Deer/Squirrel Prevention

[imabrdwaystar]

Hello

I have quite a few bulbs being shipped to me and I thought I would ask so there would be plenty of time for me to prepare.
I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on what to use to prevent deer and squirrels from eating my bulbs. I have a much larger squirrel problem, but deer do come around occasionally. The only thing I've heard to use is chicken wire. Is there anything else that works well?


Thank you so much fro any suggestions

*Sarah*
Zone 7
Richmond, VA

[grandpasrose]

There are a number of things on the market now to deal with the problem of squirrels and deer, although their solutions are sometimes different as deer are a little bigger!
Any easy solution that I have seen work for deer, is where a woman left a radio playing in her rose garden all the time, and the deer never went near for fear there were people nearby.
I also have a friend who hangs lemon soap bars in her shrubs and trees to keep the deer away.
Motion sensors attached to sprinklers work really well too - deer don't like the water.
There is a product for deer call Plotsaver, where you spray deer repellent on rope and then string the rope around your property.
You can also get things like Garlic clips and stakes - concentrated garlic.
There is a product for small animals like squirrels called Shake Away - totally organic and safe for humans and plants.
There's a few for you, and I am sure everyone else has a few ideas for you! It's a problem for a lot of people and some of the solutions are quite ingenious!
VAL

[JPIXI]

Anyone has idea how to chase away or discourage "Taupe"(french) or mole rat? It is an animal that dig hole underground, resulting the surface of the feild reveals ugly hills of soil.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Pixi

[grandpasrose]

Bonjour Pixi! Nice to hear from you again!
Moles are feeding on the bugs underground, which is why they are digging nice tunnels and hole in your lawn.

There is a product over here called Mole Repellent that is actually clay granules impregnated with castor oil that you sprinkle around. You can also get it as a spray. It is safe for the environment, and doesn't harm the moles. If you can't find the product over there, maybe try using a spray bottle with castor oil in it and spraying with it. You would have to repeat this every once in a while because of rain, etc.

There is also another product called Shake Away, that is made from organic fox and bobcat urine powder, that makes the moles think there are predators nearby. It is all natural, and non-toxic, safe for plants and pets and the environment.

Also, moles cannot stand vibrations or noise in their underground tunnels, so if you run a fan or something that causes vibration where they are tunnelling, they should move out.

I hope you're able to try something from these and get rid of those beggers! Good Luck! Bonsoir
VAL

[JPIXI]

Merci VAL!

Your highly valued advices always provide me endless imagination and inspiration to my problems.

I intend to modify your methods by placing 2 old insect repellers which I had in my garage to the garden at night. Guess the high pitch vibration will disturb the mole, and eventually make them move instead of injure them with rose thorns which my neighbour suggested to me. Everyone has the right to live on earth, it might not be welcome in my garden, perhaps the forest nearby my garden will need these moles.

I baby sit some babies during weekends when their parents are in church. They like to pee pee around the fences when I had my shoulders are turned. Let us see if these moles are afraid of these small "predators" urine.

Thanks again VAL!

Cheers,
Pixi

[The Helpful Gardener]

Bonjour PIXI!

Moles show up because there is a food source; eliminating it will get rid of the problem, as they will go if the food runs out. We have an organic product here called milky spore that is a biological that preys on grubs (mole's food source). It is very ecologically friendly, and only needs to be applied every five to ten years. I have had very good luck with it, but I know you have had problems locating these products in France, so some online searching may be in order. But this is a good long term solution for many reasons...

HG

[grandpasrose]

Yes, Scott definitely getting rid of the food source would be the best cure of all. Hopefully you can find Milky Spore Pixi.

Pixi - I'm not sure the babies pee will be quite as strong or predatorial, but it's worth a try!!
My husband just told me that mothballs will repell moles as well

Take Care Pixi and good luck! Let us know how it goes!
VAL

[The Helpful Gardener]

Oui!

[opabinia51]

Tu parle francais? Je parle un peut francais est un peut Japanais.

[grandpasrose]

So you speak three languages Opa? - English, French, Japanese. Or are there more? Is there anything you don't do?
VAL

[The Helpful Gardener]

Wakarimas, suprisingly enough.

I have NO second language, just a smattering of phrases from a Babel-like collection of speech...

Scott

[grandpasrose]

I have English, of course, and a smattering of French - because we are a bi-lingual country - don't you know!
What is Wakarimas?
VAL

[The Helpful Gardener]

Japanese for "I understand". Hence my suprise...

S

[opabinia51]

Oui, je parle francais, japanais est anglais.


Though, I've forgotten more french and japanese over the years than I can even think of. I'd really like to relearn them both

[hugh]

Being a Quebecoise mixed marriage and French and English - we speak really bizarre mixture of the two. If it is a word we learned in Britain we use English, if we learned it in Quebec its in French. So today I asked my wife to buy le copper hydroxide pour les corges (squash) et cucumber anglais.(cucumbers to you) All plants are given their French names but as our best gardening books & your webb site are in English we use English for all treatments, planting etc.

Going back to moles, personally I have never treated them. They do no real damage to the lawn unless you are infested. You can brush or kick away the mole hills. The soil is a nice quality seed bed for natural re-growth. If it is a small lawn they tend to wander off after a short time, to someone else’s garden, after the easy food supply chez-vous have been exhausted.

Everyone I know who has attempted to eradicate moles has found it more trouble than it is worth. If your problem is surface ‘runs’, that is a ridge created by the top of the tunnel, it is often a symptom of over watering. This encourages worms, grubs etc to come more to the surface. This is followed by the mole searching for them.

In a veg plot they can be serious as plants fall over after being tunnelled under. However this is rare as they tend not to like ‘disturbed ground’, presumably as their tunnels could collapse in the less solid soil. But if you do get this, they can discouraged by digging a trench around the plot, they dislike coming into contact with the day light.

Obviously if you are infested and well that is different.

Hope this is of help.

Hugh

[grandpasrose]

Actually, I've really enjoyed my communications with JPIXI, especially in the rose forum, because I am trying to use a little of the french that I have, and it's easier as you use it!

How is it going with the moles Pixi?

VAL

[The Helpful Gardener]

Thanks Hugh!

[hugh]

May I go back to moles, the reason is that I like moles!

The standard treatment I was taught for unwanted mole hills was to stop or reduce watering of the lawn. The reason is that if the soil dries out in many soils this makes it difficult for the moles to dig. They will find somewhere else to find food. You don't have to do this permanently, just every time you see mole hills.

It takes about a week or so. You will find that the runs are either abandoned or that there is a line of mole hills heading straight towards you neighbour’s garden.

Hugh

[The Helpful Gardener]

The other point to remember here is that much of what we refer to as "mole" damage here in North America is really voles, a far more active and aggressive creature. Reducing grubs will help, but probably not eliminate vole issues. High frequency transducers are initially good, but the creatures tend to develop an apparent immunity...