Raccoons--GrrrI

[country lady]

Two evenings straight I dug one foot holes and carefully put in blood meal, bone meal, epsom salts, egg shells, coffee grounds, etc. I worked like a dog, bone tired, and filthy. Next morning all 25 plants were dug up down to a foot or dug around! We set a have-a-heart trap, scattered really hot peppers around. We caught a big coon. I would have felt sad for it but it had dug up more plants before it was caught in the trap. The problem is that these plants were started from seeds in February and March. They are heirlooms that Walmart and Lowes don't carry. It just makes me crazy. I can't imagine what it would be like if my family had to depend on a garden in pioneer days.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sorry about your loss. I did not get any blackberries last year until I caught and disposed of a raccoon.

If you think about it, a valued possession of many pioneers was a large dog or two that was allowed to roam free where it could guard the homestead and provide an early warning of certain perils. Leash laws were not enforced. There are strategies to manage most things.

 

[2ndtimearound]

I know, it's awful, and I'm sorry for your loss. Every year, we have grapes on the arbor until they are "just right" ripe and then in one night Wham! they all get wiped out by the masked bandits.

It's very frustrating. I think this year, I'm doing MUCH more trapping, maybe with a combination of hav-a-heart traps and the old fashioned cage type and see what I can round up.

Here in my town, the Humane Society will come and collect coons and possums 3 times for free and then after that, they charge (I call it a FINE ) you for each call.

If I get very many, I might have to resort to SSS or send them out to the local game preserve! Good luck in recovering your plants.

 

[country lady]

Thanks. The plants look pretty limp but I'm hoping. I had old Rutgers and Roma seeds that I threw into pots to see if they were still good. They are about an inch high. I'm hoping to make tomato sauce and paste this summer. I always feel I am running late. It seems everything just stops growing in the dog days of August.