Intruders!!

[jal_ut]

"If it makes you feel better, I can't stop you, but you also can't stop me from pointing out how ineffective and outdated of a strategy it has been proven to be."

Ineffective and outdated? FYI, I am rather an old man at this point. I grew up out in the boonies of Northern Utah. My Dad had a 150 acre farm. At one point the darned little ground squirrels had become so numerous at one spot that they had completely denuded over an acre of Dad's cropland. So he handed me the ol single shot 22 rifle and a carton of shells (500) and said: "Go kill those squirrels!" I confess, I did not get them all, but reduced their numbers to the point that Dad could get a crop. Yes, at times it becomes necessary to protect our interests if we are to have a crop.

[lakngulf]

Sorry to cause any problems. I am happy with my garden enclosure. I think the raccoons got in when I had the door open and could not get out. I caught two and those two WILL NOT get any of the fresh corn that will be ripe this week.

I have found no new droppings in the garden, so I think those were the only two that got in. AND, I still have plenty in the neighborhood!!!

[thanrose]

You didn't cause any problems, lakngulf. You just provided a healthy reminder that we are really pretty diverse here.

Love all the critters, big and small. Doesn't stop me from planning to eat conejo tomorrow night.

[jal_ut]

I garden on the plot out back. No fence, it is wide open country. Yes, I have raccoons, skunks and a deer now and then. I find that placing a radio in the corn patch tuned to the local talk station frightens off most of the critters. Crows can also be a pest at times. they will come sit on a corn cob and peck the top till they can eat the kernels off the top side. If you are going to grow a garden, expect some pests, that is just the way it is.

[thanrose]

Ha! A radio tuned to a local talk station would keep me away, too.

My grandpop b.1892 d.1973 told me to always plant three times as much as I thought I could use. Part goes to pests, part to weather, and some of the rest to me as long as I give away a good portion. He had good sense. I did not inherit it, apparently.

[ButterflyLady29]

Raccoons have no natural predators and since they find tons of food in peoples garbage they don't suffer from natural peak/crash cycles. They also commonly contract and spread rabies and several other diseases/parasites which are very harmful to people. They are also extremely smart, once you trap and release a raccoon you won't catch it ever again. A formerly trapped female will teach her young to avoid an area where she was trapped.

If translocation was legal, which it is not now in many states, 5 miles is not far enough. Their range can be more than 5 miles across. 20 miles would be better but really is not good for the raccoon. Your drop-off becomes an intruder in the new territory and can spread disease/parasites into an area where they might not be present.

And yes, there are more than you realize. One year we had a serious raccoon problem and I trapped and eliminated 23 raccoons. Several more were hit by cars in our general area.

When the fur bounty was eliminated the raccoon population exploded since they have a nearly unlimited food supply thanks to people providing food for them.

Once an occasional visitor becomes and unwanted resident, your best bet is to trap and kill the animal. Relocating a raccoon is dangerous. It is also illegal to do so in Alabama.
from this site:
http://www.aces.edu/natural-resources/w ... ccoons.php

As for the "plant enough for wildlife too" adage, good luck convincing the wildlife that they need to leave some for you. I've had deer damage all my melons in one night. I've had groundhogs damage all my tomatoes in a few days. I watched squirrels take all my tomatilloes, sunflower heads, sweet corn and peaches in a matter of hours. And I'll never forget the mama groundhog that brought her babies to devour my lettuce patch in under an hour.

[jal_ut]

When I lived on the lot out on the river, I took a cable and tied it to stakes with a pulley on the cable and tied a hound dog to the pulley with a short chain. He had the run of the length of the corn patch. He pretty well kept the critters out.

[lakngulf]

Right after the Eclipse today I picked corn from the garden. Thank goodness it was there to be harvested.

[KitchenGardener]

Okay, something has been eating my zucchini plant. Not the zucchini fruit, but the stalks of the leaves - I imagine for the water content? Anyway, to my surprise (and its surprise!) I saw it tonight - a small mouse. If it had to be a rodent, I'm glad it was a mouse and not a rat. Anyway, I sprayed it with a pepper spray, but I think its a goner...