How do you keep varmits out of the garden?

Doc

Doc

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Two years ago when we last had a garden rabbits and other varmits cleaned us out on our beans, carrots and more. Do any of you have any tricks to keep the varmits out of the garden?

I've heard of aluminum pie pans tied with a string to a stake but otherwise I'm out of ideas.
 
Doc, I've used these little folks in the past.

Only trouble is that they will harvest the crop themselves after they chase the rabbits away!

Jim
 

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wanna adopt a few kiitties?....... they'll dine on them dagnabbin varmits & then let your plants be.
 
Thanks luvs, we have some cats hanging out out there now. I had not thought of them helping the situation but your right ...I bet that helps.
 
I had a damned woodchuck eating my garden a few years ago.

I bought some Repels-All and sprayed it near, but not on, the plants. The stuff STINKS OUT LOUD!!!

It smells like rotten eggs and was so foul-smelling, that my neighbors and I couldn't even sit in the back yard for a couple of days.

But the woodchuck never came back! :clap:

This may be a drastic solution.

I see that they now have a granular form, which may be less objectionable.

http://www.arbico-organics.com/product/Repels-All-Repellent-RTU/animal-critter-control

Lee
 
Yeah, the cats keep the varmints out of my garden but then they think it's a big litter box. They've dug up almost all of my lettuce :angry:
 
this is the only device that has allowed us to garden in the rural area. Note the woven wire extends about 8 inches below ground level, to keep the digging animals out, the fencing keeps out the bunnies and the 3 electric wires that don't seem to be in these photos, keeps the deer out. The final solution for crows and crafty raccoons is my groundhog rifle.
This was one of the last projects dh did for me. He cut the garden size in half and replaced the fencing materials.
 

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So far I've had good success with bunny repellant but that's probably because there are over 800 gardens there. I'm going to be putting in a fence to keep the buuies out. Right now that's the only varmit I'm having problems with. Squirrels may be a problem later on.

Better than pie plates are old CD's. They move around a lot more and shine a lot more. Keeps birds away also.
 
Doc said:
Thanks luvs, we have some cats hanging out out there now. I had not thought of them helping the situation but your right ...I bet that helps.
Click to expand...


noooooooo, for real. i have this new kitty, i swear she's well-behaved :whistling:& will also ingest your rodents. & your new shoes. maybe a few lawn ornaments. here & there a few pieces of your flooring. ohhhhh, here & there she'll claw a notebook to shreds & ingest that, too. & that inkpen you so luved, well, um.......:huh: so she's yours. this ones on me, doc. i'll ship her on to 'ya asap.
 
cats won't work with all pests. birds, mice, little critters yes, but not something bigger.

we have 3 very tough feral (but fixed) cats that live in our backyard and that of a few neighbors. birds and mice don't stand a chance, but i caught a tomato stealing ground hog 2 seasons ago. i saw it walk right past the cats once. all they did was hiss at it and move out of it's way.

btw, if you catch a groudhog in a humane trap and want to release it, make sure you travel at least 5 miles from your home. they can and will find their way back, often using sewers as highways, if you don't go far enough.

i made the mistake of bringing it to a park about a mile away on the other side of town. i figured it was on the other side of a very busy section of the town center, across a highway, past large stores, city hall, schools, and so on.

as soon as we released it into the woods in the park, the damned this climbed straight up a huge 15 foot chain link fence that surrounded a water tower. the amazing thing was that you could see it was searching, facing the exact direction as the crow flies for the way back to my house.

lo and behold, the little bastid was back stealing tomatoes by the following night.

one of my drunken neighbors caught him in their garden after that, and wasn't as nice.

:beatdeadhorse5:
 
shhhhhh!!!!!!!:whistling:

naw, for real, there's many cats that'll chatter @ them rodents, puof or hiss 'n growl, though my beloved kitty, 'oz, he once delived a 'lil wabbit or...... wait , maybe, was that a squirrel?..... to us afterhe was playing in the yard. anyhoo, he also was so fierce that he proudly presented us w/ an earthworm, lol. God, i luved that cat. :)

& btw, i too have heard of pie-tins. may as well try them, huh?
 
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Doc -

as seen in the replies, the solution is going to depend on the exact critters.

for example, despite the hippy-hoppy nursery rhyme stuff, rabbits are loath to "jump over" stuff. a 8-12 inch barrier/fence is quite effective presuming there aren't any "gaps" at ground level where they can "duck under" - and "ducking under" is an issue in the spring where baby rabbits - read "small" critters - can barge under - or through - depending on mesh size....

critters like ground hogs / raccoons will scale any sturdy fence. whot you mean "sturdy"? well, actually a loosely strung chicken wire fence is more effective than a taut turkey wire type fence because a taut/strong fence is - tada - easier to climb!

cats - people go bonkers about cats using the dirt for their litter box. yeah, they do. upside is: their poop leaves a scent - and that scent will discourage "cat prey" from going there..... not to mention, depending on the cat, cats will prey&kill small rodents.

chipmunks..... not sure anyone has found a method to keep chipmunks excluded.

as for deer, deer don't have big issues with tall barriers. they do have issues with _wide_ barriers. a deer will jump a five foot fence just for jollies. not too many deer will jump a three foot wide barrier. problem is obvious, a wide barrier makes your access difficult and also eats "square footage" by leaps and bounds.
 
QSis said:
I bought some Repels-All and sprayed it near, but not on, the plants. The stuff STINKS OUT LOUD!!!

It smells like rotten eggs and was so foul-smelling,...

I see that they now have a granular form, which may be less objectionable.


Lee
Click to expand...

i just bought a bottle of that!

hmm, let's see. the ingredient list is quite simple.

equal parts extract of sour grapes, the digested dust of 27 nyy world series championships, dirt from the warning track near the little league, umm sorry, the pesky pole.

wow, that's it. no wonder...


lol, go yanks!!!!!!
 
I just found a possum the size of a raccoon on my fence. I sent my 17yo out with a big stick, but he'll be back. Squirrels are a big problem too.
 
lol, "but he'll be back"?

your son, squirrels, and opossums are a problem?

lol, sorry, i just read that differently than i'm sure you meant.

he hee.

:blob_blue:

thanks, btw, for the shroom help.
 
buckytom said:
i just bought a bottle of that!

hmm, let's see. the ingredient list is quite simple.

equal parts extract of sour grapes, the digested dust of 27 nyy world series championships, dirt from the warning track near the little league, umm sorry, the pesky pole.

wow, that's it. no wonder...


lol, go yanks!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Bahhhh. Only took you till May 11th. Guess I should be thankful.

:glare:

Lee
 
buckytom said:
lol, "but he'll be back"?

your son, squirrels, and opossums are a problem?

lol, sorry, i just read that differently than i'm sure you meant.

he hee.

:blob_blue:

thanks, btw, for the shroom help.
Click to expand...

:lol: I've driven him further than five miles and he still finds his way home. Quite an ingenious little bugger =D
 
I had to line my raised beds with 1/2 inch chicken wire to keep the moles out. Im redoing my garden, and will do the same thing. It worked very well.

Also, a few years ago, I put a 2 foot fence around my string bean garden to keep the rabbits out. Ironically, I unknowingly trapped the rabbit in my bean garden, who then had 3 babies. I didnt have the heart to ruin their " home" so basically, I created the perfect rabbit habitat.
 
if you have a problem with gophers and your bait might be a little old. If you have had your bait more than a year, I would suggest you put some liquid anise drops (10 to 15) on the bait. Put the lid back on, shake it up and leave it over night. It attracts the gopher to the bait.
 
Doc, some of my friends who garden here in the city use hair scraps from a barber shop. they claim it works pretty well, but I have never tried it.
 
luvs said:
noooooooo, for real. i have this new kitty, i swear she's well-behaved :whistling:& will also ingest your rodents. & your new shoes. maybe a few lawn ornaments. here & there a few pieces of your flooring. ohhhhh, here & there she'll claw a notebook to shreds & ingest that, too. & that inkpen you so luved, well, um.......:huh: so she's yours. this ones on me, doc. i'll ship her on to 'ya asap.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the offer luvs but no thanks. We have 3 to many cats already.

Good ideas guys. I think I'm dealing with rabbits but not sure. I have not caught them there. I do have a 22 / 410 handy but I'm not around 24x7.

A short fence would be fairly easy to put around it. I might just try that.
Thanks all!!!!
 
Can't discharge a firearm of any kind in the city unless you're at a range. I've often thought of a BB to take out the squirrels that raid my apricot tree. I have a sound wall behind my house just in case I miss. Very tempting.
 
Doc said:
Thanks for the offer luvs but no thanks. We have 3 to many cats already.

Good ideas guys. I think I'm dealing with rabbits but not sure. I have not caught them there. I do have a 22 / 410 handy but I'm not around 24x7.

A short fence would be fairly easy to put around it. I might just try that.
Thanks all!!!!
Click to expand...


i'm now sad. i was trying to give you a gift??????:whistling:
she breaks stuff & ingest shoes & my beloved lipstick most days;....... there's exceptions, though! yep, when tht meowing box arrives, you'll luv her!
 
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