"songbird" wrote in message
...
or is that groundhog? anyways, it's
big, like a beaver with a small tail,
except no big front teeth and it doesn't
spend much time in the water. stands up
like a prairiedog when curious and not
scared enough to run away immediately.
small ones are way cute. big ones are
aptly named groundhogs because they can
munch and munch and munch ...


Ma said she'll put out the live-trap, but
then i reminded her that i finished off the
p-nut butter and we just used up the last
of the romaine lettuce and carrots too. i
wonder if they like bananas?


songbird

Out west they're called rockchucks , and at one time farmers paid a bounty
on them . Not only do they destroy the crops especially alfalfa but they
dig holes/burrows which can tear up machinery . Hardest part of collecting
the bounty was finding enough of the things for proof . Not much left if you
hit one with a high velocity hollow point slug ...
I'm hoping I won't have a critter problem here , but I'm also researching
ways to keep 'em from eating my garden . Biggest problem here in Stone Co.
Ar. is deer , they're like the rats in NYC . So far the only way for 100%
exclusion is a fence over 8' tall and the bottom edge buried . Next best is
a 2-3 strand 'lectric fence , baited at first so they learn it hurts to try
to get at those tender succulent little plants . Next is various formulae of
chemicals/eggs/peppers etc that make the plants taste yucky to them . Last
option is also the cheapest , but ya gotta re-apply after every rain storm .
Having a dog that sleeps outdoors at night and indoors in the AC all
day... also helps .
--
Snag
Just a beginner
but I'm learnin' !

Terry Coombs wrote:
....
I'm hoping I won't have a critter problem here , but I'm also researching
ways to keep 'em from eating my garden . Biggest problem here in Stone Co.
Ar. is deer , they're like the rats in NYC . So far the only way for 100%
exclusion is a fence over 8' tall and the bottom edge buried .

7+foot fence has worked for us here with the
deer. nothing else has been worth it. 6ft wasn't
high enough.


Next best is
a 2-3 strand 'lectric fence , baited at first so they learn it hurts to try
to get at those tender succulent little plants . Next is various formulae of
chemicals/eggs/peppers etc that make the plants taste yucky to them . Last
option is also the cheapest , but ya gotta re-apply after every rain storm .
Having a dog that sleeps outdoors at night and indoors in the AC all
day... also helps .

electric is too expensive for what i'd use it
for right now. in the future it might be worth
exploring, but that won't be for some time (by
then perhaps battery/capacitory and solar tech-
nologies will be much further along).

for what we're doing we still have a lot of
area in the fenced gardens to work with -- i'm
years away from needing more fenced space. i
have a few hundred more square feet that is
right behind the fenced garden (we should have
just fenced it to begin with as it would only
have cost us another 30ft of fencing), i'll
annex that next.

my overflow and play gardens are more wild
and it's one of these that is being visited by
the groundhog. i think i nudged it pretty
well with the air-rifle yesterday -- i'm hoping
that's the end of it.


songbird