Little Help With My Critter Woes?
- Thread starter Ben E Lou
- Start date
Beekissed
Garden Master
Not even a pellet gun? My son has a pellet gun that's pretty lethal on small game but wouldn't really be considered a firearm.
You just have to be careful about the direction you shoot in regards to neighbors, trying to direct your shots for the right trajectory to end up either into the ground or into the trees, but they are pretty effective.
flowerbug
Garden Master
they are, i have one, it will take down rabbits, groundhogs, etc. the problem is that many air rifles now sold are very powerful so they are quite a hazard in a city neighborhood unless you have a range set up to make sure the pellets are captured. for general varmint hunting you need to be able to shoot at enough locations or you won't get much done. trapping and shooting is a waste of ammo. get a barrel and drown it instead. no, not pleasant, but neither is spending a lot of time working hard in a garden and loosing it to animal damage.
i would much prefer having a fence around the property here, but i get overruled on that because Mom doesn't like the way it looks... c'est la vie...
seedcorn
Garden Master
Today went to look a5 garden. All sweet corn that was pollinated is now GONE. Flat, broken, on ground. When wife came home, she saw a coon running from property. Tonight, will have a surprise for him if he comes to visit before mosquitos eat me alive or I go to bed.
Carol Dee
Garden Master
This is spot on….
digitS'
Garden Master
Maybe one (or more) taken out of the pack will discourage the others from raiding. Hope so and Good Luck, @seedcorn !
I harvested some nice heads of early cabbage, this morning. DW said, "aren't you going over for the ones by the fence?" "Oh, are those ready? Ooohh ..."
Something went wrong with those few over there. I think that I didn't get the sprinkler set right for the first dry, hot days ... Stressed, the aphids moved in! I should have pulled them when I realized that they were having trouble recovering. Didn't know about the aphids until I was down there near them with the knife. Doggone It! Just like you aren't growing sweet corn for the raccoons, I'm not growing cabbage for the aphids. Pests!
Steve
I harvested some nice heads of early cabbage, this morning. DW said, "aren't you going over for the ones by the fence?" "Oh, are those ready? Ooohh ..."
Something went wrong with those few over there. I think that I didn't get the sprinkler set right for the first dry, hot days ... Stressed, the aphids moved in! I should have pulled them when I realized that they were having trouble recovering. Didn't know about the aphids until I was down there near them with the knife. Doggone It! Just like you aren't growing sweet corn for the raccoons, I'm not growing cabbage for the aphids. Pests!
Steve
digitS'
Garden Master
A new neighbor has joined another in neglect of about half an acre. Together, it's about 1 1/2 acres, untilled, unmowed. Rabbits are very tolerated in that neighborhood. There seems to be a 2019 population explosion!
About 2 weeks ago, I noticed some big "dog" tracks. A few days later, a trellis was crashed into with lots of scuff marks on the ground. One of my posts was nearly pulled out of the ground!
This morning, 4 posts were broken! Trellis hanging there. Nearby, some big "dog" tracks
.
I think a coyote is taking out the rabbits.
Steve
About 2 weeks ago, I noticed some big "dog" tracks. A few days later, a trellis was crashed into with lots of scuff marks on the ground. One of my posts was nearly pulled out of the ground!
This morning, 4 posts were broken! Trellis hanging there. Nearby, some big "dog" tracks
.I think a coyote is taking out the rabbits.
Steve
flowerbug
Garden Master
removing one raccoon will not discourage the others. we've trapped them on many consecutive evenings and relocated them with no noticeable change (thus we stopped trapping because it wasn't accomplishing anything other than wasting our time). for how little we eat sweet corn it never bothered me not to grow it. i do like corn meal and would have liked to have a good patch of corn for that sometime in the future but that is a long ways away from now (big fence and hot wire required).
digitS'
Garden Master
I had to borrow a shovel, Friday - not having thought to carry one to the garden that morning.
Wiley Coyote has had too good of a hunting season. He left a rabbit ready for skinning laying in a garden path. I carried it up to bury where there are some large rocks.
I doubt that this will keep it from Pepe laPew or Wiley if he comes back for the rabbit but, I tried.
Steve
Wiley Coyote has had too good of a hunting season. He left a rabbit ready for skinning laying in a garden path. I carried it up to bury where there are some large rocks.
I doubt that this will keep it from Pepe laPew or Wiley if he comes back for the rabbit but, I tried.
Steve
flowerbug
Garden Master
i'm glad i don't garden at a distance, just as it is here i think is too far for some gardens. the further away the more the wild creatures find it too easy to raid unseen... so far the strangest thing i've had to bury here was the wild turkey that someone hit in the road out front. what a mess. was surprised nothing dug that up. it was pretty big. had to use a wheelbarrow to move it.
burying in a garden though at least is better than smelling it for the next month or two if the coyote didn't come back for it.
