On 9/20/11 11:05 AM, Notat Home wrote:
I live in a city, but love sweet corn so I grow a little in my garden.

Unfortunately, raccoons have discovered my corn and are eating it before
it is ripe. The city frowns on killing them, and trapping doesn't work
because you just get one at a time and they find their way back after
being released.

So I am looking at building a fenced area, with wire fencing on the
sides, and netting on the top. I found what seems to be an affordable
welded wire fence material, but the openings are 2 by 4 inches. Is that
small enough to stop raccoons, or do I need to find a material with
smaller holes?

If you place the mesh far enough from the corn that a raccoon cannot
reach the corn through the mesh 2x4 should be good enough. Just make
sure you anchor the mesh firmly to the soil so that the raccoons can't
lift it. Try just a small area at first to see how well it works.

I have a cage trap for squirrels. The squirrels (or maybe rats) would
reach through the mesh (1"x1") of the cage and steal the bait. I
wrapped 1/4" steel mesh around outside the bait area; the critters tore
it away to get the bait without entering the trap. I wrapped 1/4" steel
mesh around inside the bait area; the critters shredded it and still
stole the bait. Finally, I wrapped 1/4" steel mesh around outside and
then 1/2" heavier mesh over that. Now the critters have to enter the
trap to get the bait.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary