Danged &%$#@+(^$ Critters!

[GoDawgs]

They have also been going after my sweet potato vines. They ate all of the leaves off of the young plants, leaving only the stems. I immediately caged the plants but anytime a leaf protrudes through the wire it gets eaten off.. The vines are going to be crowded inside of these cages but hopefully I will still get some potatoes. Luckily I grow bush type sweet potatoes although the vines can still reach 3' in length.

Maybe a small trellis and grow vertically? The bunnies will get the lowest leaves but not the rest.

[brownrexx]

That sounds like a good idea @GoDawgs

[karstopography]

@brownrexx I don’t know how common badgers are in Texas. The range maps have badgers being found in much of Texas, but, I’m on the extreme eastern edge of the range according to the maps.

Evidently, badgers tend to be mostly nocturnal. Looks like they range as far east as Central Ohio, but can be found in all the western states, much of the midwest, parts of Canada and Mexico. Badgers are absent from much of the South, Mid-Atlantic and North East.

https://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail ... AMAJF04010

[Tormato]

Most of the critters know I'm a crazy old coot and leave me alone.

Us, too.

[bower]

Harvested a bed of soup peas and hulless barley yesterday - not a moment too soon. Soon as I stepped inside the chicken wire and cut the first pea plants I saw a handful of pods laying on the ground and emptied. Further down the row the later peas which aren't fully ripe had been chewed or pecked on the vine. Really not sure who the gleaner is, but I left a few peas for them and small barley heads, being very very satisfied to walk away with the lion's share of the crop, for a change.
The heat and drought definitely has a big effect on the animals. In the evening I watched from the window, small rabbit sneaking up to the beds, just to have a nibble of the grass outside the raised veggie bed, where some water had fallen from the hose. Toads sing out to me from their hiding places while I'm out watering the peas. Poor things, I have only set eyes on one toad since the cooler days of spring.
Heat is also the reason I have no moose troubles this summer. Moose cannot sweat. They have no way of coping with the heat except to stay close to a pond and cool off there. I have no idea what they're managing to eat, but I'll guess that things are bitten down pretty hard near the water if they are limiting their range to escape the heat. It's only ten minutes walk to the nearest pond here, uphill walk for the moose though. They have stayed away...

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

@Bower; WESconsin northwoods gardeners have ~ 5-6'/1.5-1.6 meter Deer Fences, I'm thinking that wouldn't cut it as a Moose Fence...

The Gotch

[bower]

Moose will walk right over a 4-5 foot fence if there isn't an easier way around it. There's a very long neck reach too so small enclosures won't work if it's something they especially want. Cabbage, I hear, is almost a moose obsession. Peas definitely threatening to be a close second in the vegetables. Mostly they ravage the fruit trees and berry bushes and other shrubs which is their natural diet.
It's shocking how nice my shrubs and trees are looking after a season without being bitten down twice!

[GoDawgs]

You learn something new every day... I didn't know moose couldn't sweat.

[brownrexx]

I don't usually get tomato hornworms but I found one today on my Sun Sugar plant. I noticed it because I saw something white. The poor thing was covered with about 50 wasp cocoons so I left it in place.

[bower]

I've read a lot about moose since they became a feature/liability in my trials of new crops. I know deer are related but I'm not sure how similar they are. Moose really aren't interested in the grass family. They are not ruminants and not interested in grass or grain per se. They have a very keen sense of smell but poor eyesight. This is really key to understanding how to keep them out of stuff. If they find it tasty ie it smells good to them, they will find a way. Somewhere in the archives I have video of a moose removing chicken wire from a hazelnut tree with its lips. Lips on the moose are prehensile and very adept - witness Romeo nibbling on the wild blackberries which are godawful thorny while his flame Rosebud was indeed nibbling the roses.
Due to the eyesight I presume, I have found it really easy to keep moose from trampling the garlic beds just by putting up a rail of dressed lumber. NOTE: yes it must be a square or rectangular dressed piece of wood. Rustic rails are far too similar to the usual suspects and you are parading through the woods here finding a way. Moose will follow the path of least resistance, I have no doubt about it, but if they don't see it, it ain't there.

Nothing but the same observation about rabbits (I use the term generically but I only know our snowshoe hare). Massive success in keeping rabbits out of beds that are fenced with row cover or fabric - I guess canvas would be ideal for wear but I happened to have a bolt of cheap muslin and made myself some covers to try out instead of row cover, and they worked great - even better afaict. Not sure if the shading is a bit more but that sure didn't matter in a hot summer. Chicken wire is the worst protection for rabbit, and squirrels also climb it in a flash. It allows them to see the thing they want to eat. And they really don't have good eyesight for the wire. I had one bed with very loose row cover on the back that blew down, chicken wire on the front. Rabbit lost no time getting in there when the back was down. I happened to go in there myself on some errand and surprised the rabbit (and myself) inside. That poor animal bounced off the chicken wire trying to get out four times, before it finally ran down the path and hopped neatly over the still standing row cover. It seems obvious to me, they don't see the wire. Once they discover it up close though they will find a way under or beat it down by jumping at it, if it was draped on just for show. Maybe squirrel did that but I think they are more sighted, correct if I'm wrong.

Squirrels here hate and respect row cover barrier because I suppose they can't climb it or predict how it will react to being climbed.

I have never had a problem with tomatoes except the year we had rats. Squirrels and rabbits and moose don't seem interested or it isn't worth the risk to come close to the house where my 20 or so outdoor plants are housed in some kind of structure. I haven't seen a squirrel yet on any trellis I built, but they have put on a show climbing the telephone pole at the bottom of the garden! and everything else.

Since I've been expanding the beds where I grow vegetables, I'm constantly thinking about the balance between ecosystem services I provide to the animals, and the things that they don't share in and are just for me. How much space can I take without a backlash. The hares are definitely interested in mowing down grain that you plant. I tried a couple of small unprotected patches this season, and they truly destroyed it. And I have assessed the limits of 'casual' draping of row cover and such. I do provide some significant ecosystem services here, with the perennials alone, which don't mind to be bitten or used in whatever way - the tansy for example which I don't even use for anything, is useful to animals for their pest insects like ticks and fleas. That moose last year was definitely here for pain relief, eating valerian flowers and even monkshood flowers! She had awful sores on her hind legs which internet tells me is a pest fly that bites them all summer and "they don't mind". Well actually they do. That super cute little rabbit also turned up a bit later with awful welts on its face. Some very nasty pest bites. If it helps them to nestle in the tansy and stupefy their pests well I have plenty enough land to let it grow in patches for their relief alone. Those are just a couple of examples of perennials that don't need water but deeper in the deck is water shortage itself. These animals are feeding on perennials not just enjoying a few habitat benefits, and everything needs water. Everything feels the pinch without water.

I have this huge power of water and a very large footprint on the land (for my size!), where I hope the animals can get what they need from the perennial landscape and allow me to get what I need in annual crops as well. So we shall see, but I think I need to expand the ecosystem services part if I want to grow more crops on this forest land.

[GoDawgs]

@Bower, that was a great post on critters. It's amazing how they are drawn to pain relief things.

But what caught my eye was your thinking about row cover deterring squirrels. Are you talking about the usual white row cover used for frost protection? If so, that may mean salvation for the corn next summer because I have a lot of it!

[bower]

Yep @GoDawgs I too have a ton of row cover in admittedly tattered condition, I got a couple of bags of it at least seven years ago that was being discarded at the farm and took it home. And besides using it over crops, I started experimenting with using it as a wrap, enclosure around my veggie beds. It has gotten a lot of respect from the critters here which I sure don't get with chicken wire.
The row cover 'fence' doesn't have to be real tall to keep critters out either. Surprisingly, even a two foot wrap around the bed is pretty well effective, in spite of the fact that our hares can easily leap over such a height. 2 1/2 ft even better, for your own nerves. My covers are a bit sloppy and I have to go around and pull them up if they slip down in the wind, just in case. So far so good with all of them.
There is another benefit I just noticed this year because of the heat. The space inside the bed gets a little wind protection I knew about but also it really does make it more humid close to the ground. I got fabulous lettuce and bok choy in spite of the drying heat inside one of these protected beds. As in the last pic my latest 'salad bar'.

Granted I do believe that they stay out of the beds because there is lots for them to eat outside of my veggies. So they have no reason to be desperate to get inside. But they sure got into beds that had chicken wire view of what I was growing! They also killed to the ground my experimental patches of unprotected grains. Yes they do want the grain. Here are some of the row covers that worked.

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[JRinPA]

@Bower, that was a great post on critters. It's amazing how they are drawn to pain relief things.

But what caught my eye was your thinking about row cover deterring squirrels. Are you talking about the usual white row cover used for frost protection? If so, that may mean salvation for the corn next summer because I have a lot of it!

Last year they tore right through a corn circle wrapped with AG 19. A few days later it looked like swiss cheese. But they had already had a taste of corn. I imagine one found its way in, probably scratched a hole, and then made a heck of a mess getting back out.

Maybe something heavier than AG19 or dug in completely or....? These ones could have jumped from the top of the fence rail and slid down a cornstalk, too. Then tore their way out. But after that first time, they certainly did not care about the cloth, hiding field of view or what not. I would think they would be spooky but they didn't seem to care.

edit I was also thinking maybe wrap with AG19 and then spray that cloth with pepper spray, or garlic spray, or something to hide the smell or repulse them with it.

[GoDawgs]

@Bower , thanks for the explanation. I see you too like using clothespins for various tasks. LOL!

I will try the row cover around the corn beds next spring. And @JRinPA , that's a good thought about spraying the fabric with something. The squirrels sure got through netting even though it was secured to the bed side boards all the way around. Climbed it?

This spring I hung old bed sheets around the tomatoes in the garden for shading the black buckets from the sun.



But even if I enclosed the open end the squirrels could just get under the pallets and come up through the pallet slats. I have to keep the buckets on pallets to keep the fire ants out of them. Hmmm, maybe they couldn't get between the slats; maybe they're too close together. I'll have to check. Also wondering if there's a difference between using sheets and row cover. Lots to think about in the off season.

[Whwoz]

@GoDawgs , could you lay newspaper or cardboard down on top of pallets but under the buckets to give you a solid layer that the squirrels could not get through, or at least provide an obvious access point. Bird netting on top of cardboard/ paper?

One thing that is often done here to control our possums access is to have mesh go up and arch over so that the loose end is hanging down. Would be easier to make work best in a permanent position rather than temporary I think, but depends upon what is available/ affordable. Think security fence where tops of pipe are bent over at 45 degrees with mesh hanging down from end of pipe.

[JRinPA]

So how about electric fence? They are getting pretty inexpensive from what I can see. You can get solar powered 5 mile fence (i read about these yesterday so I am now an internet expert) for something like $100-150 and aluminum wire is pretty cheap. I was shocked by the low prices. Some are even "assembled in USA".

friedgreen showed their setup for deer. I'm just thinking for squirrels/coons, 1 wire at 5" high or so, maybe another above it. I could probably even get away with it at the comm garden if I recess the corn into the middle of the plot. Just have it up for three week at each block when they are putting on ears. I think my dogs would learn quick. If not, they'd learn slow, I guess.

[Whwoz]

@JRinPA , dogs learn quickly about electric fencing, or at the ones my younger brother had did a few years back.

[GoDawgs]

@JRinPA Solar 5 mile charger - $150 @ Tractor Supply. By the time you add posts, wire and insulators it's more than I want to spend for one tomato bed and two separate corn beds elsewhere in the garden. I'd have to run it around the whole100x50' garden. That might be more cost effective but I don't want to do that as it would prevent easy access for the riding mower/cart and be something else to weedwhack around. Shotgun shells cost less.

@Whwoz , cardboard on top of the pallets is something to consider. It might work until it gets so soggy from watering drainage that it falls apart. I was using bird netting around the corn beds but maybe the squirrels climbed it.

[Whwoz]

@GoDawgs , depending upon how well you get on with the people you get your pallets off, they may have something else that would serve the purpose in the form of heavy plastic slipsheets. These sit on top of the pallet but under bags of products to protect against the possibility of bag damage from nails and the like. If they use them to there is the possibility that they throw out or recycle some damaged ones that you might be able to score. They may or may not be UV sensitive, the ones we currently use at work are, older ones were treated to protect against UV damage. Solid top plastic pallets would be the bees knees for you, but to expensive for me to send over unfortunately.

If you can get some that are non IV treated place on pallets and cover with cardboard to protect.

[bower]

@GoDawgs For the pallet setup, I would tack on some posts at the corners and wrap it right to the ground. All of my beds are wrapped tight at the bottom with no gaps. These are raised beds with a wood frame so there's something to make the bottom tight against and no gap next to the ground. Pallet gaps are more famous here as a rat or mouse shelter/highway but either way those gaps have to be blocked to stop critters from seeing an inviting place to get in. But the pallet itself makes a useful structure to pin the bottom tight. You can't leave the ends open obviously, they will just go in where it's open. In my back beds where there's a walkway down the middle, I have just covered to a height that I can step over when I have to go inside. A gate of some kind that you can open and close tightly would be necessary for eg your tomato setup.
Jury is still out here on sheets vs row covers. I did two sides of one of the beds with some muslin as a test this year. It held up way better than the row cover, which I'm constantly having to pull up or fix here on account of the wind. It worked just fine for the rabbits, but I couldn't say it was a squirrel test, although there is one around here this year, it hasn't been overly interested in my activities up until the present and afaik has never tried to climb in. In fact the muslin 'fence' was solid enough that a robin was perching on the upper edge. IDK if that means squirrels might find they can climb it... I would think that smooth bed linen wouldn't offer them much purchase even if the top is tighter than mine. They would have to jump up there and try to balance on the soft edge.... . OTOH from what JR is saying, they can shred your row cover but probably not your linens. The fact that row cover shreds easily is the reason I wanted to try for something more durable. It doesn't let as much light in but that hasn't been an issue this year for sure, and as you've done with the tomatoes, a cooling benefit!