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Post by Gianna on Jun 20, 2019 16:33:31 GMT -5
Sigh... this year I was hoping to not have to start killing mammals (bunnies, squirrels... ) but today someone, I think bunnies, have begun to eat my apricots - the low ones they would be able to reach. And the fruits aren't even ripe - just beginning to turn yellowish. It could also be ground squirrels, or both. One year they almost totally stripped the tree before the fruit got ripe. They just left piles of gnawed on green flesh. I baited the trap with romaine and re-hydrated peach bits. Next time at the grocery, I'll get an apple as Martin suggested.
Alas the bunnies live near the tree, and lately I;ve been seeing quite a few of them. So I set one live trap an hour or so ago, and ordered another. And soon will be going outside to trim back some bunny habitat (low growing shrubs).
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Post by Gianna on Jun 20, 2019 18:01:04 GMT -5
I just cleared some underbrush near the apricot tree. If nothing else, I'm hoping the change in habitat will make them leery.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 20, 2019 19:28:22 GMT -5
I wish that I could trap rabbits easier than squirrels, which I get constantly. I have rabbits chewing up my chard and kohlrabi, and biting off the base of my pole beans, grown all the way up the trellis! I really wish that I lived in an area where I could legally shoot these things! I did get one, so far. First one caught! 6-15. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
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Post by ladymarmalade on Jun 20, 2019 20:04:38 GMT -5
The baby bunnies are just big enough right now to be ALL OVER the yard, and small enough to squeeze in the tiniest cracks. I've chased them out of my garden twice now, and I'm worried that they'll get in while I'm gone the next ten days and eat everything.
I'm going to go out right now and see if I can come up with something to reinforce my gate. In a few weeks, the bunnies will be too big, but in the meantime... I wish my neighborhood hawks would earn their keep!
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Post by Gianna on Jun 20, 2019 20:12:15 GMT -5
pepperhead212, I have neighbors too close, and in my area, it's probably illegal too. But if I could, I'd use a pellet gun and dispatch as many as possible. Those are quite quiet. And with a good shot, death is fast. As mentioned, I was trying to avoid killing these furry little critters this year. But eventually they hit a nerve. When I planted a bed of peppers near the apricot, and they started nibbling that, I put up a quick 18 inch poultry fencing, and the problem stopped.... They hadnt eaten many, and I could live with that. I put in a whole bed of peppers with some basil, and they, with the snails, ate every plant to the ground. But they were all extras - how many peppers do I need? So, I could live with that. When I put in the bed of zinnia transplants 2 weeks ago in front, about 50 plants I had started and nurtured from seed, to my horror, in about 2 days the bunnies had eaten every one to the ground. Every single one! But those were 'just flowers', and I could live with that. But today I saw the debris of them eating the apricot fruits after not having much of a crop for a couple years.. and that I can't live with. And now neither will they. I'd really rather not do it, but it's them or us...
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Post by bestofour on Jun 20, 2019 23:38:36 GMT -5
This is the year of the bunny. I've never had a problem with bunnies because I have 2 outside cats and a 120 pound dog but this year they are every where. Also had an opossum in one of the fig trees tonight.
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Post by paquebot on Jun 20, 2019 23:51:37 GMT -5
It looks like a good time to submit my deer and rabbit repellent recipe. One quart of urine and a tablespoon of Louisiana Supreme Garlic Hot Sauce. Let it sit in the sun for a day or two and then into a spray bottle. It will stink! Mist spray on anything that you don't eat will keep both rabbits and deer away. It's the only good way to protect pole beans. In a community garden, even kept deer away from sweet potatoes.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by carolyn on Jun 21, 2019 6:06:37 GMT -5
Pepperhead... airrifle. We have a Dianna and something else... pfft! no idea don't care... just as long as it works. Giana, this is life with a garden or crop of anykind. I hate to kill them too as I feel I am wasting a crop there. I should be harvesting them and using their meat. I did find a coon in my chicken coop early one morning. mmm it didn't last long. I was threatening it witha trashcan lid after I hit it. It had its head inside the nesting box going after an egg. I pulled the lid off my grain barrel and smashed it over the coons back. I would have nailed it with my trusty 1" square tubing but it squeezed behind the nesting box. I yelled at until my son got there with his bigger than a pellet gun tool...he shot it once and that was the end of it. I did tell him he was far more controlled than I was. I would have kept shooting until it quit moving. I hate coons! He is a pretty good shot but if you give me enough bullets I am too.
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Post by bestofour on Jun 21, 2019 9:19:31 GMT -5
Thanks paquebot,. I'm going to definitely try it.
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Post by paquebot on Jun 21, 2019 12:40:19 GMT -5
My stinky repellent has been used for over 12 years with great success. It was an improvement over just garlic and red pepper with water and designed for deer. After pole beans are producing, just a tiny mist on some outer leaves will turn a deer that may have tried them before. The smell is enough to dissuade them. When rabbits became an equal problem, found that it worked on them as well. Have a spray bottle on a table right beside some pole beans right now. Now and then I give the growing plants a few shots. Between that and the neighbor's cat, I've only lost a few kohlrabi and one cabbage in the front lawn bed.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Jun 21, 2019 13:49:50 GMT -5
Bop little Bunny Foo Foo! Eat the vegetarian vandals.
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Jun 21, 2019 13:55:25 GMT -5
Now that I live in an apartment, I was thrilled to see a Baby Bunny eating the vegetation in front of our parking spot the other morning. So cute! But I still cursed at the squirrel that was digging up something nearby
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Post by Gianna on Jun 21, 2019 14:22:08 GMT -5
This morning I started collecting 'the liquid'. I dont have that particular hot sauce, but I tossed in some extremely hot Habanero placentas and seeds to steep. Feeling a sense of urgency, I'll spray some of that around later today before it's been aged properly. Any that is left can age in the spray bottle. I'm very close to being a total carnivore recently. I wonder if that will produce a more repellent solution for the herbivores I want to repel. We shall see.
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 21, 2019 15:25:55 GMT -5
Well I definitely wouldn't eat anything that smells like pee if I were a bunny or a deer.
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Post by paquebot on Jun 21, 2019 17:58:14 GMT -5
I am really smiling to see that someone is rushing to use my recipe. As Browner said, no bunny would touch it. It began around 2007 when deer were coming to the community gardens. Organic method was mix of garlic and red pepper. Everyone else must have had the same idea around here as only kitchen-size red pepper available. A liquidator store had the Louisiana Supreme Garlic Hot Sauce for probably 50¢ a bottle. Bells rang and I saw both the garlic and red pepper in easy form. Can't remember how many bottles I ended up buying but down to the last one. Advantage is that rain doesn't wash it all off very easily. Urine alone will probably stop most critters. I'm not certain that many bugs will tolerate it.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by octave1 on Jun 21, 2019 19:16:15 GMT -5
Gianna, I suggest you nibble on cat food when you feel like snacking, because the smell of cat pee is a real killer.
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Post by Gianna on Jun 21, 2019 20:18:55 GMT -5
Gianna , I suggest you nibble on cat food when you feel like snacking, because the smell of cat pee is a real killer. I think I'd rather eat snails. Of course, maybe covered with ample melted butter and garlic, the cat food might be acceptable. The jar of liquid is brewing away. With that large crushed clove of garlic in there, it is building up a ... uh... formidable odor. I wanted to spray some today, but will wait till tomorrow. I wonder if snails would be affected by it at all.
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Post by Gianna on Jun 21, 2019 21:52:02 GMT -5
I have a small utility bathroom in which I was collecting and aging the brew. It is also the room I feed one of the cats. I knew she was hungry, but she just wouldnt go into that room this evening. It must have been that strong scent. So I took what there was of it outside and splashed it around the base of apricot tree. It's amazing how the crushed garlic intensifies that scent.
It's not as if the raw materials that I use are scarce. I already have another jar of it brewing now, but with a cap tightly on so the cat won't be upset.
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Post by paquebot on Jun 22, 2019 0:00:29 GMT -5
For those who are skeptical, Gianna already has found why it is effective. Fresh urine has little odor and is not offensive. Let a jar of it sit in the sun for a day or two and it is downright raunchy. I advise a spray bottle which can be adjusted to a light mist as that's all you need. Since animals have a much keener sense of smell, very few will even dare to sample a leaf. This was so effective in one corner of the community gardens that a deer ate some sweet potato leaves once. Spray was used the following day and only that day. The deer never visited that plot again for the entire summer. The residual smell in the ground was apparently enough protection.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by paulf on Jun 22, 2019 16:01:16 GMT -5
Raccoons are live trapped (just like pepperhead's) and there must be something in the metal of the trap because they contract lead poisoning pretty quickly. I have taken the advise of the State Extension critter specialist and gone with exclusion for rabbits and deer with fences: two feet tall for rabbits and eight feet tall for deer. After the initial cost ten years ago I have not spent a cent or more than a few minutes a year with zero pests inside the garden space. Squirrels are not a problem for some reason, groundhogs stay away and the possums are tick vacuums so they get a free pass if they blunder into the trap.
If I could find a potion or elixir to hoe the weeds or mow the lawn I'd be all set.
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Post by Gianna on Jun 22, 2019 20:28:31 GMT -5
Unfortunately, during the middle of the day, whoever is going after the still green apricots made another visit today. I did set a second trap - one that Amazon delivered today - the style I prefer. A neighbor gave me an old trap I'm also using, but I cannot set it with a 'hair trigger' which is more effective.
I'll sprinkle more 'body juice' around tomorrow. But I want to see what the traps might catch. About 5 years ago in about 2 weeks, I caught 21 critters - mostly bunnies, some ground squirrels, and I think one rat.
If I could fence my apricot tree, I would. At least while it's fruiting. But it's not on level ground nor even a simple slope. When someone was eating some pepper plants shortly after planting them this year, I was able to quickly put up an 18 inch chicken wire fence, and stopped that damage. Except for snails of course.
If you build it, they will come. If you plant it, they will eat it.
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Post by bestofour on Jun 23, 2019 21:24:12 GMT -5
Gianna, gosh sorry about your apricots. Hope you can figure it out quickly.
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Post by Gianna on Jun 23, 2019 21:41:29 GMT -5
Last night in the new trap I caught a packrat. They do live here. Not sure what they eat - probably anything. After killing it, I decided that I would leave the dead body in the area where something is eating the apricots. So in addition to Martin's vile concoction, perhaps the smell of death will have an effect. Probably a coyote will eat it tonight however. There was a medium sized gopher snake in that area today. I see them in that area fairly frequently.
Yes, I hope I can at least slow down whoever is eating the fruit. Fortunately most of it this year is on higher branches, so whoever it is, will have to work for them. And if all else fails, I can buy some at the farmer's market - there is a local seller there with exceptional fruits. Not ideal, but at least a back up to get really good fruits. They used to have a UPick, but the damage caused by the public drove them crazy, and they suddenly closed mid season a few years ago. One can still buy boxes from them directly at the farm.
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Post by brownrexx on Jun 24, 2019 6:02:46 GMT -5
There is a large organic orchard within 3 miles of where I live and they have 2 big dogs who patrol the orchard 24/7. They have a doghouse somewhere in the orchard. We ride horseback along that area and sometimes we can see them running from a distance towards us and they are FAST. Fortunately the horses are used to them and don't get too nervous.
The dogs are there mainly to chase away deer.
Unfortunately they do not sell any fruit locally. Big trucks arrive later in the season and take it all to New York where they can get higher prices. I can't blame them really because they are doing it for the money after all and local people would not want to pay New York prices.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 24, 2019 8:31:55 GMT -5
Last night in the new trap I caught a packrat. They do live here. Not sure what they eat - probably anything. After killing it, I decided that I would leave the dead body in the area where something is eating the apricots. So in addition to Martin's vile concoction, perhaps the smell of death will have an effect. Probably a coyote will eat it tonight however. ... If a coyote does eat it and then pees near your tree, the smell of coyote urine will help discourage small rodents, too.
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Post by Gianna on Jun 25, 2019 12:30:18 GMT -5
Between the dead rodent placed under the tree (it's still there, so no coyote looking for a free meal), and Martin's Magic Elixir, there seems to have been no new apricot damage the past 24 hours. The crop only needs another 2 weeks or so to be finished. If the dead critter gets too rank, I'll have to remove it - so I'll be able to pick the fruits...
There also has been a lovely, 3+ foot gopher snake in that area the past couple days. Maybe he/she is also having an effect. They always startle me, but I love having them around. Well, maybe not 'love', but definitely 'appreciate'.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Jun 25, 2019 14:42:35 GMT -5
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Post by Gianna on Jun 25, 2019 16:18:26 GMT -5
So today, early afternoon, the critter has been back. It's a daytime critter. And it's activity (gnawing the fruits and leaving a pike of uneaten bits) is definitely away from the dead body, so that seems to be having an affect. I'm beginning to think it's a ground squirrel not a bunny. I've also noticed looking at the pile of gnawed apricot bits, that the seeds are missing, which means they are being carried away. I doubt thats a bunny thing.
At least the critter, today, has been damaging the fruits that had already fallen on the ground and not just been picking off the tree - though some of that happened.
Gonna set another trap to get another dead critter body for rodent deterrent. Gross, but it seems effective. And it's not smelling too badly... yet. I mainly want to just slow them down. There are enough fruits to share this year, but I don;'t think they understand 'sharing' and they certainly are not waiting till they are ripe. The birds have also just found the apricots, but just a few pecks so far. And some snail damage too. Sigh...
I don't want to eat too many anyway even though sun-ripened, fresh apricots are my favorite fruit. Even more than blueberries. At least today.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 26, 2019 0:31:18 GMT -5
Good luck with the trapping! As you said, squirrels don't understand "sharing" very well. I came to really hate squirrels back when I had a peach tree.
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Post by Gianna on Jun 26, 2019 18:15:59 GMT -5
Good luck with the trapping! Thank you. Nothing in the trap this morning - but this afternoon, about the time the culprit had been visiting, I caught a larger than average ground squirrel. I'm thinking, hoping, he's the one doing all the damage. I'll leave his body under the tree too cuz I think htat horrible smell is discouraging others, and now, me too. I might have to bury the first one soon. Only about 2 more weeks to go. The apricots are ripening, and they certainly are good!
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