Last year I lost most of my strawberries to chipmunks!! This year I have a profusion of green strawberries and about half a dozen chipmunk holes in the bed. Is there chipmunk bait or some good way of killing them before the berries ripen? I wouldn't mind sharing, but when they take a bite out of every berry they see it's WAR.
Strawberries and Chipmunks
I net my strawberries so they can't get them. I agree with you about their manners! One tiny bite out of each one!!
I net and use gopher bombs in the holes, works great, also your frendly bird population can be a pest too.
I have a sad way of getting rid of them. Get a live trap (wire small enough to hold them in) put a little peanut butter and peanuts on the bait bar. The hard part is what to do with it when you catch it in the trap....I fill a tub of water that the trap can be lowered all the way under the water and drown them. Sad huh? But it's them or my strawberries, lilies, tulip bulbs, corn, ect....it's war baby!
IowaAnn
Here's where I have mellowed as I have gotten older. Not too many years ago I would have said "yeah, drown that sucker". Now I try to do everything just short of killing pests that are stealing or destroying my vegetables that I have worked so hard to produce. It seems to me that if you have them in a cage already you could call animal control and have them relocated.
My husband built me a cage of hardware cloth that fits right over the bed. So far, so good. Until this year I haven't grown a strawberry that birds and chipmunks didn't get to first.
hrp50.....you must live in a city. What happens is people in town catch the sweet little things and then take them into the country (where I live) and let the poor little things loose....well guess what? Your sweet little thing problem has just became my problem. I think people don't realize that when they catch a raccoon, chipmunk, possum ect.. in their live traps, take them out to the country and let them loose, they become a problem for someone else. Same thing with dogs. People get dogs and decide they don't want them anymore (behavior problems, can't afford to feed them, bigger than they thought they would get. ect.) instead of taking them to the animal shelter (who charge to take them there) they drop them off in the country to fend for themselves. So when I have dead chickens and there's a stray dog around that becomes a problem for me. So when you suggest animal control have them "RELOCATED" guess where they go. I wish I could be mellowed out about it. ;)
IowaAnn
Ok, now I understand your point of view. Up until today I had lost one corncob to the squirrels and was in the process of building a removable cover. I just didn't finish it in time. Today I found about 80% to 90% of my corn has been eaten by squirrels over the past few days. So tell me, where do you buy those little cages for catching chipmunks? And how many feet of water does it take to drown them? I guess if I drowned them in boiling water I would get rid of them and have squirrel stew, kind of a two'fer. Urrrrrgh!
hrp50,
Wal Mart has them and any farm store will have them. I know that it sounds cruel to kill the cute little things but I work hard to provide fresh, healthy food for my family and I don't do it just for fun. Let's face it, gardening can be hard work and expensive. Planting, weeding, trying to keep critters out and dealing with the weather. We've had 3 hail storms this year and so anything that survives is not going to be food for the squirrels. ; ) Not sure about a squirrel stew although you did feed them out to be market weight!! LOLOL!
I use a large rubbermaid tub that the trap fits into and fill it up with water just to cover the trap completely....I have to say that I drop the trap in and immediately walk away. I can't watch. :( I figure that anything that's a pest in your house, barn or on your land (flies, mosquitoes, mice, roaches, ants, rats, ect.) you wouldn't have a problem killing. Just because they are cute does not mean they are not a pest.
Will you have to replant your corn or is it too late?
IowaAnn
I would like to replant and try to get a full crop this year, but I've read that corn must be "knee-high by the 4th of July" and that is going to be hard to achieve by planting seeds now. The original plants I bought as transplants, I didn’t direct seed, and I bought them on a whim because my wife loves corn on the cob. After I discovered yesterday that the squirrels had destroyed most of my corn, I picked the only 2 cobs that were ready and cooked them for my wife last night. She thought that it was so good that she definitely wants to nurse the remaining three ears to maturity. She and my son were outside until after dark erecting a make shift cover over the 4' x 4' raised bed using pvc pipe and bird netting. The funniest sight last evening, just after I broke the news to her about the corn, was my wife running out the back door screaming "give me back that corncob" at the squirrel sitting on top of our fence with a corncob in his mouth, and then she chased him out into the alley to retrieve the corn after the squirrel dropped it.
LOL! Hilarious! We gardeners will do just about anything to protect our precious garden treasures! So sweet that you salvaged 2 ears of corn for your wife. You deserve the husband of the year award!
There is something that my father did, he put an old radio in with the corn and also he planted squash and watermelon among the corn. The critters have left my corn alone for the past 11 years,using both. That includes all of the local reccoons, etc. They ( ccording to mu local DNR agent) do not like to go through the vines.
have you ever tried to "Lure" them away by placing a bird feeder 10 feet away from the garden and keeping enough feed in it to keep their attention away from the garden?
annabelle15
How does the radio have any effect unless it is turned on to a radio station playing music that the animals don't like?
I used to keep two bird feeders full for the birds and then I stopped because I felt it was attracting squirrels and birds which once in the back yard, found my vegetables that they liked even more. Maybe you're correct that as long as they have bird seed, they won't bother my vegetables as much. I will try that but if they keep eating my corn and tomatoes and berries, I am going to have to take really drastic measures. My garden is supposed to feed me and my family, not the animals!!!!
Feeding the birds have become an expensive thing to do especially if your feeding the hungry coons too. My son is an excellent shot with his 22. :)
The radio is tuned to a 24 hour talk station, so there are voiced all of the time. I have used this method for many years, and the critters have not caught on yet!!!!!!!!
Bird feeders are about 30 feet from the garden and on the opposite side of the house from the garden, and I am an expert shot!!
Is there still time to plant seeds now and still get a corn crop before the first frost? Here in Texas I planted corn transplants in early March and had my first ripe corn about a week ago. So that means almost four months plus three weeks allowing for germination, which means I need probably a minimum of least five months total from planting seed to harvest. If I plant today, in five months it will be November 21th, and our first average frost I believe is around November 15th. So what do you think, should I try it?
I'd give it a go and surprise your wife with another batch of ears to eat. : ) It probably would be wise to get a sweet corn variety that matures earlier that what you have. How many days to maturity are the seeds that you have now? check the seed catalogs for an earlier maturing sweet corn variety.
The first corn I planted were from transplants I purchased, not from seeds.
I would like to plant the seeds today so I think I will go to a couple of local nurseries and pick out a sweet corn variety that has the shortest days to maturity. After I get the seeds into the ground, I will get to work building my fence to keep out the squirrels that I had originally planned on building, pictures of which I will post some day.
Do you have a suggestion on how to keep the corn a surprise for my wife, or were you mess'n with me? My garden is in our back yard so it would be difficult to keep her from noticing it.
LOL! Just mess'n with ya! Kinda hard to surprise her with corn stalks growing in the back yard. Tee hee!
Try Golden Bantam Sweet corn, matures in 68 days, as for the squirrels, a BB gun might help. here in Michigan I get my corn in about the middle of may. I plant a early, mid and late types so I can have a long harvest season. this year i planted golden Bantam (68 days), Suagar and Cream (78-80 days) and Country Gentleman ( 90 days).
The package should tell you how many days to harvest
annabelle15
I don't know what your excuse is for being up at this ridiculous hour but I just hate it when I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep.
I saw the Golden Bantam Sweet Corn on one of the seed company’s websites and it sounds like just what I am looking for, but due to the time it would take to receive it by mail I would sure like to find it locally.
I'm amazed that in Michigan you can get a crop of corn in by mid-May. You must start your seeds indoors about mid-December since the ground stays frozen until March?
annabelle15, thanks for posting about the radio. I put my shower radio in the garden 5-6 days ago. I have only seen a chipmunk in there one time since doing that. Before the radio, I saw multiple chipmunks/squirrels every time I checked my garden, which is several times per day. I leave it running 24 hours a day. The only down side is, I miss my radio inside. So I am going to get an inexpensive one for the garden now that it seems to be working.
Jen
I got my golden Bantam seed at walmart. You should have plenty of time to grow, your frost comes much later thay mine, mid Oct. .yes i start my corn in the greenhouse in Feb, so after the last frost, mid May it is ready to go out, and harvest about the middle of June. I am the envy of the neighbors......lol