Too Many Ravenous Rabbits This Year!!!

Critter, those Groundhogs are quite brazen. I'll often be sitting on my glider and they brush up against my legs. Sometimes they are on my deck just peering in the glass doors. I've had them not leave the deck even when I come outside. I hope your astilbe are not on the deck's floor. They love to rip out Astilbe. I find that they don't eat it, they just play with it.

It's not the first time a groundhog has done that... but it always steams me to see them being so brazen! Last year, I started cucumbers 4 or 5 times before I finally got plants that weren't eaten when small... and one set of seedlings was eaten before they ever hit the garden, while hardening off on the deck! And yeah, it's the pulling up of plants that bothers me more than the plants they actually eat because they're hungry. Grrr.

Critter, I'd fear for a cat in any confrontation with them!

Oh, definitely... groundhog claws are pretty impressive. Cat vs. vole or cat vs. baby bunny, sure, but cat vs. groundhog? On the occasion that a GH takes up residence under our deck, we keep our cat inside until we've driven it out again... our kitty only goes out for short times, supervised, so he has no "street smarts" at all.

I have been holding back on this story because it is so unbelievable but true. My mom was bitten by a groundhog. The groundhog, it was a female, was chewing on bark of our young peach tree. So mom had a bucket of roofing tar and started to paint the trunk of the tree. That groundhog ran up to her out of nowhere, grab her by the ankle and took a bite. The bite was almost to the bone and very dirty, took a long time to heal. The Doctors in the ER could not believe it.
We called Animal Control, I'm sure they called the hospital to verify our story. They finally caught it and it was not rabid, they think it was nesting and had young and was in a protective mode.
It was so bold that it would come out and sit by the kitchen door, it kept me out of school for a few days as I was afraid to leave the house.
I have an above average fear of groundhogs. So be carefull.

Hey, you all!!!!

Just wanted you all to know I am checking in now and then from this far-away Land of Latvia.....

I guess you all may have seen my Thread ''Greetings from Latvia'' on this Forum. When i return, i will continue on that with stories and photos.....

Missing you all badly!!...:o( Gita

Gita, keep having a great time. We miss you too! Can't wait for the stories and pictures.

Hi, Gita! We've all been thinking about you and we miss you too. Sounds like you're having a terrific trip. The singing festival sounded lovely.

Groundhogs are nothing to mess around with. They can do a lot more damage than just tearing up plants, such as burrowing under the foundations of buildings, harming your pets and so on. They're fairly easy to trap using a large Havahart trap and apple halves but if you see one, you often have more than one so you have to keep using the trap until none are caught.

We used to relocate them until we decided it was unfair to send our groundhog problems to somebody else. Now SO gives them a free ticket to groundhog heaven.

Hart, that's a good point... also, I know relocation can sometimes just mean a slow death for critters thrust into a new, unfamiliar territory. You may not want to get into the gruesome details here, but if you've got a humane way of dispatching them other than shooting them (which I can't do in my suburban neighborhood), please Dmail me. Thanks!

Hart, Those June bugs make holes about the size of a nickel all over the place. Maybe as time goes on and they keep using the holes they will get bigger.

Putting a post in the Bug & Pest forum was a total waste. All I got was people telling me how they used to torture them and other people asking for help. Several descriptions of games to play with them, what's up with that??? Oh, and some students from Berkley asking me to send some to them. Then, they wanted to know if they could come here & collect some. DSO is outside spraying the Sevin on the plants. A nasty job.

Today, while checking on the vole situation, I found tunnels in the mulch in connecting lines from Shrub to Shrub. There were 3 or 4 new holes. The pellets are still completely disappearing out of several beds. They come about 75 to a bag. I've used 6 bags. Thats about 450 pellets. There's about 30 of them in the beds that aren't being touched. Do you think I've killed 420 voles? ARe 3 or 4 voles eating all of the pellets & enjoying the tasty meals???? All of the articles say to eliminate ground covers, debris and deep mulches. I did mulch very heavily and they are just loving running under it.

Something's been digging at my azaleas and rose bushes again and today, the potentilla too. I still haven't seen any GH, bunnies or squirrels. Could it be the voles???
There's still lots of birds in the yard just singing away. Big black birds of prey are watching the beds every minute. I don't see any dead creatures anywhere.

I've found that one pellet will kill a vole, but it could be that a vole can eat several pellets before actually keeling over... so I'm not sure what your total count might be. That's quite an infestation, though! I don't think you'll see the dead voles, as I'm guessing they're underground. Hopefully the problem is being greatly reduced.

too bad about the annoying response a t Bug and Pest.

I would see if you can get the Berkely kids to BUY some from ya tho!

420 sounds astronomical, but then rodetns can multiply pretty fast!

Maybe you'l find a friend with a barn, and the usual excess of barn cats- unwanted pets that people always dump at barns

Thanks Critter & Sally. I suppose I'll just keep putting them down and filling the holes. The nursery couldn't believe it today when I called to order 4 more bags! Every one of my shrubs in the front of the house shows vole damage. I check the lower branches of all of them. I lost 1 azalea, 1 rhododendrum and 1 laurel there this year. Everyone told me that they were too dry or had fungus. Fungicides did not save them, nor did copious amounts of water. Those three shrubs are the favorite food of voles.

I kept posting in the tree forum showing photos of my conifers with large sections of brown branches. Everyone kept saying it was from dogs peeing on them. I came across a university site showing photos with the exact same types of damage under evidence of vole infestation. They chew the lower branches. The more shrubs that I've been planting, the better their meals!!!! They were here in the front bed when I moved in even though there were hardly any shrubs. The beds around the house had been piled about a foot deep with grass cuttings, a perfects, home enviornment for the critters! Shortly after I moved in a hugh 30 year old conifer died. I couldn't imagine what happened to it. There were so few shrubs here, I suspect they attacked it en masse. When I removed the grass mulch there were roots of lots of dead shrubs. I'm so happy that they don't come inside of houses!!!!

Sally, They did offer me $5 per bug, but I declined it. If I can catch some & send them to them, It will be my contribution to Education!!!

I meant to say that voles chew the lower branches of conifers. On azaleas, laurels and rhodos, they actually eat the roots!!!! I have a skimmia in that bed that's starting to brown from the bottom. People said it might be sun damage, but wouldn't that affect the whole plant, especially further up on the bush?

Stormy,

Which Nursery did you decide to order the Remik from? Was it one of the 2 I posted?

Just curious........Gita

Yes, Gita on the Go! It was Carroll Gardens. It's spelled Ramik and it's not cheap!!!! Are you collecting seeds?????????????

Gita- I brought back a pine cone and seed from Italy but I was afraid the Customs sniffing dog would have questions about it.--but I passed.phew
Nursery guy told me once that roots supply the part of the bush above them- so I'm not surprised that voles can eat roots and cause limb loss above their area.

Can you believe the nerve of these guys??? Look at this hole I found today!!! There were also 5 or 6 smaller new ones. They're feeling very cheeky 'cause somehow they know I'm out of poison!!!!!

Something mutilated my sweet woodruff, just bit stems off and tossed them aside, I'm thinking squirrels. I probably wouldn't mind too much if they ATE what they tore off.

Yes, Jen, It's very aggravating. Groundhogs do that too. So sorry for your loss.

Sally on bushes in the rhodo and laurel families, they eat all of the roots until the bush just dies. You should see all the paths in the mulch around my azaleas. Now that I think about it, I also lost 3 in those beds last year.

Here's the damage on 1 Biota. I have 4 of these with similar damage.

Look at this poor little cutie.

flowerjen- my neighbor had six cabbage plants one year- IT took bites out of each one.

Now that my vaccuum bag is full of dog hair every month, I'm going to cut it open and tuck it all around my gardne for warning purposes. Hey, can't hurt. Also gives N.

Do they think the next one is going to taste any different? Stupid things!

Sally, I have been saving dog hair for John for several months. He is using it as deer deterrant. When we had Lucky clipped for the summer a while back, John had the groomer give him a whole days worth of doggie hair too.

The deer still come around some, but not a bad as last year. John has now resorted to bottle rockets which are supposed to startle them. He hasn't put any off yet, so don't know if they work or not.

I would be highly peeved if I were stormy or flowerjen. Stormy, your case of voles may be the worst that I have ever heard. Hope that something works for you soon.

Ruby

Hey Ruby tell John to zip on down and get some real by-gawd fireworks! That oughta do it! Mark loves fireworks.

Flowerjen, you really should buy some of that snake-a-way from Home Depot. There hasn't been a bunny or squirrel in my yard in almost 3 weeks.

Ruby, I read that voles do not hibernate & can give birth up to 17 times a year. Each litter ranges from 5 to 13 varmits. Do the math, it's mind boggling!!!!

Good luck with the deer! Have you tried any of those predator urines? I know people who swear by Liquid Fence & Deer Off.

Sounds like I'm going shopping.

Stormy,

How mny times do you need to apply the Snake-Away to kee the rabbits away? Do you just sprinkle it AROUND the perimeter of the bed--or what? Does rain do anything to it?
I hate having to put up that rabbit fencing every year! They still chew holes in it!

Seems to me that one year they were discontinuing the Snake-Away at my HD......Maybe just changing the packaging.

Has anyone else had good luck with this as far as keeping rabbits away????

Thanks, Gita

Sally, the girl who cut his hair last week said that they have a potato gun that they use to deter deer. I do know that several mornings last week John would be sitting out on the screen porch at the wee hours of the morning doing deer control.

Something seems to be working. He hasn't lost many Day Lily blooms this year at all. Last year is when he threatened to become a hunter.

Good grief on the breeding habits of voles. That's a lot babies in a year.

Ruby

Hey Gita, Hart posted about it earlier on this thread. She didn't give it a brand name, just snake repellant. I bought the Snake-a-way because it was on sale for half price. I sprinkled it all over the beds and pots. With everything I now plant, I top the fresh dirt with it. It doesn't work on the voles. Birds don't mind it either. But the bunnies and squirrels don't come anywhere near here. I don't even hear them in the trees. I don't know about the ground hogs, because I gassed him the same day that I applied it. It's been raining here quite a bit and it's still working. I guess I'll have to reapply it when some critters start showing up. I do like that it's not killing them, just makes them bother my lazy never weed or trim neighbors!!!

stormlya, I thought of you yesterday :) I can't believe I forgot to mention this product! One of the large nurseries recommended it to us years ago and yesterday I finally applied it to the new planting we're completing. I can't remember the actual name right now but it's a spray, the kind that you attach to your hose and is used to control moles, voles AND groundhogs! It's the only thing I'm willing to use because it's safe for our cat. Basic ingredient is castor oil and you only need to apply it every 2-3 months. The nursery that recommended it swears by it but since this is the first time we've used it I don't have firsthand knowledge to share. I think we found it at Walmart, wasn't cheap, about $14.00 a bottle, but one bottle will cover 6200 sq ft. When I get back outside today I'll bring the bottle in and give you more specific information if you like?

Thanks, RCN. That would be great!

RCN, You have cats and voles?????

Ruby, What is a potato gun?

Gita, Here's the only critter hanging around my Herbs!

LOL stormyla, only one cat and he does a heck of a job, but there's just too many! I really thought we had the most serious problem with voles/moles of anyone I've ever known until reading of your recent attacks. Before we knew what was causing it, we lost so many trees that had been planted - my favorite, a 15' tall Dragon Eye Pine, was the worst :( When they tunnel in and around the roots, they "suspend" the tree in air so to speak and by the time you realize they're stressing out it's too late :( It's a battle we'll always have until we can figure out a way to control them, if there is one! We are constantly stomping around the base of our trees, shrubs and plants collapsing their tunnels and sometimes we catch the problem soon enough to save the plant, sometimes not :( There are trees in the landscape that have taken as long as three years to finally rebound after suffering the damage they've caused! I looked at the bottle and tried to find the product online. Looks like they don't make it any more - it's simply called 'Mole Repellent', was distributed through Garden-safe.com and contained caster oil and soybean oil. The only product I can find online that looks similar and with a similar price is this one: Shot Gun Mole & Gopher Repellent http://www.backyardstyle.com/shop/index.php?page=shop-flypage-6928-f1f9d92b34a9f7d045844ddcfb7e1ef2&ps_session=7e43a689c30c60412a34eca6420e82ee#longdesc
I hope this link works. Odd though, when I go to Bonide's site the product isn't listed? It's the easiest method I know of - all you have to do is connect it to your hose and spray :)

what if, dream on Sally, you could kill them by growing castor bean plants and thye might poison themselves with the beans? Maybe stormyla you could get you hands on some castor beans and see if they'd eat them when you put them in the holes. Wild idea...

Stormyla, that's really pretty where you have your herbs growing.

I can't believe how bad the voles are in your yard. We had some voles here when we first moved in but have had dogs and cats ever since and I haven't had a problem. Groundhogs and deer and even a rampaging three legged turtle that took one bite out of every tomato in my garden but not a lot of voles.

RCN, Thank you. I sprayed 3 hose bottles worth of something like that last week. I will order some of either of those you suggested. The ones I used were 2 different types, because they didn't have 3 bottles of either one. I hate mixing things, because then it's hard to evaluate the performance of either one. They were repellants, not murderers. Yes, I also thought I'd need an army of cats,how many can they eat?

Someone on the shrub forum told me that I shouldn't be putting down poison, because it would also kill their predators and would upset the natural balance. Well, my predator owls, hawks and crows must be either lazy or too full!!! But they are always here ready to pounce on their next meal. I replied that the balance was already way out of whack!

RCN, I read that the Zinc Phosphide that Critter uses would not hurt a pet if they ate a vole who'd consumed one. But it didn't say what would happen if the pet ate a pellet. I have a torn muscle in one foot and am hobbling all over the garden or would be stomping like crazy and hoping I don't fall in! Be careful with that.

Those nasty creatures are having a truce. I'm still out of poison and there are holes everywhere!!! I kept finding debris on top of the mulch and thought maybe it was from the woodpeckers.

I'm finding that they are still digging small holes at the base of my cages, but they are not removing the dirt and mulch now.I tried Critter's method of burying the shrubs into hardware cloth, but the mesh was too stiff to shape. I will have to find a thinner mesh. The packages come wrapped in plastic, so I guess I'll use the weight to judge the thickness. I used the cloth to make more cages.