"Ignoramus11409" wrote in message
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On Mon, 5 Jun 2006 15:37:54 -0400, Sgt.Sausage wrote:

"Ignoramus11409" wrote in message
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We are in Northern IL.

I planted watermelons in an area (front yard) that always had problems
of similar plants being victimized by some pests. Not sure which
ones. Apparently, they like eating young shoots.

How can I realiztically prevent that, thanks.


The *best* pest removal investment I ever made was to go down to the
county animal shelter and pick up 2 kittens. It took them a few months
to get up to speed, but here's the short/quick list of things we used to
classify as "pests" and we now classify as "gone".

(a) Geese -- Canada. Used to have about 50 a year set up shop
on our homestead. Now we have none.

(b) Mice -- gone.

(c) Chipmonks -- gone.

(d) Squirrels -- not gone, but stay away from the gardens where the
cats patroll.

(e) Rabits -- not gone, but no longer like to be anywhere near the
garden.

(f) Moles/shrews -- gone.

(g) Birds -- not gone, but no longer eat all of the berries/cherries and
whatnot.

All of these were a serious problem for us -- like we'd only get about
10% of what we grew from the ground to the kitchen table. Now we
get about 80% -- the cats saved us. The remaining 20% lossage is for
things out of our control (weather, hail, bugs, and whatnot).

Sounds great. Unfortunately, I am allergic to cats, but what you
describe sounds very smart.

I'm waaaaaayyyy alergic to 'em. Doesn't bother me one bit. They live
outside. 'Bout once a year they get rounded up and toted in the car to
the vet -- only time I have to deal with it.