Chippy Munks Love Caulflower? Who Knew?!

[WinglessAngel]

So I'm glad that I don't have a slug problem as of yet, but my cauliflower plants are getting eaten up on a daily and nightly basis now, I've lost 6 of 20 plants planted. Come to find out, my fiance went out one day and was watching and here comes a little chippy munk girl and she's the one who's been eating my plants up! I had NO idea they loved veggie plants! It's kindof funny but irritating at the same time. Someone made a suggestion in another post of using flour and cayenne pepper mixed in to sprinkle over someone else's broccoli plants so I am going to try that. This little chippy munk is not even afraid of us humans, my fiance got about 4 feet from her and she still didn't stop eating my plants! LOL Geez! What a cheeky little girl she is! If she stays around think I'll name her Flower since she loves to eat my cauliflower plants LOL

[kimbledawn]

You make her sound so cute but mannnnn if she was chomping on my veggies , I would be running and screaming like a mad woman! I once loved squrrels, until they started tking bites out of my tomatoes... Now... Its war

[cynthia_h]

I once loved squrrels, until they started tking bites out of my tomatoes... Now... Its war

Fluffy-Tailed Rats, squirrels are. See my posts inveighing against them elsewhere here at THG. Just use the phrase "Fluffy-Tailed Rats."

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[Alan in Vermont]

I lost about 20 cauliflower plants(my whole first try with them) and a few broccoli to some pest that didn't leave tracks in fresh soil last year. Now I wonder if maybe it was chippies that got them.

I'm thinking rat traps and peanut butter as a viable cure.

[WinglessAngel]

lol u guys...I had to share, it IS funny but annoying and irritating though, but, alan, maybe ur on to something there, maybe it was the chippies LOL if she eats them all, I'm not spending more money on buying plants, ill plant seeds of something else and hope she doesn't eat them all up lol

[TZ -OH6]

Chippy Punks also like whatever seedlings were planted the night before.

I have not had good luck with peanut butter on rat traps because the varmints seem to have better table manners than rats and lick the trigger clean. Bird seed/oatmeal scattered over the trap with the trap in an tight space where the evil beast is forced to climb over the trap has worked for me.

[WinglessAngel]

well I don't want to kill her, I'm fine if she eats part of the garden, I'm planting prob too much as it is, if she eats part its not going to kill me or my fiance so its ok, ill try a deterrent maybe, but I'm not going to kill her in a trap

[DeborahL]

Yay !

[WinglessAngel]

lol yeah most of our pets are rescues, including some wild animals, like our baby woodpecker that wasnt able to feed bec the adults would chase him off, my future hubby used to go out tere and stand by the feeder so he could feed and the baby bird would sit on his finger and eat at the feeder lol, and a mouse he trapped and it broke his leg so he felt bad and splinted it and fixed him up and let him go outside (he's a retired doctor) lol, lots of animals we try to take care of when hungry or hurt, so I really don't want to hurt her, she's a cutie, she's prob just hungry and if part of my garden feeds an animal who is hungry, hey it was gonna feed us...whats good for us is good for them is our motto

[Kisal]

[img]https://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh27/Kisal_photos/thumbup.gif[/img]

[WinglessAngel]

LOL

[DeborahL]

WinglessAngel is my new BFF !

[WinglessAngel]

LOL awww awesome! LOL I put in 1/2 inch chicken wire to try to prevent her from getting in, rather make it more difficult but if she gets any more of my plants its ok...I told my fiance about the BFF comment and hes sitting here laughing and wanted me to tel you guys about our other "pets" he's got 2 wild rats he rescued from starvation and cold from a dumpster that he tried to release and they were back in the house faster than he was LOL we have a wild beaver that comes and has babies every year and brings us the babies to play with...we have cotton tail bunnies that come and nest every year in the front yard, we have a wild wolf that was rescued as a 3 wk pup and has been one of the best babies ive ever had, a sweet heart and oves his mom and dad, and was even trained for asthma seizure care, was found dying with all his legs shattered and shot twice next to his wolf mom who had been killed fr her tail (he lives indoors with us bec he cant get cold, his legs hurt when he gets too cold bec of them being shattered as a teeny baby) who also protects the bunny babies when mommy nests inside his chain line(he lets the babies curl up in his tummy to let mommy go feed) a pet frog that he took in from the cold bec he felt bad and re released, that now comes back and tries to come in the house when he's cold lmao we're a zoo but he wanted me to tell you guys about them....and yes we've named them all LOL

OK story told LOL

[WinglessAngel]

okies, so far so good! no more plants eaten! she's completely killed one and I pulled it out but the rest might recover, we'll have to wait and see, but I did find out this am that my peas finally sprouted after I thought I wasnt going to get any sprouts and sprouted a whole new mess of them indoors LOL...gonna have to find a place for those but hey you cant have too many peas right? I did try another tactic with my brussel sprouts and carrots I have planted in the bed alongside my cauliflowers...I call it the wall o' onions lol. I have a mini fence along the edge of the bed, and dug trench all the way around it on the inside of the fence and laid in spring onion seeds. my thought is that when they grow the first thing the animals will encounter thats green is the onions and when they try to eat them they wont like them thus deterring them from going further into the garden plot and eating the other plants....just an idea and I am hoping it works lol

[DeborahL]

Please do a blog ! I'm loving this ! I'm on Facebook as Deborah Riddlespurger Long. I had to use my horrible maiden name as there are so many Deborah Longs.

[WinglessAngel]

lol ok deb (hope it's ok to call u that, easier to type) ill send u a fb req hon I'm the jessica k, the double pic of a little asian girl lol

[WinglessAngel]

oh and deb, I post pics all the time of our pets and quilts and stuff and all sorts of things lol the wild animals are harder to get pics of, but I do have some pics I think in there of our wild baby bird that lives here with us

[WinglessAngel]

can't find u on fb deb! send me a request Jessica Kowal

[jal_ut]

Your attitude is admirable. I suppose most of us can be quite generous since we are likely pretty well fixed and don't really depend on our gardens for sustenance. I remember my childhood living on the farm. It was depression times. Dad did not always have work and the farm never produced enough to make a living, but it did produce food. We never went hungry. We depended on the harvest for survival. Literally! Well, critters that threatened the harvest threatened your actual survival. Yes, needless to say, such critters were not tolerated. They might even end up in the stew pot.

My point is that we do what is necessary for survival. If our garden harvest is not critical in that quest, then we can share it any way we feel inclined to, and still survive. .

Have a great garden!

[WinglessAngel]

thans jal...money is tight but the garden doesnt make our survivial for us, it will make it easier but I'm willing to share...we have lots of wild animals who do depend on us for what we can give them when we see them and when we can...theyre just my furry adopted babies lol

[TheWaterbug]

I had major squirrel problems in my pumpkin patch last year, and I tried a few deterrents, including powdered coyote urine and dried blood. I never even knew these products existed! And how the heck does one, um, produce/harvest/collect coyote urine?

Anyway, both were completely useless, and the squirrels just laughed in my face.

I didn't want to use any lethal methods, so I ended up making individual chicken-wire "cages" for every single one of my pumpkins:

[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/AntiSquirrelCages.jpg[/img]

It worked great, but it was very labor intensive. But it was definitely preferable (for me) to the "swimming pool" suggested a few dozen times by the folks over at gardenweb

[WinglessAngel]

lol thats funny but irritating I'm sure, I used 1/2" chicken wire mess and lined the plot area where the cauliflowers are at with it and so far she seems to be staying out of the garden, crossing my fingers for now lol

[TheWaterbug]

Here's a picture of the carnage:

[img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3552590/PumpkinCarnage.jpg[/img]

The horror! The horror!

[WinglessAngel]

lol goodness ouch! yes I see that the cages were worth the effort lol

[WinglessAngel]

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.186527624728457.44164.100001136622200&l=1c681f46e6

So here is a public link for those of you who are interested in seeing what I had to do to keep chippy munk girl out of my cauliflower bed lol, I spaced the plants pretty close together but if they don't make it bec theyre to close I'm not worried about it. But you can see the rest of my garden areas too. Slow goings and you can't see much of my seedling plants but it's a start