squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

Squirrels appear to be chewing on our tomatoes, just when they get ripe.

(a) Does netting deter them?

(b) It's been very dry here. It was once suggested here that rodents
are often looking for water, and if you give them another source,
they'll stay out of your garden. Has anyone ever tried this?

(c) Anything else? Trapping seems ineffective. Shooting is not an
option. (Nearby school, laws, being a bad shot, ..) Nor is poison.
Habitat disruption would be a very major effort.

Thanks,
George

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

"George" wrote in message
...
Squirrels appear to be chewing on our tomatoes, just when they get ripe.

(a) Does netting deter them?

Yes. drape inexpensive bird netting over them down to the ground. I buy it
at Ace hardware.


(b) It's been very dry here. It was once suggested here that rodents
are often looking for water, and if you give them another source,
they'll stay out of your garden. Has anyone ever tried this?

I have heard putting a clean pan of water near the plants they're going
after helps. It didn't work for me. The drought caused a failure of nuts
this year so they're going after our garden for the first time.


(c) Anything else? Trapping seems ineffective. Shooting is not an
option. (Nearby school, laws, being a bad shot, ..) Nor is poison.
Habitat disruption would be a very major effort.

Thanks,
George

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

In article ,
George wrote:

Squirrels appear to be chewing on our tomatoes, just when they get ripe.

(a) Does netting deter them?

(b) It's been very dry here. It was once suggested here that rodents
are often looking for water, and if you give them another source,
they'll stay out of your garden. Has anyone ever tried this?

(c) Anything else? Trapping seems ineffective. Shooting is not an
option. (Nearby school, laws, being a bad shot, ..) Nor is poison.
Habitat disruption would be a very major effort.

Thanks,
George

Fence the yard.

Get a dog.

Works for me!
--
Peace, Om

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"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

In article ,
"Manelli Family" wrote:

(b) It's been very dry here. It was once suggested here that rodents
are often looking for water, and if you give them another source,
they'll stay out of your garden. Has anyone ever tried this?

I have heard putting a clean pan of water near the plants they're going
after helps. It didn't work for me. The drought caused a failure of nuts
this year so they're going after our garden for the first time.

Interesting thing, global warming...

We've had so much rain here this year, Pecan branches are breaking under
the nut load.

The squirrel population is probably going to boom next year.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

BB gun
"George" wrote in message
...
Squirrels appear to be chewing on our tomatoes, just when they get ripe.

(a) Does netting deter them?

(b) It's been very dry here. It was once suggested here that rodents
are often looking for water, and if you give them another source,
they'll stay out of your garden. Has anyone ever tried this?

(c) Anything else? Trapping seems ineffective. Shooting is not an
option. (Nearby school, laws, being a bad shot, ..) Nor is poison.
Habitat disruption would be a very major effort.

Thanks,
George

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

On Mon, 3 Sep 2007 08:47:48 -0700, "Aluckyguess" wrote:

BB gun

If the squirrels were large enough for me to hit them, a BB gun wouldn't
be adequate to take them down. Plus, if they were that big and I killed
one ... It just keeps getting uglier. This is not a good path to go
down.

G


"George" wrote in message
.. .
Squirrels appear to be chewing on our tomatoes, just when they get ripe.

(a) Does netting deter them?

(b) It's been very dry here. It was once suggested here that rodents
are often looking for water, and if you give them another source,
they'll stay out of your garden. Has anyone ever tried this?

(c) Anything else? Trapping seems ineffective. Shooting is not an
option. (Nearby school, laws, being a bad shot, ..) Nor is poison.
Habitat disruption would be a very major effort.

Thanks,
George

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

Chicken type wire with the small openings. It doesn't make for an
attractive garden, but it is effective.

Our tomatoes are in pots up on a third story deck and darn if that
houdini squirrel can't climb up the siding and eat our tomatoes anyway.
We put up with some loss. Can you tolerate some loss or are they eating
all your tomatoes?

marcella

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

In article ,
George wrote:

On Mon, 3 Sep 2007 08:47:48 -0700, "Aluckyguess" wrote:

BB gun

If the squirrels were large enough for me to hit them, a BB gun wouldn't
be adequate to take them down. Plus, if they were that big and I killed
one ... It just keeps getting uglier. This is not a good path to go
down.

G

Squirrel is delicious.

I can kill a squirrel with a BB gun at 10 yards easily.

Improve your marksmanship using tin cans.

Rifles are not as difficult to improve with as pistols are.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

In article ,
Omelet wrote:

In article ,
George wrote:

On Mon, 3 Sep 2007 08:47:48 -0700, "Aluckyguess" wrote:

BB gun

If the squirrels were large enough for me to hit them, a BB gun wouldn't
be adequate to take them down. Plus, if they were that big and I killed
one ... It just keeps getting uglier. This is not a good path to go
down.

G

Squirrel is delicious.

I can kill a squirrel with a BB gun at 10 yards easily.

Improve your marksmanship using tin cans.

Rifles are not as difficult to improve with as pistols are.

On the other hand, there are motion sensitive sprinklers. I think they
are called "scare crows".
--
FB - FFF

Billy

Get up, stand up, stand up for yor rights.
Get up, stand up, Don't give up the fight.
- Bob Marley

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

In article
,
Billy wrote:

In article ,
Omelet wrote:

In article ,
George wrote:

On Mon, 3 Sep 2007 08:47:48 -0700, "Aluckyguess" wrote:

BB gun

If the squirrels were large enough for me to hit them, a BB gun wouldn't
be adequate to take them down. Plus, if they were that big and I killed
one ... It just keeps getting uglier. This is not a good path to go
down.

G

Squirrel is delicious.

I can kill a squirrel with a BB gun at 10 yards easily.

Improve your marksmanship using tin cans.

Rifles are not as difficult to improve with as pistols are.

On the other hand, there are motion sensitive sprinklers. I think they
are called "scare crows".

That might work but so far, other than fencing and keeping a dog back
there, the chicken wire idea sounds like the best suggestion.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

On Mon, 03 Sep 2007 14:08:47 -0700, Marcella Peek
wrote:

Chicken type wire with the small openings. It doesn't make for an
attractive garden, but it is effective.

Our tomatoes are in pots up on a third story deck and darn if that
houdini squirrel can't climb up the siding and eat our tomatoes anyway.
We put up with some loss. Can you tolerate some loss or are they eating
all your tomatoes?

We're not getting a lot of yield this year, so every one is precious.
Moreso because they seem to taste better than some years.

G

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 08:19:18 -0500, Omelet wrote:

... the chicken wire idea sounds like the best suggestion.

That would be wrapping the plants in chicken wire? We do that with our
(meager) blueberries. It can be frustrating stuff to deal with, if it's
not nailed down.

G

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

In article ,
George wrote:

On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 08:19:18 -0500, Omelet wrote:

... the chicken wire idea sounds like the best suggestion.

That would be wrapping the plants in chicken wire? We do that with our
(meager) blueberries. It can be frustrating stuff to deal with, if it's
not nailed down.

G

Depends on how tall it is.
Try some 4 ft. and see if that works.

Bread/trashbag ties are cheap. ;-)

Use some tall stakes to wire it to, or whatever you are using for
supports?

Honestly, I have squirrels in the yard and I've never had them eat
tomatoes.

But, I have dogs. A pair of lab/chows that would happily make short
work of them if they caught them. ;-)

I've used the 2" chicken wire over the ground (successfully) to prevent
them from digging up bulbs.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

"Omelet" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Manelli Family" wrote:

(b) It's been very dry here. It was once suggested here that rodents
are often looking for water, and if you give them another source,
they'll stay out of your garden. Has anyone ever tried this?

I have heard putting a clean pan of water near the plants they're going
after helps. It didn't work for me. The drought caused a failure of nuts
this year so they're going after our garden for the first time.

Interesting thing, global warming...

We've had so much rain here this year, Pecan branches are breaking under
the nut load.

It hasn't rained here in almost 4 months. All we've had are a few light
sprinkles. Our property is a disaster with dead and dying trees and
shrubs.... there are too many things to try and save.


The squirrel population is probably going to boom next year.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack
Nicholson

squirrels-proofing tomatoes
 

In article ,
"Manelli Family" wrote:

It hasn't rained here in almost 4 months. All we've had are a few light
sprinkles. Our property is a disaster with dead and dying trees and
shrubs.... there are too many things to try and save.

I feel for you. We have lived with drought a lot in the past few years.
On the down side, I got NO figs.

The global weather patterns are really weird right now.

I wish y'all the best!
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson