Garden Adversity

[Tim Ingram]

Good idea Mark - I do very much the same thing for certain seed (umbellifers, hellebores and so on) which seem really attractive to various varmints. I also constructed a seed frame from wire mesh. I had thought one of our greenhouses would be mouse proof for germinating seed pots but they always manage to find a way in! The biggest problem we have had is with flowering size hellebores in the greenhouse - the young flower buds at ground level are chewed off by mice very early on in October before you think of putting down any bait. This happens to a lesser extent in the garden too and is a good reason to cut away the old hellebore foliage early on in the winter so there is no cover for mice. Cats would definitely be good!

[Hoy]

I have cats - or rather the neighbours have cats in my garden but the cats are doing more harm than goo. They always dig resting places in the bed and make droppings everywhere but I can't say the number of rodents drops!

Besides, the cats don't eat slugs

[TStuart]

Just visited the Havahart website, has anyone tried the Critter Ridder animal repellent?

The active ingredients of Critter Ridder come from black pepper and chili peppers. Seems like one can test it without visiting the garden center.

A very good repellent for many animals is castor oil. The EPA lists it as effective with dogs, cats, moles, deer, rabbits, and squirrels. This info sheet lists other plant oil repellents, most of them for insects:
http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/biopesticides/ingredients/factsheets/factsheet_plant-oils.htm

In commercial formulations castor oil is encapsulated in dry granules. One product is MoleMax. Their claims extend to voles, gophers, armadillos and skunks. Anyone suffering from armadillo invasions?

[RickR]

Thanks for that EPA link, Tom.  I never would have thought of mustard, and it sure seems like a lot of pant oils deter cats and dogs.

And welcome to the forum!  We hope to see more of you and your gardens, here.

[McDonough]

The active ingredients of Critter Ridder come from black pepper and chili peppers. Seems like one can test it without visiting the garden center.

A very good repellent for many animals is castor oil. The EPA lists it as effective with dogs, cats, moles, deer, rabbits, and squirrels. This info sheet lists other plant oil repellents, most of them for insects:
http://www.epa.gov/oppbppd1/biopesticides/ingredients/factsheets/factsheet_plant-oils.htm

In commercial formulations castor oil is encapsulated in dry granules. One product is MoleMax. Their claims extend to voles, gophers, armadillos and skunks. Anyone suffering from armadillo invasions?

Hello Tom, good to see you on NARGS Forum!  Very interesting information and link, I'll need to explore options more.  Regarding Critter Ridder being derived from black pepper & chili pepper, then I have already tried similar treatment.  With my Epimedium seedling beds currently very attractive to squirrel digging, I tried generous sprinkling with black and hot red pepper. Then I would observe from my dining room window while working on my laptop, and watched as multiple squirrels were busy, busy, busy digging their infernal holes everywhere, completely undeterred by the pepper; in fact, they seemed to enjoy the extra seasoning in their bland diet   I did similar treatment around my garden shed that had a family of woodchucks (gophers) living under it, and the heavy dousing of hot red pepper seemed to do the trick, they didn't like it, and after repeated reapplications of pepper, they seemed to have moved away from that exact location, although I would still spot them in the yard and garden, so they didn't go far.

The problem with the pepper, particularly red pepper, it is extremely expensive (on a per pound basis) if bought at a grocery store.  I would have to find a source for buying it in bulk.  The other problem is that the effectiveness of pepper is quickly diminished when exposed to rain for any lengthy period.

I hadn't heard of MoleMax, but looked it up.  Reading the user reviews of the products on Amazon.com can be revealing... besides the typical spectrum of feedback from complainers to "happy campers", some respondants gave substantive reports of using the product over a number of years, giving credible body of evidence that in the long run this particular product was not effective for them, and it became very expensive, to a point where they decided not to use the product anymore.

But I value these leads and tips, and will explore options in much greater detail, as ammunition in vermin warfare in 2012.  Meanwhile, back to squirrels, I plan on trying a new tactic, and that is to trap them in winter when perhaps they are more vulnerable.  The squirrels remain active all winter (unlike chipmunks), and will probably be easy to trap with some enticing morsels of food.  If I could deplete the local squirrels population in my immediate area well before spring, maybe there would be less breeding going on, thus fewer squirrels to contend with next spring.

[Peter George]

Squirrels, like many other 'critters' that bother gardens and gardeners, won't be affected by trapping them in the winter. They breed like crazy, and they will fill any territory that is available. If you had a 100 acre property, you could reduce their population sufficiently IF you trapped them for the entire fall winter and spring seasons over the entire property, but with a small property such as yours, it won't work. You might consider raising owls. They LOVE squirrels.

[McDonough]

So, no words of encouragement then?  I was thinking of relocating the captured squirrels to a small central MASS town near Quabbin Resevoir

[Peter George]

My owls would LOVE it. I have 3 breeding pair living in the area that are almost always well fed! My problem is skunks. They dig up grubs in the spring, screwing up my bulb beds, and they breed under my barn, which makes nighttime excursions quite dangerous. I've also got foxes and coyotes in the area, plus the odd fisher and weasel, so generally squirrels, chipmunks, etc. don't fare well on my land. And, of course, I've got 3 cats. You just need more predators.

[Tim Ingram]

You know in the UK we have no armadillos, gophers, skunks, chipmunks and coyotes - I am quite envious!

[Spiegel]

Hmm, maybe I'll have to have a "house owl".  We have a lot of owls who seem to live on the property, including huge barn owls, but none in the house.  Unfortunately, we seem to have been invaded by flying squirrels and getting rid of them has been very expensive.
There are about a thousand places where they might get in thanks to this being a stone house.  They get behind the wood trim and find little places to get behind the walls.  Try sleeping while listening to things gnawing away behind the walls!  I guess hunting season must be over because I'm starting to see deer prints again.  We used to have a salt licks back when we had horses and they attracted deer.  It is now against the law to put out salt licks.  Too bad.  It would be as good as bait.

[James McGee]

My owls would LOVE it. I have 3 breeding pair living in the area that are almost always well fed! My problem is skunks.

Peter,  

If you have Great Horned Owls you are in luck... I'm not sure if you are aware, but one of the Great Horned Owl's favorite foods is Skunk.  I have been told Great Horned Owls do not have a sense of smell.  I'm sure this is useful when they eat this favored meal.

Another thing that helps deter the skunks is to spray for their favorite food, lawn eatting grubs.  I personally have not found this to be necessary.  I let the grub turn into Japanese beetles.  They all flock to my one poor Virginia Creeper to devour it.  This is bad for the Virginia Creeper, but having the beetles concentrated in one location makes it easy to corral them into a cup of soapy water.


Sincerely,

James

[cohan]

The castor oil idea is interesting.... We haven't had much trouble with animals, even though we have lots of squirrels, tons of mice (our concern there is having them get into buildings, ditto for squirrels, flying squirrels and bats)  and pocket gophers- which have at times come up under plantings, though usually not (my mother lost some bulbs to them years ago).. So far squirrels and birds have paid no attention at all to pots or plants- although I think birds eat a lot of bugs in my small veg area.(oh yeah-berries- the second they are ripe, or just before that!)
Deer and rabbits are very present as well, but apart from some sometimes significant pruning of shrubs in the winter by deer and probably more so, moose, they haven't done much to gardens- except in late fall or early spring when native plants have not started growing but exotics have-- I presume this will become worse as I have more exotics planted!

In Toronto I very successfully and economically used Critter Ridder to keep racoons from coming onto the small basement entry roof which was right outside my bedroom window-- they were noisy and poopy! Worked very well with just occasional refreshing after heavy rains. I don't think its the same as using fresh pepper/chiles as it is more stable in the treated form.. We have no racoons here, and skunks are very rare or at least very rarely seen.
We do have a lot of coyotes, some number of foxes, and various owls and hawks- of course around buildings, all the little critters are relatively safer from predators.. we currently have one part time outdoor cat- but while he used to be  a very active hunter (tons of mice, occasional squirrels) these days he is more concerned with patrolling for invading neighbour cats, and I doubt he hunts much at all.. While piles of leaves etc should be handled carefully, he has shown no interest in digging in garden soil- I think its too wet and heavy- much easier to use spruce duff under trees etc...

[McDonough]

Two reports today:  trapping and relocating squirrels has definitely taken the edge off their incessant diggings.  While these beasts are opportunistic and will move in to fill territorial voids, it takes them a little while (weeks) before they do so.

Secondly, it's been an unusually dry spring, the soil becoming very dry, an attraction for cat on-the-go litter box activity.  I noticed today that the spot where my rarest and moist choice of Chinese Alliums, the true Allium forrestii, was disturbed and somewhat dug up.  I tried to smooth out the dusty soil depression and grabbed right into a big, fresh, stinky cat turd  .  Not only are the several cats that occasionally wander through my yard useless for any rodent control that I can tell, not only do they leave their fresh turd calling cards, but of course they select the most prized plant received from a European correspondant to carry out their dirty deeds.  I don't like cats; grrrrr!

[RickR]

I would have thought that cats would leave onion-smelling plants alone!

My condolences, Mark.

[McDonough]

Ultimately the Allium will be okay.  But today, I spotted a woodchuck (groundhog) scurrying about here and there under my garden shed; marking the third year of battling with this large and voracious garden devastator.  Tomorrow, begins woodchuck wars.