Too Many Ravenous Rabbits This Year!!!

Thanks, Gita . Wow, That's a lot of fencing. No ones ever bothered my basil, but last year something completely ate my parsley. These holes and the shrub digging are in one area of the yard, near the groundhog's home. The groundhog den's entrance hole is still covered from the gassing & there are no signs of any new ones having moved in.

actually, those look more like vole holes to me, stormy. Can you poke your finger in a little ways like a tunnel? Or is it just a shallow hole like a squirrel digging for a nut? Voles dig little tunnels, and if the tunnel is near the surface it can lift up a little "lid" of dirt like that... at least that's how they do it around here!

Gita, So many chores, not enough time! I hope you won't be worrying about your garden while enjoying Latvia. they were mulched. I have put the dirt back several times. I am going to put up the cages and remulch. A small Rhododendron was ripped out of the ground and just laying there.

Critter., I was thinking that too. Actually, I think both parties may be guilty here. I don't think a vole could rip out a shrub.

Hart, Where did you find snake repellant?
Irish Spring soap put me into the hospital when I was a teenager with total body hives. It is strong stuff.I'm going to buy some.
Critter, where did you get the vole tablets?

The stuff I have is Tomcat Mole & Gopher bait (2% zinc phosphide). Stomp all the little holes closed, then wait a few hours (or overnight). Put ONE pellet down inside each newly dug "active" hole that you find. (even if you don't have pets in the area, why waste them? my jar will probably last forever.)

Oh, and I think I probably picked it up at Southern States... but it was a while ago.

Thanks Critter. I've seen references to Southern States before on DG. We don't have them here. I'll look on the web. Thanks for the help.

Do you have a Tractor Supply near you? Or any farm supply and feed stores? That's what Southern States and Tractor Supply are.

Tractor Supply is where I found the snake repellent as well as other animal repellents. They have the mole bait Critter mentioned too. If not, you can get them at Lowes, even at WalMart in the garden section.

I think all of the sprinkle type animal repellents are the same thing or close to it. They smell like mothballs only much stronger. The snake repellent seems to work on anything.

There are some Tractor Supply stores in Pa. Scroll down here to see the list and click on the one closest to you to see a map, address and so on.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreByStateView?storeId=10551&catalogId=10001

Southern States used to just be in southern states (gee! LOL) but they merged with Agway not too long ago. Here's the stores in Pa.

http://southernstates.findlocation.com/results.aspx?page=default

(If this doesn't work, go to search for stores, select Pa. and then select "lookup" in the box below that.)

Thanks Hart, I called the Agway and they have the snake repellant, but no Remik. They also said that Moletox has zinc phosphide in it. I bought that on Saturday to treat the moles!!! Seems a shame to be killing off all of these critters, but they're driving me crazy!!! I can't keep up with the planting because of all of the replanting and remulching and fence erecting etc. Something dug up a dozen newly planted astilbe last week. Just threw them on the ground. Something else dug up and ate the new ghost ferns and aruncus!!!!

I had that problem a couple of years ago. I finally figured out it was a groundhog. It wasn't eating the plants, just pulling the newly planted ones out of the ground.

The snake repellent worked like a charm. I used that because I happened to have it on hand to get rid of a snake in my pond. The snake was eating the frogs in my pond and we can't have that. LOL The repellent worked well on the snake too. He then moved to my flower bed under a tree and got up into the tree trying to get some baby birds. I got SO to knock him out of the tree and I sprinkled more of the repellent. That was the last I saw of the snake.

I don't like to kill the black snakes because they do help keep down the field mice and voles and they also keep the poisonous snakes away.

Smoke bombs are a gook KO for groundhogs. Some garden stores carry them.

docgipe, LOL I found the vole? holes on Saturday while looking to cover the Groundhog entrances to put in the smoke bombs. There are vole? holes showing up on top of the hill in which the groundhog lives!!!!

Someone on another forum told me not to bother buying gh bombs, rather get Highway flares. They are much more powerful and cheaper. Pepboys & Autozone type stores have them. The GH bombs work for a month or 2 before another group moves in.

Thanks, Hart, so far I've never seen any snakes here. I could only find a link about the Remik that gave technical data. Did you find a distributor?

Most of the farm stores around here have closed. The one that remains carries fewer & fewer items. We've lost so much farm land, they can't stay in business.

I don't know what Remik is. Must have been someone else who mentioned it.

Sorry Hart, Gita & RCN were discussing it.

Gita, The bunny fencing I bought is metal. Maybe that would work better for you.

Stormy,

Almost all the products mentioned here can be bought at HD (except Remik).
They have the "Moletox" and the "Snake Away" and the carbon Monoxide smoke bombs.
Also live traps in 3 sizes. Almost everyone has a HD near them somewhere!

I know of Remik from Alan Summers of "Carroll Gardens". You can find his info in the "Garden Watchdog. He has a mail order business. Ratings are just so-so, though.
Here's their phone #: 410-876-7336

You can also call this place right here in N.E. Baltimore. They are a farm/seed/everything else kind of a store and will ship to you UPS. I buy a lot of things there as they are only 15 min. from my house and carry a lot of products the average Garden Supply stores do not carry. The have ALL the Espoma fertilizers too! That is all I use.

Meyer Seed International
4321 Fitch Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21236
Phone: 410-665-5511

Hope some of this helps someone.....

Gita

Gita, Thanks, I am going to call them for the Remik. Our HD has moletox, but I was there Friday and couldn't get 2 or 3 garden items that I needed such as Mancozeb and the smoke bombs. I used to trap the gh's but DSO won't put them in his van anymore, because they kept peeing in it. I think their inventory varies by region. I also bought some of the coyote & fox urine and will try it and see if it does anything. Thanks

You can save your bucks on the urines. I tried that years ago. If they work at all it is minimal.

Not to be too redundant------this was discussed at length in another Post--but I wonder if the fertilizer "Melorganite" would deter rabbits and other critters. "They" say it works on deer......Must be that remnant "human smell".....:o(

"Melorganite" is made from the remnants of the City's sanitary treatment facilities--YUP! where all the flushed toilets go.....besides all kinds of other waste waters.
You can use it on lawns and shrubs and such--but NEVER on any edible crops, as it seems to be high in some metals.

Google it and see for yourself....YES! HD sells it--at least here....Not expensive, as it has such limited use. Big bag--like a 15K bag of lawn food.

Let me know if you have ever used it and how it worked....

Gita

Ain't that the truth!! So frustrating in new plantings to come back the next day and find the plants suspended in air where they've tunneled around the new plant. It's almost as if they're checking it out to see what I've planted for THEM this time! Our population of these little pests is so huge it's almost impossible to get rid of them. We've tried the Juicy Fruit, one of these ridiculous traps like what Jill mentioned, etc., etc., etc. but basically have just resorted to stomping on the ground around every plant whenever I get a chance - which isn't often enough :( Just about ready to start another round of planting and I'm going to try incorporating some type of grit into the planting holes - someone told me when they hit the grit they tunnel in the other direction? Others have told me to leave the plant in its pot but cut the bottom away so the roots can still grow into the soil but the critters will run into the sides of the pot and leave it alone. I may try this on some of the trees and shrubs, but going with the grit on the perennials. Anyone have experience with either of these methods?

I used a combination of wire cages (formed like a pot and buried with the plant, half inch hardware cloth) and some kind of little lava gravel in the top couple of inches when planting some new prize hostas at my MIL's last summer... she has a lot of trouble with voles and ground squirrels (that's what she calls them; I think they are chipmunks). We're going down for a visit soon, so I'll see how well that worked out... :-)

rcn, I have a neighbor who plants everything but groundcover and daylilies in pots and swears by it. The squirrels here are fierce.

Somehow, I ended up with an image of "Rambo Squirrel"... fierce!

Pretty funny Critter!! Tomorrow is RAmbo Stormy day!!! I am armed with everything but the Remik.

RCN, that snake repellant is so vile, it ought to keep dinosaurs away. I could barely stand to push it in the cart at HD. HD is clearing it out at half price!!!! Of course, I had to stop and chew out the manager for selling burning bush!!!! They have some more left. I may have to go back and buy it all. I left it outside. PU!!

I think I now own more chemicals than Dupont. My local nursery assured me that they were all organic!! LOL. RCN, the nursery guy is now looking to order the snake repellant.

Critter, I like that idea of forming the wire into a pot. Do you let lt any of it stick above the ground? I'm thinking gh, squirrel, vole & bunny defense here!!!

Today, while watering what I thought was a critter free bed, something, either a vole or chipmunk ran over my foot!!!!!! I really mean business now.......

I have more luck by selective elimination of plants they consistantly dine on. Over years I think Chip and Dale cause me more problems. They are relatively easy to trap with small Have A Heart type traps. They are on line by searching have a heart words. They are not made by Have A Heart but show up in a site with related traps. Look for a metal trap about
4 X 4 X 10 inches and about $12.00 each. I can clean the chippies up in a week when they are seemingly all over the place. They will get an occasional mouse and vole. No fear factor for the user. They set and unload easily and do not snap at your fingers. We use four and sometimes have to reset daily in the begining of a clean up issue.

They are a protected animal. Some states require trapping licences to do it. Therefore do what you will but do not publish your success. If ask you are trapping mice. Don't think they are on any protected list yet.

I let about half an inch stick up... I might have done more, like 2 inches, or even bent it over a bit around the top, but I kept hearing "I don't want to see any of that horrible ugly wire!!" so I only left a little rim to mark where the plant was (and I covered that with pine straw). There was a great deal of trepidation as the "ugly" wire cages and black irrigation lines were going in that week... but once the pine straw was down and it all looked so very beautiful, all was forgiven. :-)

Next you get to see some straw seed peeking at you. From the first big time mulcher comes the advise. Tramp it down and cover it with some more mulch. I use my available leaves for the second cover new seedling growth. By that time if you check the worms should be a dime a dozen. This is when I dust in some alfalfa meal for a slow release nitrogen bump. I think the worms like that meal better than the corn meal I used to use for a nitrogen mid season bump. One thing for sure if the weeds or seedlings grow good so will everything under the mulch.

Good point -- but seeds aren't so much a problem with pine straw, which is what southerners call bales of dried white (long) pine needles. :-)

Oh! I just can not get used to pine needles being called pine straw. I import pine straw for Purple Martin nesting material.....imported from my neighbors yard. I have used it under acid loving plants. We do not rake our pine forests because most are state owned here.
It gets pretty expensive if we get caught removing those goodies.

LOL, yeah somebody mentioned one time that he got a real expensive load of firewood that way... the state gives out permits to cut wood (used to, anyway), but they get real perticular about wanting you to have that slip of paper!

Pennsylvania permits are $10.00 or $12.00 per cord of dead standing or down firewood.
A bunch of hot shot young'uns were recently theiving truck loads from the area of their leased state cabin. They fined them good and canceled their prized cabin lease. The same sort of arrangement is available for picking surface rocks. Those permits are timed. One must use them in about a three week time period. Removing living plants or minerals is not an option unless you hold a loggers permit. Out west one can not just pick up a nice looking piece of timberline twisted juniper and remove it from the place it grew. Campers may burn it but crafts interested persons have to buy it after it is treated. I once had a real good ranger who left me take one piece out if it was small enough to tie onto my back pack. (Firewood). Our donkey did not mind the little extra weight. That was dumb maybe but I still enjoy that twisted old piece of timberline juniper worked into a desk lamp support. Oh....the airline said it had to be bagged. I still have the extra duffle bag too. Pennsylvania if they knew it would not have permitted it into the state. Might have had a New Mexico bug in it.

ooh, I didn't know you could get a permit for picking rocks! sweet! :-)

The national parks do that too. You can get a permit for firewood or a separate permit to collect rocks, up to four tons per permit I think. That's where all the rocks for our water garden came from. The ones in the national forest are good for a year.

Some southerners may call pine needles pine straw but my family has always called them pine tags. They sure do make a nice mulch.

Critter, What's the purpose of the gravel in the top layers of soil?

There is no accounting for MIL and Mother's gardening sense. Mine used to fix BLUE plastic roses to her arbor with pipe cleaners. At least the folks driving by got a pretty good laugh.

Critters!!! This morning I found a disaster outside. I had about 400 peat pots of young plants that I'd grown from seed lined up tightly inside of a large trough that was filled with dirt, but not planted. They fit in there so well. The pots were about 4" below the rim of the trough, so they were safe from wind. The plants were anywhere from 2 to 6" tall.

Two ratfink squirrels were prancing all over them, tossing them up in the air and ripping apart the pots.@#$%^&(*&^%$#!!!! There are about 150 of them still viable. It took hours to sort them all, replant them and clean up the shreded mess.

On a table, I had a box of larger plants, that I'd also grown from seed and had transferred them into larger styrofoam cups. I was going to plant them today. Well, they
were ripped to shreds. Little pieces of white everywhere. After cleaning up those messes, I did manage to erect cages around my tomatoes and the trough.

I bought 2' high bunny wire. Is that tall enough? I only made cylinders. Should I cover the top opening?

"ratfink" squirrels... LOL at your word choice, while sympathizing with your plight!

The gravel on top is because there's no wire there to keep critters from digging down.

Poor Stormyla! Are you taking up squirrel hunting? LOL

Stormy,

My plastic rabbit fencing is only 13" tall, as I cut the roll in 3's lengthwise. I have never noticed them jumping it, but they sure chew little doors in it at ground level--like maybe 4"x4" or bigger. The fencing I use comes on a 36"x25' roll at HD and has 1" square plastic mesh. I noticed this year the plastic is much thinner and "softer" and also costs about $3 less. Much more inferior--even though I like the more muted green color of it.

For my corner (YUK) bed, next year, I will have to invest in some kind of wire fencing.
What kind do YOU use? Chicken wire??? I think the wire mesh might be hard to handle.

I am prepared to come back from my trip to nothing but stubs everywhere. Once more--I see new baby bunnies running around. Gee! That would make the 4th generation--just this Summer!
It will be---what it will be! I am leaving today sometime early afternoon to drive up to NJ to my sister's. Then, tomorrow (Sunday) we head for the Airport around 3PM.

Talk to you all when I get back! OH, THE CATCHING UP I WILL HAVE TO DO!!!!!!

Best! Gita

Oh, stormy, that's so frustrating! I would be having squirrel stew for dinner if I were you!

Go get 'hem Stormy!