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

[friedgreen51]

[i

]Last evening I spied the very first taste of Silver Queen silk laying in that bed. I bought rat traps for the Incredible bed last week and set them with peanut butter but the fire ants eat any bait before the squirrels can get to it! Can't win for losing. A cage style trap was bought yesterday and will be deployed this morning before they can destroy that corn too.

All of the damage has occurred over the last two weeks. We discussed putting a fence around the garden but it's about 100' x 50' and there would have to be at least 5' more on each side to allow for the riding lawn mower to enter/exit and maneuver around towing the cart. That's a lot of money I'm not willing to spend so I guess I'll have to put up with something like this every ten years or so.

Meanwhile, yesterday I was playing with planting dates for the fall garden. Hope springs eternal, I guess. I'm just real tired of fighting critters and seeing a lot of hard work destroyed.[/i]

I feel your pain. The deer found their way through my electric fence (no longer electrified due to breaks in the wire). They ate a lot of leaves on one end of the cucumber bed which is trellised, and the ends off the hybrid blackberries. My garden is approximately 30 x 75. Not as big as yours, but maybe you could start smaller. Electric fences are easy to add on to and a reasonably easy to install. You do need a substantial metal pole on the corners and for the gate poles, but the rest of the poles were put in by just stepping down on the foot plate at the bottom of the pole. We have a 2 row electric fence that we just replaced last Sunday. The old one was 15 years old. We re-used some of the poles, bought better 9 braid stainless steel wire and spent about $75 on the wire, a couple of new poles, and electrical tape. The electric charger was still fine. The key is to have a fence within a fence. Deer will not jump over even a 4 foot fence if they are not sure where they will land. Bam! the first night we turned the power on it, no more deer nibbling in the garden. We have 2 gates. one the wheel barrow can go through, and the other is wider and the garden tractor cart can go through it. I am also able to put my tomatoes and peppers that are in pots between the two fences. I keep metal cages around them and the deer do not bother these either.

New Electric Garden Fence 1.jpg

New Electric Garden Fence 2.jpg

New Electric Garden Fence 3.jpg

[slugworth]

lay fence down on the ground and elevate if a few inches somehow.
deer don't like to walk on it
a real pain at mowing time tho.

[GoDawgs]

The Silver Queen tassels are starting to turn color. It won't be long! The plants are looking good. "Hey squirrels, can't touch dis!"



But they taunt, leaving pieces of Incredible cob right where I can't miss them. This one was left on top of where I hang the hose, right next to my bench. Ballsy little bastiges! And they're probably up in the trees watching, just rolling with laughter.



Got something for ya.... with a nice juicy baby Incredible ear inside.

[GoDawgs]

lay fence down on the ground and elevate if a few inches somehow.
deer don't like to walk on it
a real pain at mowing time tho.

I'd have to cover the whole garden! And you know who'd get tripped up..... me!

But that's an interesting suggestion that I will keep in mind for specific uses.

[GoDawgs]

@friedgreen51 , I'm sorry you're putting up with those four-legged munchers too! That's a great fence setup you have. And thanks for those photos. We'd have to start from scratch buying all the equipment needed and that's not in the budget right now. Maybe some day.

I take it your system runs on solar? That would be a must here as the garden isn't real close to the house.

[slugworth]

lay fence down on the ground and elevate if a few inches somehow.
deer don't like to walk on it
a real pain at mowing time tho.

I'd have to cover the whole garden! And you know who'd get tripped up..... me!

But that's an interesting suggestion that I will keep in mind for specific uses.

outside perimeter of the garden,like quiet landmines
not actually inside,then it is too late.

[friedgreen51]

@friedgreen51 , I'm sorry you're putting up with those four-legged munchers too! That's a great fence setup you have. And thanks for those photos. We'd have to start from scratch buying all the equipment needed and that's not in the budget right now. Maybe some day.

I take it your system runs on solar? That would be a must here as the garden isn't real close to the house.

It is electric. The white building you see at the end of the garden is a green house and it is wired. They do sale some great chargers that are totally solar and some that work off either. As you say maybe down the road it is something to consider.

[Tormato]

I once had a raccoon that would steal the corn, and only shuck and eat it on the picnic table. Such manners.

[JRinPA]

Squirrels are already in my first block of corn at the comm garden, as soon as the silks came out. Three or four days back. Tore up 3 tiny baby cobs the first time. A few more the second day. I put water bowls out under the three trees I know they nest in, we'll see if that helps. It surely was dry. I'm yet to try pepper spray. Would it screw up the taste of the corn? I'm getting tired of it each year, honestly. I might have enough plastic fencing to enclose the blocks - anyone ever try that for squirrels. 6ft of plastic fence for 4-1/2 ft tall corn? I can see one getting in and going bonkers trying to get out and doing a ton of damage.

Do you have a defense set on the silver queen or is the "you cant touch this" just a hope and a prayer? Rat traps still out?

[GoDawgs]

"Can't touch dis" was a totally unenforceable threat. Three days ago I found the first Silver Queen ear torn up. There have been a few more each day for a total of six now. And yeah, I'm getting tired of it and feel like just planting no more corn going forward but I HATE admitting defeat.

The trap hasn't caught a thing. It's been placed inside the enclosure and outside. I guess I'll just have to try to sit near there all day with the 20 gauge. Way too hot for that. But I have noticed that there is no sign of squirrel activity anywhere during the hottest part of the day. Smart critters on siesta. There's also no sign or chattering after about 7pm. Getting the time window narrowed down.....

[karstopography]

@GoDawgs my experience with squirrels is that if I see one out in the yard looking for food, they are all out looking for food and might very well be on their way to the garden.

They tend to be active here in the morning and then later in the evening. Maybe around noon and either side of that time, they tend to be dormant.

I have noticed that the squirrels will eat tomatoes I pulled for army worm damage so that they will go to my compost area and eat those tomatoes down to a nub. The compost pile therefore is sort of a relief valve.

The squirrels have really sharpened up since I have administered the lead cure to many or their brethren now. I have to have all my ducks in a row and be sharp myself because they see me and they head for the hills, or trees. The pattern has been now low or little attempted garden incursions for a few days, then a general assault is made. If their initial assault is met with no active resistance (I’m not at home), it will continue unabated. Then, when I meet their assault with lethal force, they retreat for a few days.

[GoDawgs]

At a distance from both the garden and house tomatoes, sister Pickles has set up three more small bird feeders with water pans on the ground next to them trying to lure the squirrels away. Alas, I don't think it's working. Time to employ the "other" gardening tool, the one made by Mossberg.

This is the Incredible corn bed as it was this morning, fully depleted and ready to go.



And go it did.



Will be planting Big Red Ripper field peas in there tomorrow.

Um, yes... that's an umbrella in the background. I planted out a cucuzza squash last night and it looked like it needed some shade today (it's 100 right now). I remembered the big umbrella in the shed and tied it into place for a while. You make it up as you go along.

[GoDawgs]

Meanwhile, there's ANOTHER pest in the garden. I tell ya, I'm beginning to think this is like the ten plagues in Egypt. This morning I was just checking the little watermelon patch and then went to prune off a wayward branch on the pigeon pea plant next to the watermelons. Kudzu bugs all over the stems and encrusting the stem at the base! I haven't seen those in probably eight years.




Also known as the globular stinkbug, they hitchhiked into Georgia in 2009 from Asia and put a hurting on the soybean crop until a battle plan was developed. I think by now they've spread into SC, NC and I think parts of Virginia. They like legumes. So far they're only on the two pigeon pea plants and the beans are clean so this evening both pea plants got a thorough spraying of pyrethrin before the bugs suck 'em dry.

And finally, sometimes you just have to see some humor when things aren't going right. This is an old picnic table by the garden that gets used for various projects. This afternoon the squirrels decided to have a picnic of their own.

[arnorrian]

I've found that Sophora flavescens extract works well for southern green stinkbug.

[GoDawgs]

I checked yesterday and the pigeon pea plants were clean as a whistle. The pyrethrin did its job.

[Setec Astronomy]

The trap hasn't caught a thing. It's been placed inside the enclosure and outside.

What did you bait it with?

[slugworth]

I lost my 1st tomato to mice last week.
cherokee carbon in cement blocks

[pepperhead212]

I caught 2 catbirds/mockingbirds recently in the rat traps, one of which I actually hung on the trellis, where one of the two tomato plants is, that had a number of holes in tomatoes. I put a little peanut butter on it. I put a watering spot for birds and whatever else that wants it (it has been dry here!), using a large plant saucer behind the shed - I figured if it's the water they want, take it from there! I refill it every day, or every other day, using what's left in the plants nearby. Amazing how many mosquito eggs I have gotten rid of doing this! It's been several days since any damage has shown up out there.

[zeuspaul]

I catch squirrels in unbaited traps. I have three traps and place them where I think they might run. Sometimes critters are suspicious of bait. I also don't have to deal with maintaining bait. The traps also catch other rodents and birds and snakes. I free the birds and snakes.

[JRinPA]

My 1st corn is all chopped up by the squirrel or squirrels, but I made a note NOT to pick the chewed up ones off. And they are continuing to get re-chewed a bit, so it should be saving at least some good ones.

My kindness of letting a bunny litter alive in the backyard has been repaid in chewed off sweet potato leaves under 2nd corn block.

About 10 feet of one of my two double rows of 3rd corn block (1/8 of the total ) was chewed off at some point...I think this evening. I didn't notice it at 4pm. I went back to water spinach seed (planted along the corn rows) at 9pm and couldn't figure what looked wrong in the fading light. 10 feet of corn transplants gone, that was what. I think I know right where to throw one of those 1 oz green hard candies.