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Old 10-07-2012, 02:10 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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Default Venting about varmints

Pat Kiewicz wrote:

The Cook said:

I've got to find out what is eating the tomatoes and cantaloupes. I
think I am going to put the cantaloupes and pumpkins in stockings and
see if it slows the critters down. Hope whatever it is isn't tall
enough to reach very high in the tomato cages.


Do you see tooth marks on the melons and pumpkins?

Big chisel marks usually means groundhogs


also-- If you're missing some flags-g
http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/...of-flag-thief/

Jim
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Old 10-07-2012, 03:29 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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Default Venting about varmints

On Tue, 10 Jul 2012 08:00:11 -0400, Bill who putters
wrote:

In article
,
Pat Kiewicz wrote:

The Cook said:

I've got to find out what is eating the tomatoes and cantaloupes. I
think I am going to put the cantaloupes and pumpkins in stockings and
see if it slows the critters down. Hope whatever it is isn't tall
enough to reach very high in the tomato cages.


Do you see tooth marks on the melons and pumpkins?

Big chisel marks usually means groundhogs
Small chisel marks could be rats or squirrels
Teeny, tiny chisel marks would be mice or voles
Ragged, broken chunks could be deer
Opossums will go after ripe melons and tomatoes (partly for fluid) and
raccoons have a sweet tooth, and will go for ripe melons.

DH finally was able to run the trimmer in the garden and I can now get
to most everything now. Not that all of the weeds are gone, but at
least I can see them. Weather is supposed to be cooler starting
tomorrow. Guess I will get out and see what I can do.

At least I am feeling better this summer than last. Now if it would
just stay cool enough to get some yard & garden work done.


It's cooled down to normal-hot. I pulled four heaping full 5-gallon
buckets of weeds, plus the dying pea vines. So far the fence is holding
and some of the soybeans are sending out new leaves.

If only it would rain...serious rain...steady rain most of the day...*sigh*


Turtles have been known to enjoy the garden bounty too.


I found a turtle eating my cantaloupe last year.
--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a
To find your extension office
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html
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Old 10-07-2012, 06:34 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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Default Venting about varmints

On Thursday, July 5, 2012 3:02:01 PM UTC-4, Pat Kiewicz wrote:
Oh, I hate groundhogs.

What with the drought and all this year, they have been desperate.
The young ones that have been driven out are the smallest I have
ever seen, small enough to go *through* the chain link webbing on
the neighbor’s side of the vegetable garden, bypassing the shock wire
at the top. A setup that had worked for a dozen years or more has
been breached!

Have been sweating buckets and expending cash like crazy. First to
protect the raspberries from birds, which I’d never needed to do
before, because normally they are spending all their time eating
mulberries. But there were no mulberries in the neighborhood this
year, because the freeze that came after the March heat wave wiped
them out.

Now the pint-sized groundhogs have mowed their way though ¾ of
my edamame. Worse, a burrow was started inside the garden. I dug
that sucker out until it dead-ended. I guess it was started yesterday
evening, since the rain early this morning had wet down the newly
dug out earth.

I’m going to reinforce the chain link on the neighbor’s side from the
inside of the veggie garden and have set up a trap. Apples didn’t
seem to work on this one so I’ve added watermelon. I need
something it wants more than the soybean leaves…or hope that it will
give up and move on if only I build a better fence.

Arghh. I've got enough troubles (health). Damn. Damn. Damn.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored


My cucumbers grow in containers up netting put around patio to keep out the rats with hooves. I should be getting in a good crop shortly.

I went to containers on deck and below on patio years ago because of encroaching shade and those damn deer. For other critters, I have a Hav-a-hart trap and have caught and removed numerous squirrels, groundhogs and raccoons.. If you get a trap, get the largest one as big raccoons sometimes don't fit in the one designed for groundhogs. Also a good idea to close it at night unless you don't mind catching skunks too.
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Old 11-07-2012, 01:27 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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Default Venting about varmints

Bill who putters said:

Turtles have been known to enjoy the garden bounty too.

The injured box turtle I nursed back to health loved strawberries.
(Long time ago this was. I was still in high school.)
--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored


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Old 11-07-2012, 01:45 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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Frank said:


My cucumbers grow in containers up netting put around patio to keep out
the rats with hooves. I should be getting in a good crop shortly.


My cousin in northern California has actually had deer come up onto the deck
to browse the flower pots!

I went to containers on deck and below on patio years ago because of
encroaching shade and those damn deer. For other critters, I have a
Hav-a-hart trap and have caught and removed numerous squirrels,
groundhogs and raccoons. If you get a trap, get the largest one as
big raccoons sometimes don't fit in the one designed for groundhogs.
Also a good idea to
close it at night unless you don't mind catching skunks too.


Have caught a few skunks. Normally, they sit patiently and all you need to
do is drape a towel over the trap and open it and they will trundle off,
no harm done.

One time, though, we caught a skunk that was restless, slobbering,
snapping and spraying. Called in the pros for that one. (That same
summer, two rabid foxes had been reported in the township.)


--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored




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Old 11-07-2012, 01:51 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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Default Venting about varmints

Jim Elbrecht said:


Pat Kiewicz wrote:

The Cook said:

I've got to find out what is eating the tomatoes and cantaloupes. I
think I am going to put the cantaloupes and pumpkins in stockings and
see if it slows the critters down. Hope whatever it is isn't tall
enough to reach very high in the tomato cages.


Do you see tooth marks on the melons and pumpkins?

Big chisel marks usually means groundhogs


also-- If you're missing some flags-g
http://hudsonvalley.ynn.com/content/...590959/police-

release-photo-of-flag-thief/

They also do a number on the bottom of your garage door, if they duck
inside while you aren't looking and you close the door while they are still
inside.

Three human beings, two large sheets of plywood, a large box trap
and a broom handle come in very handy at that point.

(All this based on experience. We've had groundhogs run into the garage.
Twice.)

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored


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Old 12-07-2012, 12:12 AM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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Default Venting about varmints

On 7/11/2012 7:45 AM, Pat Kiewicz wrote:
Frank said:


My cucumbers grow in containers up netting put around patio to keep out
the rats with hooves. I should be getting in a good crop shortly.


My cousin in northern California has actually had deer come up onto the deck
to browse the flower pots!

I went to containers on deck and below on patio years ago because of
encroaching shade and those damn deer. For other critters, I have a
Hav-a-hart trap and have caught and removed numerous squirrels,
groundhogs and raccoons. If you get a trap, get the largest one as
big raccoons sometimes don't fit in the one designed for groundhogs.
Also a good idea to
close it at night unless you don't mind catching skunks too.


Have caught a few skunks. Normally, they sit patiently and all you need to
do is drape a towel over the trap and open it and they will trundle off,
no harm done.

One time, though, we caught a skunk that was restless, slobbering,
snapping and spraying. Called in the pros for that one. (That same
summer, two rabid foxes had been reported in the township.)



Rabies is endemic here too. I'm careful handling anything I catch.

Apparently skunks will not spray when confined but last one I caught was
a mother with 3 kids that would not leave the area. Fortunately the
trap was under my deck and I was able to open it with my pole pruner
from above with not getting sprayed.

First time I caught a skunk, I did not know what to do with it and an
exterminator wanted $200 to get rid of it. That was 20 years ago.
I guess if suspected rabid the local animal control people would handle it.

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Old 13-07-2012, 10:19 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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Default Venting about varmints

On Friday, July 13, 2012 7:41:03 AM UTC-4, Pat Kiewicz wrote:
phorbin said:
>
>
>In article >,

>says...
>
>
>> Apparently skunks will not spray when confined but last one I caught
>>was
>> a mother with 3 kids that would not leave the area. Fortunately the
>> trap was under my deck and I was able to open it with my pole pruner
>> from above with not getting sprayed.
>
>
>
>Wow. -- Was it one of the gravity closed traps. There's no way I can
>think of to do that with our spring closed havahart.
>

If I had been a little smarter, I would have sprung for the more expensive
version with a rear sliding door when I bought my large trap. Those can be
opened pretty easily. (My smallest trap has one.)

ex:
http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/ca...x-36-rear-door

But yeah, those front doors can be hard to open. Especially when you have
an angry critter in the trap.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored


First time I caught a skunk, it was in a homemade box trap with a door that slid down and latched. I did not know what to do as I was leaving for work.
My wife suited up in a raincoat with rain hat and rubber gloves and just removed the door and ran for it. Nothing bad happened.

BTW, looking through old notes, I see you had identified Japanese switch grass for me a while back. Looks like I need a new approach to pre-emergents next year.

Thanks,
Frank


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Old 14-07-2012, 05:41 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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On Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:02:01 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

Oh, I hate groundhogs.


re bait: I don't use any. I find where they run - at least here, they
leave a 'belly track' in the grass. They seem to like to go alongside a
fence or wall. I set the trap right in the run, with a 'V' at each
entrance to guide them in, made of ~8"-high plywood strips. I've gotten
10 so far this year.

G
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Old 14-07-2012, 05:49 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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George wrote:
On Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:02:01 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

Oh, I hate groundhogs.


re bait: I don't use any. I find where they run - at least here, they
leave a 'belly track' in the grass. They seem to like to go alongside a
fence or wall. I set the trap right in the run, with a 'V' at each
entrance to guide them in, made of ~8"-high plywood strips. I've gotten
10 so far this year.


that is funny. is this a wire cage type trap 1x1x3ft
or so?


songbird
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Old 15-07-2012, 05:24 AM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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On Sat, 14 Jul 2012 11:49:26 -0400, songbird
wrote:

George wrote:
On Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:02:01 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

Oh, I hate groundhogs.


re bait: I don't use any. I find where they run - at least here, they
leave a 'belly track' in the grass. They seem to like to go alongside a
fence or wall. I set the trap right in the run, with a 'V' at each
entrance to guide them in, made of ~8"-high plywood strips. I've gotten
10 so far this year.


that is funny. is this a wire cage type trap 1x1x3ft
or so?


Yeah. Hav-a-Hart.

G
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Old 16-07-2012, 04:54 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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Default Venting about varmints

George wrote:
songbird wrote:
George wrote:
Pat Kiewicz wrote:

Oh, I hate groundhogs.

re bait: I don't use any. I find where they run - at least here, they
leave a 'belly track' in the grass. They seem to like to go alongside a
fence or wall. I set the trap right in the run, with a 'V' at each
entrance to guide them in, made of ~8"-high plywood strips. I've gotten
10 so far this year.


that is funny. is this a wire cage type trap 1x1x3ft
or so?


Yeah. Hav-a-Hart.


we just lent ours to our nephew, so i can't set it back
out, but i hadn't seen any critters for a few weeks and
the bean patches have been left alone since i plinked one
good with the air rifle. then the other day one was at
the front of the bean patch eating the clover. i'd never
seen one run so fast as when i opened the patio door to
plink at it again. never was able to get a shot off.
they may not see very good, but they can hear. i think it
must be a groundhog because i don't think muskrats get
as big as this.

what do you do with them when you catch them? are they
good eating?


songbird
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Old 17-07-2012, 06:41 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
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On Monday, July 16, 2012 10:54:36 AM UTC-4, songbird wrote:
George wrote:
>songbird wrote:
>>George wrote:
>>>Pat Kiewicz wrote:
>>>
>>>>Oh, I hate groundhogs.
>>>
>>> re bait: I don't use any. I find where they run - at least here, they
>>> leave a 'belly track' in the grass. They seem to like to go alongside a
>>> fence or wall. I set the trap right in the run, with a 'V' at each
>>> entrance to guide them in, made of ~8"-high plywood strips. I've gotten
>>> 10 so far this year.
>>
>> that is funny. is this a wire cage type trap 1x1x3ft
>>or so?
>
> Yeah. Hav-a-Hart.

we just lent ours to our nephew, so i can't set it back
out, but i hadn't seen any critters for a few weeks and
the bean patches have been left alone since i plinked one
good with the air rifle. then the other day one was at
the front of the bean patch eating the clover. i'd never
seen one run so fast as when i opened the patio door to
plink at it again. never was able to get a shot off.
they may not see very good, but they can hear. i think it
must be a groundhog because i don't think muskrats get
as big as this.

what do you do with them when you catch them? are they
good eating?


songbird


I've eaten groundhog and it tasted somewhat like chicken but not quite as good. I had bagged it with a bow and arrow while at a friends hunting camp.
I was the only one that ate it and the rest were eating fried chicken.
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