There has been a recipe come up on this newsgroup several times for a
mixture that can be sprayed on your garden to discourage raccoons, and
hopefully possums and squirrels from eating grapes, and fruit from off the
plants. I had never been bothered by any of them so I didn't copy it. Now
a friend of mine has the problem with his grapes.

Would one or more of you please give me your favorite and most effective
recipe? Thanks in advance.

Dwayne

In article , jenco@st-
tel.net says...

Would one or more of you please give me your favorite and most effective
recipe? Thanks in advance.

Make a red pepper infusion - pour boiling water (1/2 gallon?) over hot
dried red pepper (1 package?) and let it soak for 24 hours. Add a
teaspoon or 2 of oil (I use canola 'cause we've got it) as a sticker and
a drop or two of detergent as a spreader.

The question marks indicate that package sizes vary - if it makes your
eyes water when you pour it in the sprayer it's about right :-).

Works in our garden - we've got both rabbits and raccoons as well as
the occasional skunk.

It's important to do this at the beginning of the season. If it tastes
bad the first time, they tend not to come back. If they've found it
good the first couple of times, it takes a lot of spray to discourage
them.

I renew it after it rains and keep it going for at least a month. After
that, I mix some up and apply it occasionally if I remember.

--
Homo sapiens is a goal, not a description

Dwayne said:

There has been a recipe come up on this newsgroup several times for a
mixture that can be sprayed on your garden to discourage raccoons, and
hopefully possums and squirrels from eating grapes, and fruit from off the
plants. I had never been bothered by any of them so I didn't copy it. Now
a friend of mine has the problem with his grapes.

Whatever it is, you would have to be able to *easily* wash it off, otherwise
it would discourage *you* from eating them.

What discourages racoons and 'possums and the like in my yard is a fence
with small openings and a couple of electrified wires on top.

Where I used to live I had a nice peach tree -- they don't like the sandy soil
here -- and I protected that with a 'cage' of plastic bird netting with a radio
running all night (on a talk station). I later replace the bird netting with
'panels' of chicken wire. These were made with two 8-foot 1x2 boards
which had 48-inch wide 1" hex mesh stapled to them such that about 18 inches
of wire extended beyond each end ot the boards. These panels were tied together
with wire extending out along the ground at the bottom and curling outward at
the top. (Metal fence stakes were temporarily driven in to prop up the wire
panels.) Never had them breached by racoons, and they lasted for many
years.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)