Outsmarting the squirrels

[pauldavid]

Originally Posted by Starlight

I am glad I don't have any of them ground squirrels. They sound like a regular pain in the rump, bad enough the ones I have.

What's bad is I am kinda between a rock and a hard place. I have too many, but I have to keep so many on the property to eat the nuts. You don't realize how many thousands of ankle busting nuts you have off of bunches of mature Hickory trees.

Next door has been eliminating a bunch from his property. He's so mad. They chewed the side of his roof and got into his attic. I told him when I wasn't around to see for him to take out a few at my place too. I told him I would clean and cook em if he did. Yes, they do taste like chicken. : )

Food is food and even I was shocked that the cheap hamburger was over 6 bucks a pound. Head of lettuce was $3.79 and a dozen eggs jumped to $3.79. Milk over $5 a half gallon. Time to start eating what can be foraged.

Hickory nuts hurt! I have sprung my ankle from stepping on them. One time a double fell and hit me in the head. Ouch!

[Mojave]

Originally Posted by Starlight

Food is food and even I was shocked that the cheap hamburger was over 6 bucks a pound. Head of lettuce was $3.79 and a dozen eggs jumped to $3.79. Milk over $5 a half gallon. Time to start eating what can be foraged.

$3.79 for a head of lettuce, over $5 for a half gallon of milk?!?!?!?!

I guess living in California has some advantages. 99 cents a head is about average here, milk is $3.99 a gallon.

[Mike723]

I guess I take for granted my lack of large pests - although last week I had enough spider mites around to equal a small deer lol.. My brother constantly battles two woodchucks that took out about 25 of his cherry peppers and topped all 15 of his tomatoes for him lol . . He's too darn nice if you ask me.. I've told him for the past two years to just end his misery and introduce them to Smith & Wesson.. He doesn't even have the heart to trap and relocate as he feels he's taking them away from their home - his garden! haha

[Starlight]

Originally Posted by Mojave

$3.79 for a head of lettuce, over $5 for a half gallon of milk?!?!?!?!

I guess living in California has some advantages. 99 cents a head is about average here, milk is $3.99 a gallon.

I wanted some white grapes. Was going to get a small package of them to munch on. I looked at price and at $5.99 a pound I said forget it. Went and bought me a 6 honey buns for $1. 79 instead. Will taste better with my coffee anyways.

[Starlight]

Originally Posted by Mike723

I guess I take for granted my lack of large pests - although last week I had enough spider mites around to equal a small deer lol.. My brother constantly battles two woodchucks that took out about 25 of his cherry peppers and topped all 15 of his tomatoes for him lol . . He's too darn nice if you ask me.. I've told him for the past two years to just end his misery and introduce them to Smith & Wesson.. He doesn't even have the heart to trap and relocate as he feels he's taking them away from their home - his garden! haha

They look so cute and innocent when they being held up what is it every Feb to see if we are going to have 6 more weeks of winter or not. That is if a woodhuck is the same thing as a groundhog. I really don't know the difference.

Then spider mites are fast little devils too when you chasing them, that is when you can see them. I read somewhere that they don't like moisture though. Maybe you can drown them somehow.

[Worth1]

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck
If a woodchuck could chuck wood?
As much wood as a woodchuck could chuck,
If a woodchuck could chuck wood.
Yes a woodchuck is the same as a groundhog or whistlepig.

The young ones pair well with Rutabagas mushrooms onions and parsnips.
And yes I have had them in just this way roasted in a kettle in the oven.
Worth

[Bipetual]

[QUOTE=Starlight;481112]I am glad I don't have any of them ground squirrels. They sound like a regular pain in the rump, bad enough the ones I have.

Here in Illinois chipmunks are the same thing as ground squirrels. You may have them and just know them as chipmunks.

[Mike723]

Originally Posted by Worth1

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck
If a woodchuck could chuck wood?
As much wood as a woodchuck could chuck,
If a woodchuck could chuck wood.
Yes a woodchuck is the same as a groundhog or whistlepig.

The young ones pair well with Rutabagas mushrooms onions and parsnips.
And yes I have had them in just this way roasted in a kettle in the oven.
Worth

mmm mmm

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Starlight

I wanted some white grapes. Was going to get a small package of them to munch on. I looked at price and at $5.99 a pound I said forget it. Went and bought me a 6 honey buns for $1. 79 instead. Will taste better with my coffee anyways.

I am on a whacked out diet.
I eat the things that are expensive at work for free and the stuff I dont like up there or cant get at home.
Worth

[efisakov]

..................................

[Kikaida]

Have you thought about creating a fortress of chicken wire? If you double-stack it, I'm sure the holes would be too small for the booger to squeeze through. Figure some galvy conduit stakes around your plants and wrap the chicken wire around it and make a roof of the stuff? I know how you feel about your friend. We had a *special* squirrel in the last place I lived (but no garden)...She was very sweet and quite a character. All of her babies were wild mongrels and stayed away as with the other ones near by. But she would firmly plant her self upside down on our back screen door like a crazy squirrel when she wanted attention...Never tore it up though. Maybe you could fabricate mini-cages to go around your trusses and put Vaseline on them to discourage it assuming you don't have 300 plants?

[Starlight]

[QUOTE=Bipetual;481270]

Originally Posted by Starlight

I am glad I don't have any of them ground squirrels. They sound like a regular pain in the rump, bad enough the ones I have.

Here in Illinois chipmunks are the same thing as ground squirrels. You may have them and just know them as chipmunks.

Ahhhhhhh.. I guess I do have ground squirrels then. I have chipmunks all over the place. They are ankle busters. Nothing like walkig along in a pair of heels and step on one of their tunnels or holes.

I thought a ground squirrel was a regular squirrel that lived in the ground.

Originally Posted by Worth1

I am on a whacked out diet.
I eat the things that are expensive at work for free and the stuff I dont like up there or cant get at home.
Worth

Heck, I would too. Once a year there is a BBQ and it is all wild game that folks bring and cook. They do serve regular hamburgers and hot dogs for the kiddies and the squeamish folks. Amazing what can become food and the different ways to serve it.

Originally Posted by efisakov

My neighbors feed cats, squirrels and birds. They all come over to my side and poop, dig holes, eat my veggies/fruits. I had to spray with HOT pepper my tomatoes last year. Birds bit on the flowers of baby cucumbers and destroy many that way. Some people say that they do that because of the luck of water. Horse ... There is plenty of water in my backyard.
Peoples feed wild animals that is why the animals are coming. Many people do not even realize what they doing is wrong until they get rats, possums, raccoons in their yards in the middle of the city.

I feel for you on the poop. My neighbors dog likes to do its duty in my yard. I started scooping it up and tossing next to their vehicle. Let them step in it.

Now here is a true story I wrote the one day. I titled it "What's That Seed?"

Today was nice and I finally got a chance to get out side and start cleaning dead weeds and leaves off of pots. I don't mind it too much. It is a dangerous time for me though. All that fresh air and peace and quite and the brain goes round and round thinking about things.

Well today I was working in the Columbines. They finally popped there heads and so it was time to spruce them up and give them a bit of fertilizer and a talking to about how they need to hurry and grow and bloom so the hummingbirds when they are will have some food.

I'm going along cleaning and moving pots and I spot some sweet shrubs seeds. I knew I had missed checking the pods on them in the fall and the Columbines are near them so I gather them up and also noticed some other type of seed laying there by the pots and so I gather them up.

Now when I gather seeds, I don't go running back to the house to put them up , I cram them in any pocket I have available at the time. When I come in for the evening then I will be kicking myself for doing just that as I struggle to get the seeds back out of the pocket and have to fuss turning it inside and out to make sure I get every seed. When I get to that point though, usually I am just getting the left over fuzz balls in the pocket.

Well, today was no different, was on the mission to finish all them pots at least , so I stuffed all those seed s in my pocket and thought about how I would plant them and have some more new plants.

I grabbed me some seed starting mix and started putting the seeds into the pot. Got all the Sweet Shrub ones done first and went to start on the other seeds. Knew they wasn't Columbine seeds, they was too big and blackish looking for that. I grabbed the first one and as I went to put it in the pot, I said wait a minute this is soft. Of course the first thing that ran through my head was the seeds were rotten and had gone soft inside.

So I do what every good seed sower should do, I squished the seed to see how bad it was, was pretty bad, so figured I better check the others too. They was all soft. Then I got to looking closer at the seeds, took off my glasses so I could get a good close-up view.

Oh, my.. Oh my... I drop the seeds, race to the sink, turn on the hottest water I can get and start squirting antibacterial dish soap all over my hands and rubbing it good and working up a lather. Washed my hands three times, before I was satisfied they was clean and sterile again.

Before I forget, did I mention that the squirrels had been in the pots as usual trying to bury and digging up their nuts. No, I didn't. So sorry, I should have because what I had picked up and carried all around in my pocket and tried to plant was squirrel poop turds. Yuck!!!!

Moral of this story, Just because it has the color of a seed, the shape of a seed and is laying around by other seeds, doesn't necessarily mean it is a seed.

Originally Posted by Kikaida

Have you thought about creating a fortress of chicken wire? If you double-stack it, I'm sure the holes would be too small for the booger to squeeze through. Figure some galvy conduit stakes around your plants and wrap the chicken wire around it and make a roof of the stuff? I know how you feel about your friend. We had a *special* squirrel in the last place I lived (but no garden)...She was very sweet and quite a character. All of her babies were wild mongrels and stayed away as with the other ones near by. But she would firmly plant her self upside down on our back screen door like a crazy squirrel when she wanted attention...Never tore it up though. Maybe you could fabricate mini-cages to go around your trusses and put Vaseline on them to discourage it assuming you don't have 300 plants?

No I hadn't thought about doing that really. It just might work. I could always try something like that on a small area and see how it does especially to protect the special ones I want.

I don't have that many yet. If the storms don't quit destroying my plants, I won't have any at this rate, but if I can get a fall crop going, weather permitting I will be close to that number.

First time my squirrel did that, it scared the daylights out of my. I got armed cuz I thought it was somebody trying to break in. Here it was the squirrel on the screen trying to get my attention. I got that habit pretty much broke.

[Stvrob]

https://youtu.be/UIbY_IWT3fk

[Starlight]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

https://youtu.be/UIbY_IWT3fk

Sorry, but I can't see your link. I have a dinosaur of a computer and a super slow dial up. I can't do youtube or any of them places.

[HollyinNNV]

oh my gosh Starlight-my kids and I really enjoyed the story! Laughing.....