ninnymary
Garden Master
Could they be rats? I know we have those in my city and I have had to deal with their damage. One fall they age my starts down to the nub twice. After spending about $50 I stopped for the season.
Mary
Mary
3 garden related things I learned this week...
- Thread starter Michael Lusk
- Start date
majorcatfish
Garden Master
Now to all you rabbit haters, if you don’t any of my clan to nibble on your plants I suggest you put up poultry fencing....
They use to go though the fencing and eat and make nests in the raised bed area finally put up poultry wire that put a end to that unless someone left the gate open....
flowerbug
Garden Master
@majorcatfish, yes, fences make for the best control of pests, be they neighbors or other critters... 
majorcatfish
Garden Master
@majorcatfish, yes, fences make for the best control of pests, be they neighbors or other critters...
Now not all fencing will stop critters
2x3x48” wire fencing is great to keep larger critters out but the littlest ones can easily slip though the bad thing is they can get stuck in it and die..
The poultry wire 1x1x24” is good to keep the little ones out but the big ones can just walk right over them and terrorize everything inside...
Deer can easily jump a 4’ fence but during summer there’s plenty of other food out there for them...
Nyboy
Garden Master
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And the beer is for slug exoneration
- Thread starter
- #16
Michael Lusk
Deeply Rooted
@ninnymary, definitely rabbits...I've been seeing them around the yard and seeing evidence of them fertilizing some other areas. Just seems they have a thing for beans and flowers this year. As for shooting them, on top of only having my son's nerf weaponry I think the Indianapolis police may seriously frown upon it in a downtown neighborhood. I'm resigned to rework the fence using some hardware cloth and so far it seems deterrent enough.
Nyboy
Garden Master
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flowerbug
Garden Master
i'm hoping 6ft fence will take care of discouraging all the larger creatures. i've yet to see groundhogs climb 6ft, but perhaps they will. until a few years ago i didn't even know they climbed at all until one day i saw a whole group of youngsters climb up and through the garden fence out back. that fence has bigger holes through it up higher so it only discourages rabbits/groundhogs/raccoons, it doesn't prevent them if they're really determined. the new fence i have is uniform 2x6 inch mesh which should do for almost every thing that is a major pest around here.
trapping and relocating was a waste of time. as soon as we trapped them more would come along.
trapping and relocating was a waste of time. as soon as we trapped them more would come along.
digitS'
Garden Master
I have seen marmots on top of buildings. Maybe that isn't too surprising because they tend to live in areas with large rocks. In the wild, I imagine that they are primarily preyed on by coyotes, wolves and bears.
The garden neighbor has 3 adult sheep. Two of the ewes must have had twins over the winter. Last week, "dog" tracks again showed up in my garden. The sheep pasture is on the other side of another neighbor's property. I told him about seeing a coyote behind his garage a couple of years ago.
I think a coyote regularly visits those sheep but they maybe inside and/or he just doesn't have the courage to attack them in a suburban backyard. The same goes for digging the marmots out where that would be possible. I have never seen a wolf nor a bear anywhere nearby. (I'm thankful not to see @thistlebloom 's moose!)
I once had a garden in a community garden on park property. The marmots were so bad, everyone finally gave up. We were not allowed "to harass the wildlife." Everyone fenced their gardens with chicken wire and we would leave the top loose, not staple it near the top of the posts. I have seen marmots flop over trying to climb the fence. After enough time had passed each season, they always found some way to get into the gardens.
Steve
The garden neighbor has 3 adult sheep. Two of the ewes must have had twins over the winter. Last week, "dog" tracks again showed up in my garden. The sheep pasture is on the other side of another neighbor's property. I told him about seeing a coyote behind his garage a couple of years ago.
I think a coyote regularly visits those sheep but they maybe inside and/or he just doesn't have the courage to attack them in a suburban backyard. The same goes for digging the marmots out where that would be possible. I have never seen a wolf nor a bear anywhere nearby. (I'm thankful not to see @thistlebloom 's moose!)
I once had a garden in a community garden on park property. The marmots were so bad, everyone finally gave up. We were not allowed "to harass the wildlife." Everyone fenced their gardens with chicken wire and we would leave the top loose, not staple it near the top of the posts. I have seen marmots flop over trying to climb the fence. After enough time had passed each season, they always found some way to get into the gardens.
Steve
buckabucka
Garden Addicted
My garden is not fenced and is doing well so far, although it is dry here. But 2 days ago I saw a ground hog behind the house. The garden is out front, maybe 100 yards away. Just waiting for him to discover it...
