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Old 18-03-2009, 02:27 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.

Tom N wrote:

Apart from the fruit trees planted in the ground, I also have berries
bushes and an apple in pots. I have made a wire cage to keep out the
assorted buggers. Works well. Bit expensive for 40 trees though.


The $^#% rat found some way to get inside the cage last night and nibbled a
couple of apples. Spent a while today applying some more wire clips and
chookwire to hopefully keep the bugger out.
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Old 18-03-2009, 11:02 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.

Tom N wrote:
Tom N wrote:

Apart from the fruit trees planted in the ground, I also have berries
bushes and an apple in pots. I have made a wire cage to keep out the
assorted buggers. Works well. Bit expensive for 40 trees though.


The $^#% rat found some way to get inside the cage last night and
nibbled a couple of apples. Spent a while today applying some more
wire clips and chookwire to hopefully keep the bugger out.


Having excluded them from the fruit trees now the satin bower birds are
eating my tomatos. I may have to net them too!

David

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Old 18-03-2009, 11:53 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.

David Hare-Scott wrote:
Tom N wrote:
Tom N wrote:

Apart from the fruit trees planted in the ground, I also have berries
bushes and an apple in pots. I have made a wire cage to keep out the
assorted buggers. Works well. Bit expensive for 40 trees though.


The $^#% rat found some way to get inside the cage last night and
nibbled a couple of apples. Spent a while today applying some more
wire clips and chookwire to hopefully keep the bugger out.


Having excluded them from the fruit trees now the satin bower birds are
eating my tomatos. I may have to net them too!

David


Remember a few years ago when someone got rid of her brush turkeys by
leaving a few lengths of garden hose lying around ('snakes')?

I wonder whether a cutout shape of an eagle might work to keep marauding
birds away. You could cut it out of fridge carton material and hang it
from a tree or fencepost. I'm only half joking. It *could* work...
y'never know until you try!

OR

What about a scarecrow??? Now *that* would add a talking point to your
garden! ;-D

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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Old 19-03-2009, 01:50 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.

Trish Brown wrote:
David Hare-Scott wrote:
Tom N wrote:
Tom N wrote:

Apart from the fruit trees planted in the ground, I also have
berries bushes and an apple in pots. I have made a wire cage to
keep out the assorted buggers. Works well. Bit expensive for 40
trees though.

The $^#% rat found some way to get inside the cage last night and
nibbled a couple of apples. Spent a while today applying some more
wire clips and chookwire to hopefully keep the bugger out.


Having excluded them from the fruit trees now the satin bower birds
are eating my tomatos. I may have to net them too!

David


Remember a few years ago when someone got rid of her brush turkeys by
leaving a few lengths of garden hose lying around ('snakes')?


I have real snakes but no turkeys.

I wonder whether a cutout shape of an eagle might work to keep
marauding birds away.


I have the real thing there too. They have a nest on the mountain but don't
spend much time here.

You could cut it out of fridge carton material
and hang it from a tree or fencepost. I'm only half joking. It
*could* work... y'never know until you try!


Maybe so, perhaps a searchlight with and eagle cut-out, like the Batman call
sign.


OR

What about a scarecrow??? Now *that* would add a talking point to your
garden! ;-D


You'll be suggesting gnomes soon.

David

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Old 19-03-2009, 03:14 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.

a_nonny_mouse wrote:
David Hare-Scott wrote:
Trish Brown wrote:


snip

I wonder whether a cutout shape of an eagle might work to keep
marauding birds away.


I have the real thing there too. They have a nest on the mountain but
don't spend much time here.

You could cut it out of fridge carton material
and hang it from a tree or fencepost. I'm only half joking. It
*could* work... y'never know until you try!


You may wish to hang some old cds around the trees / fence as
appropriate. A neighbour has pinched a few "coasters" from me in the
past. Says they help keep the 28s (parrot species) away from his plum
tree and other birds from his fig trees.

Haven't had the need myself as our fruit trees are of the citrus
variety. Oh, with the one exception of a self sown apple tree. We did
not know what it was, but for years it looked OK and kept the summer sun
off the end of the shed (west facing). Then a couple of years ago it
sprouted forth with a nice crop of sweet apples. As with the citrus,
bugs are the major problem.

Maybe so, perhaps a searchlight with and eagle cut-out, like the
Batman call sign.


lol
Can just picture it
Made my day!

What about a scarecrow??? Now *that* would add a talking point to your
garden! ;-D


You'll be suggesting gnomes soon.


Too much.

David


keep smiling
annonnymouse

A model plane to buzz em off?


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Old 19-03-2009, 04:02 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.

David Hare-Scott wrote:
Trish Brown wrote:


snip

I wonder whether a cutout shape of an eagle might work to keep
marauding birds away.


I have the real thing there too. They have a nest on the mountain but
don't spend much time here.

You could cut it out of fridge carton material
and hang it from a tree or fencepost. I'm only half joking. It
*could* work... y'never know until you try!


You may wish to hang some old cds around the trees / fence as
appropriate. A neighbour has pinched a few "coasters" from me in the
past. Says they help keep the 28s (parrot species) away from his plum
tree and other birds from his fig trees.

Haven't had the need myself as our fruit trees are of the citrus
variety. Oh, with the one exception of a self sown apple tree. We did
not know what it was, but for years it looked OK and kept the summer sun
off the end of the shed (west facing). Then a couple of years ago it
sprouted forth with a nice crop of sweet apples. As with the citrus,
bugs are the major problem.

Maybe so, perhaps a searchlight with and eagle cut-out, like the Batman
call sign.


lol
Can just picture it
Made my day!

What about a scarecrow??? Now *that* would add a talking point to your
garden! ;-D


You'll be suggesting gnomes soon.


Too much.

David


keep smiling
annonnymouse
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Old 19-03-2009, 06:54 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.

David Hare-Scott wrote:

snip

What about a scarecrow??? Now *that* would add a talking point to your
garden! ;-D


You'll be suggesting gnomes soon.

David


OH! Of *course*! Now, why didn't I think of that? I have two: Gregoire
and Grenouille. (Actually, they belong to my son, who is 33 and autistic
and has a bit of a 'thing' for garden gnomes).

Once, years ago, I went to a rather dressed-up 50th birthday breakfast
for a bloke who *hated* garden gnomes with a passion.

On the invitations, it was stipulated that each guest must bring at
least one (1) garden gnome as a gift. LOL! A great laugh was had by all,
and the gnomes were all raffled off for charity. Except for mine. I
tooled it on leather and painted it gnomishly, framing it in an old-gold
celtic-style frame. AFAIK, it still sits on the bloke's grand piano
these thirty-odd years later. LOL!

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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Old 23-03-2009, 09:34 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.

On Mar 12, 12:36*pm, "David Hare-Scott" wrote:
Trish Brown wrote:
David Hare-Scott wrote:
I have been pulling apples, pears and quinces this week. *The pears
are still hard, hopefully the timing is right and they will ripen
off the tree this time.


The Granny Smith apples are beautiful; crisp, sweet and slightly
tart. We had some visitors and I pulled one off the tree and offered
it around. *They said "aren't you going to wash it?" *I said "why?"


The quinces are marvellous, truly the prince of cooked fruits, pink
and luscious. *The medlars are a few weeks away yet. *Such rewards
make all the fuss with nets and such worthwhile.


David


David, where did you get your quince tree from? I'd love to grow one,
but haven't seen any available in N'cle.


Anselines at Raymond Terrace, Gloucester Garden Centre has them too.

David


I've held off planting a quince because of the fruit fly problem. How
do you manage to keep your quinces (and apples!) free of fruit fly?

Tish
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Old 25-03-2009, 04:16 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.

Tom N wrote:

Tom N wrote:

Apart from the fruit trees planted in the ground, I also have berries
bushes and an apple in pots. I have made a wire cage to keep out the
assorted buggers. Works well. Bit expensive for 40 trees though.


The $^#% rat found some way to get inside the cage last night and
nibbled a couple of apples. Spent a while today applying some more
wire clips and chookwire to hopefully keep the bugger out.


The $^#% rat still made it inside last night. Nibbled or chomped on 3
apples. Since this is the first year for this tree, the rat has nibbled on
most of the crop so far.


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Old 03-04-2009, 05:08 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.


"Tom N" wrote in message
...


The $^#% rat still made it inside last night. Nibbled or chomped on 3
apples. Since this is the first year for this tree, the rat has nibbled
on
most of the crop so far.


Yes, same here, is it the year of the rat or what? I've had fruit trees for
years and Never had rats going near them except for this season. They are
the only critter that has defeated the nets! They got just about all the
apples, because unlike the birds, possums & bats, they have figured out that
it's no problem to chew holes in the net. Think I'll have to get a puddytat.


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Old 03-04-2009, 09:54 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.

Trish Brown writes:
The $^#% rat found some way to get inside the cage last night and
nibbled a couple of apples. Spent a while today applying some more
wire clips and chookwire to hopefully keep the bugger out.


The Yanks often talk of "tanglefoot" traps for rats. Is that stuff
available here? It's a sticky pad critters get their feet stuck to,
something like industrial-strength fly-paper. (Stepping on it would
probably give the neighbour's cat a few anxious moments, too.)

Remember a few years ago when someone got rid of her brush turkeys by
leaving a few lengths of garden hose lying around ('snakes')?


A suggestion I've heard is to place rubber snakes among the tree
branches. But as some birds soon suss out fake snakes, I'd try moving
the snakes around under cover of darkness, so they are seen to be in
a different spot each day. Bats might not see the snake in the dark,
but an electronics whiz might be able to modify a solar light to give
the plastic snake some internal LED lighting during darkness.

I have previously mentioned the idea of a large teddy bear in
a fruit tree to repel possums. Possums, being territorial,
see that the tree has already been claimed, and so avoid a fight
by moving on. Well, that's how I've heard it explained, but I have
not tried it.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)
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Old 03-04-2009, 09:55 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.

Tom N writes:
We did have a rat or two in the garage at one point and it ate a whole
packet of snail bait (the one with the bitter additive to deter children
and pets). The rat ate half one the packet one night and I saw the half
empty packet and thought the culprit would be dead and wouldn't come
back, and the next night it came back and ate the rest!


I found it very frustrating to spread snail bait and next day find
not a single pellet anywhere, and no dying snails either. Finally
I sighted a rat, around midday, skipping around the garden bold as
brass collecting each pellet of snail bait. I replenished the bait
each day, hoping it would spell the end of the rat, but no such luck
and I had to resort to rat bait before I could lay out snail bait.

I reckon a lot of wild animals like foxes and rats and probably feral
cats live on pet food and scraps given to pets outside. I occasionally
see foxes around here and I am sure they patrol back yards for food
scraps.


You forgot Indian mynahs!

The garage rat used to bring in lamb chop bones and nectarines and I was
cleaning out secluded parts of the garage and the carport behind some
boxes and other stuff, and I found dozens and dozens of nectarine stones
and chop bones. The nectarines were from our tree but the chop bones
must have come from someone else's yard.


You ruled out the possibility that the rats had progressed to
slaughtering sheep?
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)
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Old 04-04-2009, 03:52 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.

"John Savage" wrote in message
...
Trish Brown writes:
The $^#% rat found some way to get inside the cage last night and
nibbled a couple of apples. Spent a while today applying some more
wire clips and chookwire to hopefully keep the bugger out.


The Yanks often talk of "tanglefoot" traps for rats. Is that stuff
available here? It's a sticky pad critters get their feet stuck to,
something like industrial-strength fly-paper. (Stepping on it would
probably give the neighbour's cat a few anxious moments, too.)


finding a bunch of live rats stuck onto paper would also give any decent
human a few anxious moments as well. the yanks don't exactly have a
reputation for civilised behaviour toward living creatures and this would be
one example.

if you want to kill vermin, i'd suggest just killing them, rather than
leaving them to die of thirst stuck onto sticky paper.
kylie


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Old 06-04-2009, 12:10 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Defeat for the bats, birds and possums.

"0tterbot" writes:
"John Savage" wrote in message
m...
The Yanks often talk of "tanglefoot" traps for rats. Is that stuff
available here? It's a sticky pad critters get their feet stuck to,
something like industrial-strength fly-paper. (Stepping on it would
probably give the neighbour's cat a few anxious moments, too.)


finding a bunch of live rats stuck onto paper would also give any decent
human a few anxious moments as well. the yanks don't exactly have a
reputation for civilised behaviour toward living creatures and this would be
one example.

if you want to kill vermin, i'd suggest just killing them, rather than
leaving them to die of thirst stuck onto sticky paper.


Your strawman has not a leg to stand on, but nice try.

I don't believe instructions accompanying the use of tanglefoot would
say to leave any trapped animal to die of thirst; and I don't believe
any user would -- no more than they would with other live-capture traps.
I'd expect users would check the trap daily and dispatch any captured
pests quickly and humanely.

Draw a comparison of this with a death drawn out over 2 to 4 days by
internal bleeding that the anti-coagulant type bait brings on if you
wish to balance your view.

There is nothing to be boastful of in the baiting methods used for
controlling rats, rabbits, foxes, pigs or dingoes, other then their
demonstrated effectiveness.

Do people who set live-capture cage traps really leave the rats in
the cage until they die of thirst? I can't imagine it.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)
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