On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 14:02:45 GMT, Victor Martinez opined:

animaux wrote:
I think we have a little guy. He snubs his way around and gently knocks things
over. I've done some things to keep out cats so they don't kill the birds, but
with a backyard wildlife habitat, I welcome the little dinosaurs!

We have at least one armadillo, possums, racoons and lot of other
critters. We don't mind sharing our garden with them, in our view, it
makes it better.

We don't have many squirrels here, but last week I heard this rattling in the
gutter. The leader, actually. Just scratching and scratching. I noticed the
tail was out the bottom and then the legs would also hang out. I thought it was
a squirrel stuck in the leader. I tried to tug it out, but was afraid it'd
bite. Animal control came in five minutes (holy shit!) and she pulled it out.
As I thought, the little guy didn't realize all he needed to do was back out.
He was trying to dig up to where he saw light. Poor thing.

Last spring and early summer when our peaches ripened, this one sqirrel took one
bite of 50 fruits! Fortunately, this tree had about two bushels and we had
peaches for every manner of delight.

I'm going to plant another peach tree out front so the neighbors can just come
and pick their own. Everyone died when they bit into a perfectly tree, ripened,
organically grown peach. I could probably sell them for 3 dollars a pound.

I have a 'Dixieland' and would like to know if anyone else has peaches with a
low, 400 chill hours parameter. I will plant another 'Dixieland' but if there's
something else I should know about????

v

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 17:11:00 GMT, Elliot Richmond
opined:

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 13:41:26 GMT, animaux
wrote:

I think we have a little guy. He snubs his way around and gently knocks things
over. I've done some things to keep out cats so they don't kill the birds, but
with a backyard wildlife habitat, I welcome the little dinosaurs!

What have you done to keep out cats? My neighbor's cats run loose and
I can't bring myself to call animal control.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

I went around the entire perimeter of the property and made sure they couldn't
get in UNder the fence. Patched it with whatever I had to, I used hardware
cloth in some places. Then, to prevent them climbing over the fence I bought
those really inexpensive one foot tall border fences. They are metal and have
tines which stick into the ground. I nailed that on top of the fence all the
way around, but on one side the neighbor has a dog and he keeps all cats out on
that side.

After I nailed it up, I bent it pointing downward so if a cat got up, it
couldn't or at least wouldn't risk being impaled. I've seen a cat try to get up
and back down. I think I have a photo...
http://home.austin.rr.com/animaux/ne...n/Page_6x.html

It's not a very clear photo, but it gives you the idea. This type without the
tines is on a gate. I used the ones with tines bent down at a 45 degree angle
along other parts where we would not be in contact with it. So far, not a cat
in the backyard, and I know they are around. It's never their fault, so I would
never try to hurt of punish them, but their owners are assholes. What can I say.

V

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 19:42:16 GMT, animaux
wrote:



After I nailed it up, I bent it pointing downward so if a cat got up, it
couldn't or at least wouldn't risk being impaled. I've seen a cat try to get up
and back down. I think I have a photo...
http://home.austin.rr.com/animaux/ne...n/Page_6x.html

Thanks. This at least gives me some ideas. I too do not wish to harm
the cats, but I would like to keep them out of the yard.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

"Victor Martinez" wrote in message news:X7lqb.4256
Chris wrote:
in your yard. Other than that you can use a variety of scents (wolf
****,
coyote urine, etc) to scare them off. Mostly blind, they find their way

They don't hurt anything, why would you want to get rid of them. They
not only eat harmful grubs, they also help aeriate the soil.


Hey, Victor- I'm a real animal lover - really. But these little *******s
have dug so many holes in my yard sometimes in the morning I come out and it
looks like there was some sort of war. And they frequently will get in my
flowerbeds and go to town! I have one hole that is (and I am not
exagerating) over 3 feet deep and 1 foot wide. They throw all my good,
expensive dirt all over the place (not where it belongs), dig up my
carefully arranged and expensive plants, break the roots of other plants as
they dig and have killed more than one of my favorite plants by repeatedly
digging it up. Frankly, I'm really, really sick of them in my yard. If
anyone wants them PLEASE come get them. I have at least 6 - one set of 4
who were all born about the same time and two older, bigger ones that live
down the street.

If anyone is interested in having these little natural aerators (as has been
implied in some of the other posts) let me know via this group and I will
happily let you come set traps and take them all away.

Chris

"cat daddy" wrote in message
...

"Chris" wrote in message
...
Welcome to the wonderful world of armadillos. Pesky little varmits that
are
quite difficult to get rid of once they descend on your yard. They dig
in
search of grub worms so I would suggest checking for and treating for
grubs
in your yard. Other than that you can use a variety of scents (wolf
****,
coyote urine, etc) to scare them off. Mostly blind, they find their way
around by habit and by smell.

You do realize that the wild animal urine and scent business is a
horribly inhumane operation for the animals involved?


Look, I'm not going to get into a ****ing match about being whole for the
world and never hurting anything no matter what you do. I do the best I can
and try to take care of Mother Earth. You tell me another way to ward off
these little hole-digging tanks and I'll be happy to try it. As of right
now the only thing that has worked at all is the coyote urine and me chasing
them with sticks, yelling and throwing rocks at them. I'm sure my neighbors
think I'm crazy but they are just destroying my yard.

As I've offered in another post if you want them or want to take care of
them PLEASE come get them. I will HAPPILY check your live trap each day and
call you when there is a little munchkin in it.
Chris

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 20:56:55 GMT, Elliot Richmond
opined:

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 19:42:16 GMT, animaux
wrote:



After I nailed it up, I bent it pointing downward so if a cat got up, it
couldn't or at least wouldn't risk being impaled. I've seen a cat try to get up
and back down. I think I have a photo...
http://home.austin.rr.com/animaux/ne...n/Page_6x.html

Thanks. This at least gives me some ideas. I too do not wish to harm
the cats, but I would like to keep them out of the yard.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

This has worked remarkably well. They probably have these little fence things
at Lowes, rolled up in packages of 25 feet, each. They cost about 3something
each.

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 23:45:20 GMT, "Chris" opined:


"Victor Martinez" wrote in message news:X7lqb.4256
Chris wrote:
in your yard. Other than that you can use a variety of scents (wolf
****,
coyote urine, etc) to scare them off. Mostly blind, they find their way

They don't hurt anything, why would you want to get rid of them. They
not only eat harmful grubs, they also help aeriate the soil.


Hey, Victor- I'm a real animal lover - really. But these little *******s
have dug so many holes in my yard sometimes in the morning I come out and it
looks like there was some sort of war. And they frequently will get in my
flowerbeds and go to town! I have one hole that is (and I am not
exagerating) over 3 feet deep and 1 foot wide. They throw all my good,
expensive dirt all over the place (not where it belongs), dig up my
carefully arranged and expensive plants, break the roots of other plants as
they dig and have killed more than one of my favorite plants by repeatedly
digging it up. Frankly, I'm really, really sick of them in my yard. If
anyone wants them PLEASE come get them. I have at least 6 - one set of 4
who were all born about the same time and two older, bigger ones that live
down the street.

If anyone is interested in having these little natural aerators (as has been
implied in some of the other posts) let me know via this group and I will
happily let you come set traps and take them all away.

Chris


Chris, are you sure it's armadillo's? This sounds more like skunks or raccoons
to me. Instead of urine, you may want to try a thing they sell which shoots
out a jet of water when movement is nearby. I can see why you are frustrated.
My garden is not neat, it's there for wildlife. My style of gardening can
tolerate some damage. I suppose we have much different circumstances, which is
fine. See if you can actually identify the animal. Go out late at night with a
flashlight and see from afar. You definitely do not want to be sprayed by a
skunk!

Victoria

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 23:49:55 GMT, "Chris" opined:


Look, I'm not going to get into a ****ing match about being whole for the
world and never hurting anything no matter what you do. I do the best I can
and try to take care of Mother Earth. You tell me another way to ward off
these little hole-digging tanks and I'll be happy to try it. As of right
now the only thing that has worked at all is the coyote urine and me chasing
them with sticks, yelling and throwing rocks at them. I'm sure my neighbors
think I'm crazy but they are just destroying my yard.

As I've offered in another post if you want them or want to take care of
them PLEASE come get them. I will HAPPILY check your live trap each day and
call you when there is a little munchkin in it.
Chris


Nobody is in a ****ing match. This is a very friendly group. Maybe your style
of gardening for the location needs to be tweaked. Sometimes we want to force a
certain style and circumstances force us to either surrender or be at the end of
the rope.

What type of garden is this? Is it a formal garden, or cottage, or native
Texas, or what? Maybe we can help with managing the problem with the use of
plants which work with the situation. There is always a remedy. Deep breath.
Nobody is on the attack.

Let's see if a solution is out here.

victoria

OK, it's late. Favorite squirrel story:

This occurred about six years ago when we still lived in town
(Rosedale/South Allandale). We had put "extenders" on our gutter downspouts
to get the rain water away from our pier and beam foundation. The
landscaping over the years (60 year old house) had built the yard up above
the level of the original underlying grade, and rainwater had tended to pool
under the house with interesting (very, but other story) consequences.

Anyway, I came home from work one day to find my wife and our male beagle in
the side yard. She was watching him terrorizing one of the downspout
extenders, to the point of crushing and ripping the end of the aluminum.

We talked briefly, and she told me that she had heard some noises from
within the drainpipe, although she did not know the cause. I asked her to
restrain the dog, and then removed the extender from the downspout (easy
because they were not riveted, so we could mow).

A little shaking and listening revealed that there was, indeed, an animal of
some type inside.

I took a relatively serious baseball-type swing with the pipe, which was
about 5 feet long, and launched one of the most surprised looking squirrels
I have ever seen about 30' across the back yard. His alarm lasted about 1/2
second beyond his landing, because the beagle had torn loose from my wife's
grip and was closing quickly.

No blood, no foul, but it was about the second or third most amusing
interaction with the wildlife we encountered while living in town.

Wish someone could tell me what to do about neighbors' cats short of
poisoning them. Complained to one woman that her cats were using my larger
potted plants as litter boxes, and that they had even gotten into my larger
bag of expensive soil. She told me to "keep a spray bottle close by and
squirt them with it" when I caught them on my balcony (yeah... Not in a
ground-based yard, but on my BALCONY) and I asked her why I needed to train
HER CATS??? My dogs were NEVER found on her balcony!

Is antifreeze on sale anywhere this weekend?

On 11/6/03 11:11 AM, in article ,
"Elliot Richmond" wrote:

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 13:41:26 GMT, animaux
wrote:

I think we have a little guy. He snubs his way around and gently knocks
things
over. I've done some things to keep out cats so they don't kill the birds,
but
with a backyard wildlife habitat, I welcome the little dinosaurs!

What have you done to keep out cats? My neighbor's cats run loose and
I can't bring myself to call animal control.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

--

Frankly, this is a good job for Animal Control.

"Fred G" wrote in message
...
Wish someone could tell me what to do about neighbors' cats short of
poisoning them. Complained to one woman that her cats were using my larger
potted plants as litter boxes, and that they had even gotten into my
larger
bag of expensive soil. She told me to "keep a spray bottle close by and
squirt them with it" when I caught them on my balcony (yeah... Not in a
ground-based yard, but on my BALCONY) and I asked her why I needed to
train
HER CATS??? My dogs were NEVER found on her balcony!

Is antifreeze on sale anywhere this weekend?

On 11/6/03 11:11 AM, in article
,
"Elliot Richmond" wrote:

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 13:41:26 GMT, animaux
wrote:

I think we have a little guy. He snubs his way around and gently
knocks
things
over. I've done some things to keep out cats so they don't kill the
birds,
but
with a backyard wildlife habitat, I welcome the little dinosaurs!

What have you done to keep out cats? My neighbor's cats run loose and
I can't bring myself to call animal control.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

--

Unless you are kidding, you should go take a nice swig of anti-freeze.
If you're not kidding, put a layer of pea gravel on top of your pots and the
cats will stay out. If you kill them, don't announce it here because I will
find you and press charges. It's not the cats fault.

On Sat, 08 Nov 2003 04:22:13 GMT, Fred G opined:

Wish someone could tell me what to do about neighbors' cats short of
poisoning them. Complained to one woman that her cats were using my larger
potted plants as litter boxes, and that they had even gotten into my larger
bag of expensive soil. She told me to "keep a spray bottle close by and
squirt them with it" when I caught them on my balcony (yeah... Not in a
ground-based yard, but on my BALCONY) and I asked her why I needed to train
HER CATS??? My dogs were NEVER found on her balcony!

Is antifreeze on sale anywhere this weekend?

On 11/6/03 11:11 AM, in article ,
"Elliot Richmond" wrote:

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 13:41:26 GMT, animaux
wrote:

I think we have a little guy. He snubs his way around and gently knocks
things
over. I've done some things to keep out cats so they don't kill the birds,
but
with a backyard wildlife habitat, I welcome the little dinosaurs!

What have you done to keep out cats? My neighbor's cats run loose and
I can't bring myself to call animal control.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

Something to look at is just how are the cats getting up to the balcony? Is
there a tree nearby? Can the branches be trimmed back?

"Fred G" wrote in message
...
Wish someone could tell me what to do about neighbors' cats short of
poisoning them. Complained to one woman that her cats were using my larger
potted plants as litter boxes, and that they had even gotten into my
larger
bag of expensive soil. She told me to "keep a spray bottle close by and
squirt them with it" when I caught them on my balcony (yeah... Not in a
ground-based yard, but on my BALCONY) and I asked her why I needed to
train
HER CATS??? My dogs were NEVER found on her balcony!

Is antifreeze on sale anywhere this weekend?

On 11/6/03 11:11 AM, in article
,
"Elliot Richmond" wrote:

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 13:41:26 GMT, animaux
wrote:

I think we have a little guy. He snubs his way around and gently
knocks
things
over. I've done some things to keep out cats so they don't kill the
birds,
but
with a backyard wildlife habitat, I welcome the little dinosaurs!

What have you done to keep out cats? My neighbor's cats run loose and
I can't bring myself to call animal control.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor

--

I live on the end of my building and there is a "catwalk" (ironic) that
hides cable and phone lines. They walk across that and make it to the
balcony. I hate to poison them, and animal control won't do anything about
cats usually. As I said, I don't think it should be my responsibility to
train her cats, but if she's not willing to keep them inside. BUT found this
morning that one had actually crapped on the concrete (and the cat must have
been sick... YUK!) that I had to go clean up. I've tried cactus-type of
plants on the ledge to block them, but they've managed to knock them off and
I'm out the cost of the pots and plants.

Animal control might let you borrow a trap for critters such as possums and
raccoons, and you might be able to get a cat to get into one of those for a
cheap catnip toy.

"Fred G" wrote in message
...
I live on the end of my building and there is a "catwalk" (ironic) that
hides cable and phone lines. They walk across that and make it to the
balcony. I hate to poison them, and animal control won't do anything about
cats usually. As I said, I don't think it should be my responsibility to
train her cats, but if she's not willing to keep them inside. BUT found
this
morning that one had actually crapped on the concrete (and the cat must
have
been sick... YUK!) that I had to go clean up. I've tried cactus-type of
plants on the ledge to block them, but they've managed to knock them off
and
I'm out the cost of the pots and plants.