The age old problem of keeping critters away from you garden.
What do you do to keep them out?
Myself, I have always thrown seeds a few hundred feet away from my garden, and it works pretty well.
Another thing I've done is to build a deer fence, and about a foot and half off the ground, line the entire outer perimeter of the fence with corrugated roofing.
By having it a foot or more off the ground assures that the critters can't jump above it, nor can they get a grip on it allowing them to climb past it
This is an excellent barrier against squirrels and raccoons, neither of which ever made it into the garden.
Of course this was all helped by having dogs.
So what have you done to strengthen your borders?
Make some fist sized bags of dog hair in old Nylon stocking material and drop them around the edge of your garden.
Quote from: Eyesabide on October 15, 2012, 07:06:18 PM
Make some fist sized bags of dog hair in old Nylon stocking material and drop them around the edge of your garden.
I heard about that, I'll have to try it.
I did try the hair in the mole hole, but the mole just dug a new hole.
We were plagued all summer long, then just yesterday my wolf was playing with his trophy, the mole.
I was so pleased he fed himself as well as stopped a family from emerging next year, I was worried this rodent might find a mate.
Netting a barrier to the underground of the garden is a whole other job on it's own. :scared:
I'm considering starting on a vegetable garden. I'm in a suburban-type environment, so I don't have a great deal of land to work with, so I'm thinking of caging it in with chicken wire to keep out squirrels, possums, and raccoons.
Quote from: CubaLibre on October 16, 2012, 06:54:52 AM
I'm considering starting on a vegetable garden. I'm in a suburban-type environment, so I don't have a great deal of land to work with, so I'm thinking of caging it in with chicken wire to keep out squirrels, possums, and raccoons.
Skunks and raccoons will tear right through the chicken wire, you may want to consider a no climb fence or hog fence to keep them out.
My neighbor raises chickens to sell, the varmints opened holes in the chicken wire and damn near killed them all.
His pen looks more like a jail now, but it works.
That is, unless you have dogs, then chicken wire should work well.
Quote from: Solar on October 16, 2012, 07:50:32 AM
Skunks and raccoons will tear right through the chicken wire, you may want to consider a no climb fence or hog fence to keep them out.
My neighbor raises chickens to sell, the varmints opened holes in the chicken wire and damn near killed them all.
His pen looks more like a jail now, but it works.
That is, unless you have dogs, then chicken wire should work well.
I have a beagle. He's 9, but his nose is so sharp he knows when the possum is crawling on our fence, even when he's sound asleep.
Quote from: CubaLibre on October 16, 2012, 08:01:51 AM
I have a beagle. He's 9, but his nose is so sharp he knows when the possum is crawling on our fence, even when he's sound asleep.
Critters hate hounds. :laugh:
Gardens and critters critters and gardens, the age old battle.... I live in suburbia also. I have raised beds,,,not so high . Still they are raised,,, it is good for planting lots in a small space...
Chicken wire never helped,,,neither did moth balls,,,, I have found a spray called Bobeks. It is a natural spray you spray it on the plants themselves and here and there on the perimeter... Seems to work against skunks and bunnys... Cardinals like the red tomatoes. I've had to get creative and use flaming red ornements as a decoy..... so I use those kid whirlly birds,,, also a plastic snake will help keep birds out of a strawberry garden area...Good luck with that,lol.... I put all kinds of stuff out,,,,
Something my mom used to do was paint English walnuts with bright red nail polish, place them around the strawberry plants as soon as she planted them.
The birds would peck the crap out of them to no avail, once the berries became ripe, the birds had already given up thinking the new berries were rock hard. :laugh:
Bugs were another story...
Quote from: Solar on October 16, 2012, 11:25:00 AM
Something my mom used to do was paint English walnuts with bright red nail polish, place them around the strawberry plants as soon as she planted them.
The birds would peck the crap out of them to no avail, once the berries became ripe, the birds had already given up thinking the new berries were rock hard. :laugh:
Bugs were another story...
My kids found that IF you eat the berries as fast as they turn red there no problems. It was the same way with green beans. :lol:
and blackberrys and raspberrys,lol I love raw green beans.... :biggrin:
Quote from: Elfie on October 18, 2012, 07:35:03 PM
and blackberrys and raspberrys,lol I love raw green beans.... :biggrin:
The blackberrys were fantastic this year down on the lower farm. You could pick a gal in about 1 hr. or less if we were not eating as we were picking. :lol:
I need to plant some more blackberrys and red raspberrys. I miss having them in the yard..... Next year when the new gardens go in, I will get some and slap them in....
Quote from: Solar on October 16, 2012, 11:25:00 AM
Something my mom used to do was paint English walnuts with bright red nail polish, place them around the strawberry plants as soon as she planted them.
The birds would peck the crap out of them to no avail, once the berries became ripe, the birds had already given up thinking the new berries were rock hard. :laugh:
Bugs were another story...
Oh, come on. I love the idea of painting the nuts bright red, but I think the concept of the birds concluding that the berries were no good is a bit of a stretch. I think that asking any common songbird to mentally connect "Gee, this red thing is really HARD and I can't eat it!" to "All red things are really HARD and I can't eat them!" is considerably more than the bird is capable of. There is a reason we call idiots "birdbrains."
Quote from: TboneAgain on March 05, 2013, 03:40:01 PM
Oh, come on. I love the idea of painting the nuts bright red, but I think the concept of the birds concluding that the berries were no good is a bit of a stretch. I think that asking any common songbird to mentally connect "Gee, this red thing is really HARD and I can't eat it!" to "All red things are really HARD and I can't eat them!" is considerably more than the bird is capable of. There is a reason we call idiots "birdbrains."
It seemed to work, but she still couldn't keep up with us boys. :biggrin:
One idea I've read about (never tried) for keeping things out of a vegetable garden is a "soft fence," or a "floppy fence." It starts with a standard anti-critter fence, say wire mesh on steel or wood posts two or three feet high. Then add on a two-foot-wide run of chicken wire around the top -- supported as little as possible.
An invading raccoon, for example, will readily climb the standard fence, but will be unable to scale the "floppy" fence without it tipping over and dropping the 'coon on his back. The article I read didn't talk about this, but I can see where a raccoon that manages to get inside such an enclosure would also have a hell of a time getting back out.
Just a new idea....
Soft fencing seems pretty good, but Tbone Again has a point. If something does get in it might do a lot of damage trying to get out. It might have some merit against deer if you could make it tall enough that they could not jump over it. Maybe if you had the fence far enough to have a walkway around the garden that if something did get in it would not wreck the garden trying to get out.
I hear razor cloth works pretty good, something about it slices there little feets. Might get a bit expensive if you have to do a huge area.....
just sayin
Quote from: TboneAgain on March 08, 2013, 09:29:32 PM
One idea I've read about (never tried) for keeping things out of a vegetable garden is a "soft fence," or a "floppy fence." It starts with a standard anti-critter fence, say wire mesh on steel or wood posts two or three feet high. Then add on a two-foot-wide run of chicken wire around the top -- supported as little as possible.
An invading raccoon, for example, will readily climb the standard fence, but will be unable to scale the "floppy" fence without it tipping over and dropping the 'coon on his back. The article I read didn't talk about this, but I can see where a raccoon that manages to get inside such an enclosure would also have a hell of a time getting back out.
Just a new idea....
I've read it works well against one, but two in tandem will find it accommodating.
As much as I hat them, electric fences seem to be the best defense.
Quote from: Elfie on March 09, 2013, 05:50:20 AM
I hear razor cloth works pretty good, something about it slices there little feets. Might get a bit expensive if you have to do a huge area.....
just sayin
Razor cloth? What the heck is that? I know razor wire, but razor cloth? Please enlighten.
Quote from: Solar on March 09, 2013, 06:00:29 AM
I've read it works well against one, but two in tandem will find it accommodating.
As much as I hat them, electric fences seem to be the best defense.
Electric fence is good, and VERY effective against raccoons, opossums, and others. Not so good against rabbits. Useless against deer, unless you fence off your garden to the point that YOU can't get in it. Electric fence used to protect a garden is difficult to construct and even more difficult to maintain. To guard against raccoons, for example, you have to string at least two wires, one just six inches off the ground, the other six inches higher. The wires must be kept taut and completely free of any vegetable matter -- meaning grass, weeds, or even the crop plants you're trying to protect. If your wife takes a notion to plant yellow squash, for instance (and I'm not naming names, like Mrs. Tbone, or anything), you will fight your own crop to keep the fence clear. Heavy rain will weigh the wires down and increase their connectivity to the grass and ground below. The first electric fence I used around my garden was absolutely effective until the first heavy rain. The weight of the water sagged the wire down enough to short it out, and the raccoons tore the place up.
I haven't set out any garden stuff yet this year -- Christ, I can barely walk across the yard, it's so squishy -- but I've been giving thought to pest control. And I've come up with a solution that will completely eliminate every problem I've ever had with critters raiding my garden.
No more 'coons breaking down my sweet corn stalks or raiding my watermelons. No more rabbits raiding my sweet pea vines. No more 'possums munching on my tomatoes. No more deer clipping the tops off my bean plants. No more anything messing with anything!
I just won't plant a garden.
Problem solved!
I have not found anything called razor cloth, But I am still looking. I am wondering if it is some kind of roll out mulching strip.
Quote from: TboneAgain on March 09, 2013, 09:22:16 PM
Electric fence is good, and VERY effective against raccoons, opossums, and others. Not so good against rabbits. Useless against deer, unless you fence off your garden to the point that YOU can't get in it. Electric fence used to protect a garden is difficult to construct and even more difficult to maintain. To guard against raccoons, for example, you have to string at least two wires, one just six inches off the ground, the other six inches higher. The wires must be kept taut and completely free of any vegetable matter -- meaning grass, weeds, or even the crop plants you're trying to protect. If your wife takes a notion to plant yellow squash, for instance (and I'm not naming names, like Mrs. Tbone, or anything), you will fight your own crop to keep the fence clear. Heavy rain will weigh the wires down and increase their connectivity to the grass and ground below. The first electric fence I used around my garden was absolutely effective until the first heavy rain. The weight of the water sagged the wire down enough to short it out, and the raccoons tore the place up.
I haven't set out any garden stuff yet this year -- Christ, I can barely walk across the yard, it's so squishy -- but I've been giving thought to pest control. And I've come up with a solution that will completely eliminate every problem I've ever had with critters raiding my garden.
No more 'coons breaking down my sweet corn stalks or raiding my watermelons. No more rabbits raiding my sweet pea vines. No more 'possums munching on my tomatoes. No more deer clipping the tops off my bean plants. No more anything messing with anything!
I just won't plant a garden.
Problem solved!
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
If I can't have it, no one gets any! :lol:
Actually think outside the box with electric fences, try isolating two 8" to 18" strips of real light fencing around the perimeter, one above the fence line and the other around the middle to lower part of the fence.
I used poly pipe slipped over the top of T-posts, extended out from the fence enough so as not to touch it, poly cord to anchor it down and listen for the squeals.
That's the problem with single wires, animals can hear the pulse and time it as well as avoid it, screens are another story.
I cant find the stuff,,,,, my old trapper told me about it the year he got 8 skunks out of my yard....
Quote from: Elfie on March 10, 2013, 01:22:07 PM
I cant find the stuff,,,,, my old trapper told me about it the year he got 8 skunks out of my yard....
The correct name is Concertina wire.
Here's a pic, I'd have posted it, but it's too large.
http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00pMRTrmbBZCuy/Concertina-Wire-Coil-BTO-30-.jpg (http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00pMRTrmbBZCuy/Concertina-Wire-Coil-BTO-30-.jpg)
I guess when you collect your veggies you can toss them through the wire and slice them as you go, but will it julliene fries?
Quote from: Solar on March 10, 2013, 01:59:23 PM
The correct name is Concertina wire.
Here's a pic, I'd have posted it, but it's too large.
http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00pMRTrmbBZCuy/Concertina-Wire-Coil-BTO-30-.jpg (http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00pMRTrmbBZCuy/Concertina-Wire-Coil-BTO-30-.jpg)
See if this will work young man.
(https://conservativepoliticalforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimage.made-in-china.com%2F2f0j00pMRTrmbBZCuy%2FConcertina-Wire-Coil-BTO-30-.jpg&hash=c376a15fc26864298fbfddc9aef61fc44e47fd30)
seriously, I was thinking razor cloth was some kind of mulching cloth that had a spiny texture. Even if concertina wire was scaled down, I don't know how effective it would be for small critters. This must have been a joke or tounge in check suggestion.
Quote from: Eyesabide on March 10, 2013, 10:49:39 PM
seriously, I was thinking razor cloth was some kind of mulching cloth that had a spiny texture. Even if concertina wire was scaled down, I don't know how effective it would be for small critters. This must have been a joke or tounge in check suggestion.
He may have made his own home-made mulching cloth job.
As he was an "old trapper" Elfie said.
Quote from: Eyesabide on March 10, 2013, 10:49:39 PM
seriously, I was thinking razor cloth was some kind of mulching cloth that had a spiny texture. Even if concertina wire was scaled down, I don't know how effective it would be for small critters. This must have been a joke or tounge in check suggestion.
Concertina wire can be stretched. A 300' roll can be stretched to 600', or as little as 50', making passage of smaller animals difficult.
Personally I hate the stuff, it's virtually impossible to work with, it's brutal on animals that tangle up in it, not to mention it destroys you clothing, gloves and even cuts your boot laces.
I've quit using barbed wire for the same reason, even been taking it down where I put it up 20 years ago.
Quote from: Eyesabide on March 10, 2013, 10:49:39 PM
This must have been a joke or tounge in check suggestion.
No it wasn't,,,, the trapper guy told me about it.....he said I should get it and nail it to my deck sides and bury the rest 8 inches in the dirt so when they dig to get under, they stop because it shreds their feet....
It is curious. I shall continue to search.
We've got a big woodchuck problem here. All I have to do to keep them out is make sure my fence is slightly harder to get into than my neighbor's.
Quote from: mhughes on March 12, 2013, 09:15:27 AM
We've got a big woodchuck problem here. All I have to do to keep them out is make sure my fence is slightly harder to get into than my neighbor's.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Good idea, kinda like putting a sign on your lawn proclaiming your neighbors homes are gun free zones.
Quote from: Solar on March 11, 2013, 05:26:08 AM
Concertina wire can be stretched. A 300' roll can be stretched to 600', or as little as 50', making passage of smaller animals difficult.
Personally I hate the stuff, it's virtually impossible to work with, it's brutal on animals that tangle up in it, not to mention it destroys you clothing, gloves and even cuts your boot laces.
I've quit using barbed wire for the same reason, even been taking it down where I put it up 20 years ago.
Barbed wire doesn't really belong in this discussion, methinks. It was designed for penning cattle and (secondarily) horses, and is effective because it injures them in their forelegs and chests, very sensitive areas. Smaller critters, like groundhogs and raccoons, walk right through it -- or under it or over it.
Concertina wire? Razor wire? Seriously? For pests and raiders dog-size and smaller? I think no matter how I arrange the razor wire around my vegetable garden, I'm gonna be a bloody mess when I make it to the kitchen with a mess of sweet corn. :tounge: :tounge: :tounge:
Quote from: TboneAgain on March 19, 2013, 04:41:04 PM
Barbed wire doesn't really belong in this discussion, methinks. It was designed for penning cattle and (secondarily) horses, and is effective because it injures them in their forelegs and chests, very sensitive areas. Smaller critters, like groundhogs and raccoons, walk right through it -- or under it or over it.
Concertina wire? Razor wire? Seriously? For pests and raiders dog-size and smaller? I think no matter how I arrange the razor wire around my vegetable garden, I'm gonna be a bloody mess when I make it to the kitchen with a mess of sweet corn. :tounge: :tounge: :tounge:
That's why I'm taking all my barbed wire down, it's bloody cruel, Period.
Actually, the concertina/ razor wire was a possibility suggested while we are trying to figure out what "Razorcloth" might be. I am still searching, and it might be some kind of fiberglass mesh or roving.
Quote from: Eyesabide on March 20, 2013, 09:36:57 PM
Actually, the concertina/ razor wire was a possibility suggested while we are trying to figure out what "Razorcloth" might be. I am still searching, and it might be some kind of fiberglass mesh or roving.
I thought razor cloth is a plant?
I don't know what it is, I am just searching about.
I get different leads from different sources. Razor cloth is so far elusive.
Quote from: Eyesabide on March 22, 2013, 12:36:21 PM
I don't know what it is, I am just searching about.
I get different leads from different sources. Razor cloth is so far elusive.
Here's a razor plant, but I think someone was mistaken calling something razor cloth.
But if you're trying stop critters from digging under, try laying some shop cloth, or just 1/4" wire mesh.
(https://conservativepoliticalforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm2.static.flickr.com%2F1323%2F1449338968_7f6ed90347.jpg&hash=b865d92c30df1de7e2e7dbeb70ef55429b446cbb)
My crop is eggs. My pest is a large hawk. I wish him to go away like raccoons do with fly bait and coke. Prefer quiet or stealthy methods as state or federal intervention is pricey.
Quote from: Honeyphil57 on April 24, 2013, 04:13:42 PM
My crop is eggs. My pest is a large hawk. I wish him to go away like raccoons do with fly bait and coke. Prefer quiet or stealthy methods as state or federal intervention is pricey.
The hawk is a protected predator and carries a stiff fine and jail time of caught worrying or trying to injure it.
My brother went to the Army surplus store and acquired some camouflage netting, very durable, and no bird will get through the roof after he covered the coop area..
He was having trouble with owls at dusk.
The netting was about 30 x 30 feet, heavy netting with phony leaves, looked realistic.
Buying netting is a bit cheaper than jailtime
Quote from: Honeyphil57 on April 24, 2013, 07:25:35 PM
Buying netting is a bit cheaper than jailtime
:laugh: :laugh:
Good point.
I think he paid like $ 30.0 for it, they had a lot to choose from.
stringing clear fishing line over an area can help deter hawks from dive bombing in and grabbing up chickens without messing up the view. If a hawk does get though, it is not trapped, but learns it is difficult to get its prey out. Animals tend to not waste energy if they don't have to. Some marinas do this to keep seagulls from picnic areas, and the statue of liberty has thin wire over their picnic area for gulls and pigeon deterrents