Critter Gettin' the Corn

[txdon]

I have given up on the corn because of the raccoons and the 5 ears for a dollar corn at the grocery store.

 

[MarkF48]

I have given up on the corn because of the raccoons and the 5 ears for a dollar corn at the grocery store.

I keep thinkin' that, but then Spring comes and I end up putting it in.

 

[MarkF48]

I got a somewhat blurry picture from my game camera that with what I can see of the critter it caught the picture, it looks possibly like a woodchuck. Whether it's this guy getting the corn I don't know, but he is highly suspect and I have seen one on the border a couple times that was going to get some lead, but disappeared by the time I got the 22 out.

 

[seymojo536]

Here's some suggestions.
1. Plant more than they can eat. Somewhere between 5 and 10 acres is the sweet spot.
2. Make a deal with the local hair salon/babershop and pick up all the trimings. Spread around the perimeter of your patch.
3. Drink plenty of the soda pop with the foam on top and after filtering it thru your kidneys deposit around the patch. Ask your buddies to help.
4. Join your local coon hunters association and have them run their dogs thru your patch starting about a week before the corn's ready. Continue until you're done with the corn. Them critters can't eat while they're running.
5. Run 3 strands of electric fence at 6", 12" and 18' all around patch. Put the hotest charger you can buy on it or direct wire to 440.
6. Buy 2 of every trap made and bait with marshmellows. We would cut the top off a 55 gal. drum and half bury it in the middle of our patch. Put a wood ramp up the outside so they can jump down in for the bait. Sardines work well here. Just punch a few holes in the can and throw it in. .22 for removal.
7. Fence in the patch and turn loose several redbones or blueticks to live there for the duration. Give them a small shed to sleep in during the day, cause they gonna be working all night.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Here's some suggestions.
1. Plant more than they can eat. Somewhere between 5 and 10 acres is the sweet spot.
2. Make a deal with the local hair salon/babershop and pick up all the trimings. Spread around the perimeter of your patch.
3. Drink plenty of the soda pop with the foam on top and after filtering it thru your kidneys deposit around the patch. Ask your buddies to help.
4. Join your local coon hunters association and have them run their dogs thru your patch starting about a week before the corn's ready. Continue until you're done with the corn. Them critters can't eat while they're running.
5. Run 3 strands of electric fence at 6", 12" and 18' all around patch. Put the hotest charger you can buy on it or direct wire to 440.
6. Buy 2 of every trap made and bait with marshmellows. We would cut the top off a 55 gal. drum and half bury it in the middle of our patch. Put a wood ramp up the outside so they can jump down in for the bait. Sardines work well here. Just punch a few holes in the can and throw it in. .22 for removal.
7. Fence in the patch and turn loose several redbones or blueticks to live there for the duration. Give them a small shed to sleep in during the day, cause they gonna be working all night.

I admittedly am not an electrician, but I would question using 440 direct for an electric fence. People sometimes have an affinity for "free" stuff, including produce. Although I have no way to know, I suspect that 440 might just be lethal.

 

[rocketfish]

It might be lethal to you and your buddy's??? Especially after suggestion number 3!!!! If ya get what I mean!?!?!? Ouch!!!

 

[dragoneggs]

It might be lethal to you and your buddy's??? Especially after suggestion number 3!!!! If ya get what I mean!?!?!? Ouch!!!

Nothing like frying your own cob! :shocked:

 

[oosik]

There is only one veggie that I ever grew in the garden that some "uninvited guest" didn't eat. Kohlrabi The deer always taste everything but nothing ever ate it.

 

[McREBEL]

A friend of mine had his 1 acre corn patch totally destroyed in one night by wild hogs. He said it looked like a tornado came threw the patch.

 

[JRobyn]

We have never had any critters eat the okra until this year. They're eating the fruit AND the plants! Coons are the suspects. They climbed and completely stripped about 8 apple trees all in one night.

- Jay

 

[oosik]

Ha,ha The adult coons are too heavy to get at most of my apples - branches are too spindly. The adults will sit at the base of the tree and send the little, young coons up and out the limbs. Its funny to watch the adults encourage the young to go further & further out the limbs. Until you realize - Hey - they are eating ALL the apples.

I hate shooting them - it does little good to "shoo" them away - they sit out in the dark - just beyond the influence of the yard light and return as soon as they hear the door to the house close. I've spent many a night over the years picking my apples by moonlight.

 

[teejk]

Never seen coon on the endangered species list...and just a thought that properly cooked it is pretty tasty stuff.

 

[txdon]

Never seen coon on the endangered species list...and just a thought that properly cooked it is pretty tasty stuff.

Careful! Any animal that you can make popular to eat will never be on the endangered species list, but will be raised on farms till there are millions. Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Game meat, raccoon, cooked, roasted Luckily raccoon is not very healthy, in fact it's down right unhealthy.

 

[teejk]

Serving size almost 1 lb? I can't even finish an 8 oz steak anymore! And seems the "downside" is cholesterol which even the feds are now saying "never mind" for most people (if I were an egg farmer I'd be looking to sue somebody for being vilified over the past 20 years or so). But on the plus side...you could throw away your multi-vitamins! Pretty impressive amounts of good stuff. Thanks for the link though...will come in handy in the future.

 

[txdon]

(if I were an egg farmer I'd be looking to sue somebody for being vilified over the past 20 years or so).

As long as you don't look too deep and don't look at the plateau effect.
What Do Eggs Do To Our Arteries? | NutritionFacts.org