jOhN wrote:
jOhN wrote:
jOhN wrote:
Fred C. Dobbs wrote:
My garden is just starting to get ripe slicing size tomatoes and it
turns out we get to share them with the 4 young squirrels we
thought were so cute just yesterday.

We got half of three tomatoes and the squirrels got the other half :-(

They were tasty though.....the tomatoes, not the squirrels.

Anybody have a good anti-squirrel tip or two that doesn't involve
violence or death?

jOhN

The squirrels ate four of my seven tomato plants. I came home
yesterday and the plants were just shredded.

I just ordered a water scarecrow that uses a motion detector to aim
and trigger its water spray to chase away the critters. It will be
here Monday - got great reviews and I know a couple of people that
use them on deer to their satisfaction.

ps: another tomato chewed this morning

Sunday morning my spouse ventured out to the garden at 6:30am - only
to spot a deer as it bolted away...........from out of the garden and
its former tomato glory :-(

That bastage/biotch had muscled its way past the deer netting and
proceeded to munch off the leaves of the okra, a few sprigs of the
tomato plants, and about 50% of the green tomatoes!!!! Just one day
ahead of us getting the water scarecrow - they must be spying on my
email.

I'll report how the water scarecrow works in future posts.

The formerly Bambi loving, squirrel advocate that is also my wife can
get quite militant on some subjects. (note to self: don't cross this
women)

jOhN


Since there is but one small lonely tomato left (aside from the Sweet
100's) there's not much to report on regarding the scarecrow. However,
the okra are making a comeback and the assorted peppers are doing pretty
good.

Regarding local deer - the 100 ft. wide utility easement that runs
through this subdivision (Buttercup Creek) provides a big animal trail
between 1431 and close to RM620. There are various undeveloped sections
along it and the deer have been able to move easily at night and early
morning for the 23 years we've lived here. Yesterday I was walking my
dogs at about 830am and stumbled across a doe and her two spotted fawns
foraging on the side of a house that's on the easement but had no
fencing. The group was not too spooked by us (my dogs did not bark) as
we were +100ft. distant. They stayed in sight for several minutes and
eventually moved out toward a big grassy and secluded drainage channel.

The gardening point is this - dry conditions are driving the critters
out of safety and into the juicy green residential areas they may have
never been seen in before.

jOhN


Last deer report - they are all over the place from dark to after
sunrise. Grazing in my neighbor's new landscaping tonight around 10pm.