Critters in my garden

backdoor · Feb 21, 2009

I know it's a little early in the season to be getting serious about gardening, but I was wondering, how do youall keep racoons out of your sweetcorn patch? I'm going to fence my garden for deer, but those pesky coons can get to it. Also, do youall have a problem with deer eating your potato plants? I'm not planning to fence the potato patch, and this is the first year in a long time (since deer got thick around here) that I've planted potatoes. Some folks around here say deer hate potato plants, while other folks say deer eat the plants to the ground. What's your experience? Thanks.

greenmule · Feb 21, 2009

Got a fence around my whole garden. Have heard that deers will dig up tators[sounds fetched to me but],coons,ain't nothing you can do,except stand guard and shoot a couple,but thats how I know its time to pick my corn,coons get in it,would be nice most times to wait a few more days,but if you don't get it,they will. Best thing to do for coons is to try and thin them out.

drivadesl · Feb 22, 2009

"Best thing to do for coons is to try and thin them out.".......

oldmech · Feb 22, 2009

Hi! Potato and tomato leafs are poisonus . Cows goats and deers etc.. dont eat thems.
I want try elecrical wire farm fence for raccoons This one are very intelligent. Good luck! Oldmech

jeffinsgf · Feb 22, 2009

Despite a rather dense population of deer, raccoon and rabbit, I didn't have any critter damage to my garden last year. I put up three strands of electric wire -- one two inches off the ground, one 6 inches off the ground and one 30 inches off the ground. Got a solar charger that was a little bigger than I needed, but should last me a long time, through several garden expansions. The three wire fence was barely visible in the yard. A neighbor used 8 foot tall deer fence and made what looked like a stockade.

farmeratheart · Feb 23, 2009

Hi All,

25or 30 years ago when I lived in upstate NY (thick with raccoons) my Dad and I always had a couple of acres of sweet corn each summer. It was planted in 3 or 4 staggered plots such that we had corn from late June through early Sept. As one plot would become "picked out" the next would be getting ripe. We tried tieing the family dog out near the corn patch, but the neighbors complained about the barking-it did keep the 'coons out though! What we found to work best was to put a radio in the center of the plot that needed protection most and playing from dusk 'til dawn. We would put the radio under a bushel basket along with a timer to turn it on. The volume didn't need to be very loud at all-thus the neighbors didn't complain. Our biggest problem with the system was keeping up with stations that played all night 7 days a week. If the garden fell silent during the Sunday 2AM maintenance "blackout" the varmints would trash the crop!

I hadn't thought about this in years. I still have a garden, but there are no raccoons scoping out my sweetcorn anymore!

Good luck !!

Frank

JiminGa · Feb 25, 2009

last year my corn was absolutely destroyed by squirrels, I thought it was deer till I caught a squirrel in the act, so to speak. This year I've been workin on thinin the population so hopefully I'll have better luck with the corn.

YesDeere · Feb 25, 2009

I trenched a fence two foot in and two foot out of the ground,and put two strands of electric fence all around mine. The rest I let the .22 do

teach · Feb 25, 2009

Backdoor,
Coons---a dog, boxtrap, .22---your best three options.
Deer---I would love to come down and help you with problem deer next fall/winter. They go well with sweet corn!
Good luck!
Teach

theboman · Feb 26, 2009

If they want in, they will get in. That yeller barrier tape seems to be very popular for deer. It flaps in the breeze and it scares them is what I was told.

Coons. Live traps and a .22 sounds good but I'd prefer a 12 guage with high brass loads of 4 shot. Coons are mean as heck too and will kill rabbits and eat them. I have lost all respect for coons.

Electric fence is a good choice too. A friend does a maze. It's tougher on the deer to get in, and out! A higher strand, and a lower strand should do the trick on smaller critters.