then, you've been warned because I know there are lots of you out there in SFG land.

Too late now.

No, really, it's too late now......




I am so sick and tired of planting seeds just to come out the next day and find them dug up. And, no, Boffer (cause I know YOU are going to read this), I'm not going to build a bunch of TT's. I am so sick and tired of my seeds not coming up in the nice little places I planted them....and wondering if they even will....and when they don't, replanting the square after losing a week or two.

Fall is a precious time of year. It's our last shot at our beloved cool season veggies. And, timing for us in the Midwest is pretty critical, especially after a hotter than hot summer and the forecasters, including the Farmer's Almanac, predicting an early onset to winter/frosts. I'd prefer to not waste any more time.

So, Murphy, or his squirrel cousin, has got to go. I don't like killing animals that are just doing their thing, either, but sometimes enough is enough. And, I've had enough.

I'm not the friendly "trap and release" kind of guy. I know how that story goes. They come back. So, I trap, I poison, I deter, and I fully intend on ridding myself of the issue once and for all.

As my boy Kurt Russel says in Tombstone, "...you tell them the LAW is comin'....and hell's comin' with me! You hear me? Hell's comin' with me!!"

I won't show the pictures of the sacred. But, just know that I put a couple of rat traps inside the hoops where only the smaller critter can go. If he had just stayed out of the hoops, I would still be thinking it's my dog, or a raccoon, neither of which would I ever want to trap. But, now that he has eaten holes in my bird netting to gain access to my squares, he has declared war......

and, I'll win.

I hear squirrel makes good eatin'... but if it's a 'coon, I recommend parboiling before roasting. I'm just sayin'

BBG, can I join your army? I've gone out now 2 mornings in a row to find 1 or 2 squares dug up. I know they're supposed to "squirrel away" their nuts for the winter, but NOT IN MY GARDEN! I was planning to go buy what I need for hoops and tulle, thinking that would help, but now it sounds like that won't even work! Hmmm, mousetraps, huh?

i've made "covers" for my beds out of hardware cloth, aka rabbit wire. They are sturdy enough to stand on their own, and now have NO problems. I got tired of the birds pecking the new seedlings , rabbits, squirrels nipping the tops off of my plants. Mine are about 9" high. When the plants start hitting them, I take them off, and I'm usually good if a bird takes a peck or two. i also put my shade cloth over them and pin with clothes pins, and have lettuce in mid summer! You can water right through them, and use them over and over. Kind of expensive at first, but they should last a loooong time!!

My issues seem so small now compared to what you've been through. Here's to hoping better days ahead 4 you.

ps...i have no problem at all trapping them! They can eat elsewhere! the garden is off limits!!

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:...As my boy Kurt Russel says in Tombstone, "...you tell them the LAW is comin'....and hell's comin' with me! You hear me? Hell's comin' with me!!"...

Go get 'em, Elmer

I might have to do something similar about the birds around my house... Or become the lady with the bird killing army of cats!

I reinforced my critter cages by hooking a couple of mini bungee cords around the bottom of the chicken wire cage right above the wood frame. Hook the other end to the outside bottom of the box right at soil level. A little nail at soil level would make it easier to hook onto, haven't done that yet. Anyway the bungee's metal end barely catches the bottom of the wood. So if the bungee is jostled a bit it snaps off quite fiercly and seems to be the right deterrent. Found a couple of bungees snapped off the next morning and little patch of fur nearby. I suppose the critter was quite startled, but I'm ok with that. Do I get tired of removing and replacing cages? Well yes but its worth it. So far zero critter damage from wildlife or my beloved barn cats. Little frogs still manage to come and go : )

Well, alright! There ARE some people in support of Amendment 12gague. I can just picture us now...a bunch of Bill Murray dressing, backyard tromping crazies running around to trap varmits, but all the while yelling at each other, "Don't step on the soil! Mel says to never step on the soil!"

Something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv87T1CQF8E

Varmit Kong....lol. However, there will be rules to this warfare. I am not trapping anything outside the garden. Only when you step in the garden is your arse mine! That, and I don't want any business with coons and oppossums. If those are causing the trouble, I will abort quickly. My trap will only break a paw, and likely really, really serve to tick those potentially rabid guys off. The hole in my garden, though, is too small to be anything bigger than a squirrel. So, I'm not worried.

I woke up this morning and went outside to check. Yup, got him! But, it wasn't a chipmunk like I thought. Those of us that have noticed the activity happens overnight probably realize this animal must be nocturnal. Tree squirrels aren't all that nocturnal from what I know. And, neither are chipmunks. What I caught is definitely a nighttime prowler.......a field mouse.

Yup, all that work and anger for a field mouse. Maybe I'll just contract an owl or snake? I'll probably keep nailing those suckers all autumn long. And, that's fine with me. All the more I don't need to worry about attempting to get in the house when the weather really cools off.

Hmmmmmm, maybe I can start a "bait station" and catch some really cool pics of owls or hawks? I've heard that's how the photogs get the great shots of those predatory birds.

Sort of like this guy has been reported to do... http://www.pbase.com/raymondjbarlow/image/91383746

So, if we are keeping score, we need to adjust this morning's post. That score was BBG1, VarmitKong 0.

However, the VarmitKong has tied things up. Looks like they aren't going without a vicious fight! I came home for lunch and found my hoops collapsed in the middle and the trap sprung and licked clean. That one was a stumper.

But, the logical conclusion is that the VarmitKong has now infiltrated my camp and brainwashed my dog. My dog is the only thing big enough to jump in the hoops, collapse them, spring the trap (accidentally upon hoops collapse), and lick the trap clean. And, my dog is just dumb enough to smell the peanut butter and jump in there after it.

BBG 1, VarmitKong 1.

Now, to the task of reprogramming my dog to serve US again...

BBG, I think your dog was trying to catch the varmint messing with your garden & jumped into your garden after it! He was just trying to be a hero and help his master! Probably some other critters came along after he accidentally, while jumping in to try to save your garden, sprung the trap. Those critters probably licked the trap clean! That's my theory, anyways!

sherryeo wrote:BBG, I think your dog was trying to catch the varmint messing with your garden & jumped into your garden after it! He was just trying to be a hero and help his master! Probably some other critters came along after he accidentally, while jumping in to try to save your garden, sprung the trap. Those critters probably licked the trap clean! That's my theory, anyways!

Certainly one way of looking at it. But,...

I zip-tied all the netting back and reset the trap for tonight. However, I let the dog out while it was still light. I THOUGHT I could get the jump on the dog by replacing the peanut butter with sunflower seeds...something she couldn't smell.

No dice. She jumped in again! Somehow, she dodged the trap again, too. However, this time, she took it out in the yard and chewed the thing up. She still has a ton of puppy in her and likely saw a new plaything in the yard....and just had to investigate.

So, the VarmitKong delivers a crushing, but not fatal, blow to the BBG. BBG 1, VarmitKong 2. The dog may be too far gone to reclaim for our side. This requires some serious thinking.....

(This stuff is too crazy to make up! LOL)

Ohhhh, no, puppy!!! I tried to take up for you and there you go and leave indisputable evidence!! Guess you're on your own now.

Tough one, BBG. Do you think you'll be able to keep her?

Absolutely! She ain't good eatin' yet.

So, I'm in the process of building a few raised beds (after reading Mel's book!) and I'm on here researching how to stop voles. Good thing I came across this post though, because my property is literally teaming with squirrels and I hadn't thought of all the damage they can do! Literally, this winter, I even identified one of their nest on the property, and the barn owl that I listen to all night must not really enjoy squirrel. So it appears I'm going to have to take after my grandmother, who at 83 years old was still shooting squirrels out her kitchen window with a pellet gun and calling her kids to dispose of the evidence! Ohh well, better to know what enemies I might be facing and plan in advance in the building stage!

Oh No! I'm a hugger!! Get me out of here! Oh no... I read to much... it's to late for me now...

Hahaha I couldn't resist! Just don't post AFTER pictures is all I beg for. I hope you get the critter (not the dog).

kgooding wrote:...So it appears I'm going to have to take after my grandmother, who at 83 years old was still shooting squirrels out her kitchen window with a pellet gun...

One of the squirrel family living in my good neighbors 100+ y/o Maple carried that pretty one home with him/her.
I could only watch the carnage and cuss!

This year I'm gonna HURT something! I'm gonna bring the PAIN!

I, fortunately, haven't had to get out the pellet gun..but I will! Right now I am one of those terrible people whose cats roam..so no mice, no squirrels, no bunnies dare roam my garden!

Rofl..before you fuss..they aren't really my cats...they are dumped ones that have adopted me! So I bring them food and they bring me gifts of ....rabbit, squirrel, rats, and rodent type parts...ewwwwwww....

I am definitely going on a chipmunk and squirrel "elimination" spree this spring. Little jerks hop up there in broad daylight and start pulling things out! I'll see them from the window and go running.

I'm considering rigging a device like one my uncle has employed to keep squirrels out of his birdfeeders. He has a deck with lots of feeders hanging off the side. One feeder in particular attracts the squirrels. So he screwed a piece of metal to the deck rail and wired it up so that if a squirrel is standing on the metal on the deck rail and reaches out and touches the metal feeder while still in contact with the rail, it zaps him! He doesn't have such a high voltage running so that it kills them, just to stun them. And you have to be touching both metal pieces to get zapped, so the birds landing on either piece are fine. Now I just need to think of a way to get the chipmunks without zapping my dogs.........

Thankfully the squirrels around here stay out of the yard, as the dogs do NOT like them! Though they do sit on top of the 6' tall fence and "tease" the dogs...I've only seen one on the ground in the past 7 years here.

Otherwise I have no problem adding them to the stew pot!

Yesterday morning the push in the ground six foot tall multiple point bird feeder was leaning over worse then the tower of Pizza .

On investigating there was a neat hole in the ground 3 & 1/2 inches across and about five inches deep at the base of the push in the ground stake.

Pooch had a good sniff around and intently followed the trail of the perpetrator to the fence.
" Grey Squizzers have struck at number 83 " ... devious legal means for their early demise are inhand .
( Grey squirrels are legally classed as vermin in the UK , you are encouraged to help remove them to try and allow the native red squizzer to make a come back .)

plantoid wrote:Yesterday morning the push in the ground six foot tall multiple point bird feeder was leaning over worse then the tower of Pizza .

On investigating there was a neat hole in the ground 3 & 1/2 inches across and about five inches deep at the base of the push in the ground stake.

Pooch had a good sniff around and intently followed the trail of the perpetrator to the fence.
" Grey Squizzers have struck at number 83 " ... devious legal means for their early demise are inhand .
( Grey squirrels are legally classed as vermin in the UK , you are encouraged to help remove them to try and allow the native red squizzer to make a come back .)

"Tree Rats", here!

Ew, Voles. They really like Mel's Mix, and start swarming in the spring warmup... I am buying another roll of hardware cloth next weekend.

Here's my tale of woe from last year:
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t6089-moles-voles-and-holes

Well, we have a roaming cat, too, so not many problems with squirrels. She will chase them, but has never caught one. But at least they haven't messed with the garden so far. Or have they?? I went out to the SFG yesterday and saw two big, fat tomatoes on the ground next to the garden - half eaten! We also have a chicken coop in the yard and have had problems in the past with 'coons. Hope nobody squeamish is still reading.....my husband traps them and then they go for a little swim in the pond....after a few minutes, he pulls the rope in and voila! No more problem! We also bought one of those sensors where the one end is nailed to the oak tree and when anything crosses the beam the alarm sounds in our room. I'm thinking to put one out on the SFG.'

I've heard llamas are good deterrents.....