garden critters

[Chuck52]

I never had lots of squirrels here, but last year there were enough to take all my first small crop of English walnuts. I found a solution on a gardening web site. Bon-Bons. Get some plaster of Paris and mix it 1:1 with peanut butter. You may have to add a small amount of vegetable oil to let you roll quarter-sized balls of the mixture. Set the bon-bons around on tree limbs, fence posts, etc. I did that back in April. No squirrels. They eat the stuff and disappear. I suppose it blocks their intestinal tract, but it is also possible death comes fast from a calcium imbalance or something. At any rate, the only time I've ever seen a dead squirrel except on the road was when I shot one. They must be tasty treats to whatever gets them.

Chuck

 

[jinman]

Has anyone tried tethered rat traps? I'm pretty sure the squirrels might be able to get out of the traps, but I'd pay good money to watch a squirrel getting snapped.

Knock on wood. . . I don't have problems with squirrels yet in my garden. I think all the squirrels here are focused on the corn in my deer feeder and stay away from the garden. If they ever learn the garden has things that taste good, I'm gonna have a big problem on my hands. I do pick most of my tomatoes before they get very ripe. I also do the same with cantaloupes, picking them just as they turn and letting them finish ripening on the window sill or on the floor where they can get sunlight.

 

[Uncle Doug]

The squirrels wiped out my small corn crop this year. At first I thought it was racoons but one day I came home about noon and about 4 squirrels came running out of the corn patch. I ended up just letting them have it if they would leave everything else alone.

I also pick some things a little early. Something got a couple of cantalope while I was out of town. Both had been torn from the vine and cracked open. I tossed them to the side of the garden hoping that what ever was feeding on them will stick with those two. The tomattoes the stink bugs are getting them, even picking them while green does not help as they turn brown soon after.

I planted pumpkins last week and now a rabbit is sitting the mounds at night waiting for the new sprouts to come up. While I could use the fertilizer the raskly wabbit will have to go. Time for a late evening stake out.

 

[polo1665]

The squirrels wiped out my small corn crop this year. At first I thought it was racoons but one day I came home about noon and about 4 squirrels came running out of the corn patch. I ended up just letting them have it if they would leave everything else alone.

I also pick some things a little early. Something got a couple of cantalope while I was out of town. Both had been torn from the vine and cracked open. I tossed them to the side of the garden hoping that what ever was feeding on them will stick with those two. The tomattoes the stink bugs are getting them, even picking them while green does not help as they turn brown soon after.

I planted pumpkins last week and now a rabbit is sitting the mounds at night waiting for the new sprouts to come up. While I could use the fertilizer the raskly wabbit will have to go. Time for a late evening stake out.

Never heard of squirrels getting into the corn patch before. In ohio we have hawks that keep the squirrels and rabbits honest. They don't venture out from cover very often without becoming prey themselves.

Mark

 

[jinman]

Never heard of squirrels getting into the corn patch before. In ohio we have hawks that keep the squirrels and rabbits honest. They don't venture out from cover very often without becoming prey themselves.

Mark

We have lots of red-tailed hawks and owls here, but they seem to have so many small game that they leave grown squirrels and rabbits alone. Coyotes are the best for controlling the rodent population.

I had problems with squirrels in one garden away from my house. What I found was that raccoons would rip into ears of corn and bust open melons. Once the "good stuff" was exposed, the squirrels would come in and have a feast provided by the raccoons. I never saw squirrels doing first damage, but I'm sure they would try if hungry or thirsty enough. I just have a hard time thinking a squirrel could eat 1/3 of a cantaloupe. That would almost double the squirrel's size/weight. I've seen them run out of the cantaloupes when I arrived, but I believe the damage was too great to be two or three squirrels. I believe the most damage was done by raccoons. Who knows?

 

[polo1665]

We have lots of red-tailed hawks and owls here, but they seem to have so many small game that they leave grown squirrels and rabbits alone. Coyotes are the best for controlling the rodent population.

I had problems with squirrels in one garden away from my house. What I found was that raccoons would rip into ears of corn and bust open melons. Once the "good stuff" was exposed, the squirrels would come in and have a feast provided by the raccoons. I never saw squirrels doing first damage, but I'm sure they would try if hungry or thirsty enough. I just have a hard time thinking a squirrel could eat 1/3 of a cantaloupe. That would almost double the squirrel's size/weight. I've seen them run out of the cantaloupes when I arrived, but I believe the damage was too great to be two or three squirrels. I believe the most damage was done by raccoons. Who knows?

The raccoons are the ones that I am dreading. Knock on wood, I have had no critter problem this year, but the sweet corn is starting to tassle and I am nervous about the coons. They will really tear some stuff up. I might have to go out at night with a miner's cap and a .22

Mark

 

[Chuck52]

Just took out the third raccoon this year. Last year I trapped 15 and still got no peaches. I saw a squirrel for the first time since about April, so I put out another batch of bon-bons. Those things really work. Folks on GardenWeb, including guys who have orchards, swear by them.

Chuck

 

[jinman]

Just took out the third raccoon this year. Last year I trapped 15 and still got no peaches. I saw a squirrel for the first time since about April, so I put out another batch of bon-bons. Those things really work. Folks on GardenWeb, including guys who have orchards, swear by them.

Chuck

I think making "bon-bons" may be in my near future. The last two nights, a raccoon has picked one green tomato and eaten about 3/4 of it about 1' from the vine. Last night, he ate only one, but managed to knock off two baseball sized green ones in the process of picking his dinner. I think he needs some bon-bons for dessert.

 

[soulasphil]

During the last few days, a charming brown squirrel has been picking at the peaches in my two trees, taking a few bites in each fruit before dropping it and going on to another. The peaches were not ripe yet, but now there are none left. And I can't even eat the squirrel to get even !

 

[dooleysm]

When I first got out of college I was living with a buddy in town and we had a small garden with some corn. I came home from work one day and was walking into the house through the front yard when a half eaten ear of corn fell inches from my feet. I looked straight up and there was a squirrel sitting on a limb of a big oak staring down at me. I don't know if he was trying to hit me or not...