Too Many Ravenous Rabbits This Year!!!

stormyla- you are just cursed aren'tyou? Can you ever get a break? Reminds mee of my Heuchera- all the leaves were eaten and the stalks left. It was in front where I've never seen groundhog.
We can hope the 'whatever' gets tired of waiting ofr the new leaves, and forgets after awhile.

Hart, You've got me looking around for a pot. I used all of the broken ones for shards in the pot bottoms!!

Sally, Even though I'm miffed, I not really taking it too hard. You all are country girls and used to all of these wildlife issues. I'm here in the BURBS and we are just not used to this. My friend, an avid gardener who lives across the street has never seen a vole or a groundhog!!!! But her husband does enjoy target practise with the bunnies, he's from KY and I think it makes him feel at home.

Stormyla,
The goats are cute and aren't afraid of anything. The deer don't seem to bother my stuff that much except a nibble here and there. The slugs and snails are thriving without the frogs. I couldn't go anywhere in the garden without diging up a frog. Really they were everywhere and I got used to them. They kept the dog busy too. But I think the snake is eating them too. For the goats, a neighbor called the sheriff. I guess the guy who owns them is a little odd. My husband is going to try to make those hardware cloth baskets pictured on the shrub forum. Sounds better than raised beds!

Speaking of goats.....we just got a herd on Sunday that will be our neighbors for a month or so. ha-ha We are those country folks that stormy speaks of. My sons owned a piece of property behind my house and they sold it last winter. The gentleman who bought the land has rented a herd of goats to begin cleaning the property. They are visible from my back yard, but not close enough to pet or anything. Along with the ten or twelve goats there are two big white dogs who are trained to protect the goats. Whenever my dogs go outside the two white dogs come to the perimeter of the fencing that is holding them to make sure that every thing is okay and they are not being attacked by any sort of danger.
We hope to speak with a company representative at some point and see about leaving the goats here a while longer and letting them clean up our front property that would take John years to clean with using a machete.

To add to this story and to reinforce the idea of our being the country folk, last night my brother and his wife were getting ready to leave their house which is nearby to come and see what the goats look like. When SIL, Kathy walked out of their front door there to greet her was a 50 1/2 inch rattle snake. My brother shot it and killed it and they brought it down to show to John. Thankfully I hadn't bothered to go outside and greet them or I would have definitely had nightmares last night. I don't do snakes very well.

Have a good day everyone.

Ruby

goats-cool
timber rttlers 4 feet plus- not cool

Whew Ruby, A rattler would sure give me the heebee geebees! When Roserairie, Hart and RCN were talking about snakes I was so happy that I hadn't encountered any, even of the benign type. Thanks again to Hart for the snake-a-way!!!

That's such a great idea about the goats. You really need to save John's energies to devote to his greater talents. Goats can be a good thing!!

Roserarie, if your hubby will follow Critterologist's instructions on making the pots, it will go a lot faster. I tried having this discussion again last night, but not with much success. I'm glad you will be using them as I understand your wanting a naturalized look as opposed to the raised beds. Is your Chicago home in the city? Do you work at your KY home every weekend?

Sally, so far nothing has eaten any of my Heuchera, even when there were lots of bunnies here. Does it look like the leaves are growing back?

Ruby,

I have always wanted to try to eat Rattlesnake meat. I have heard it is white, tender and delicious.
Any recipes out there?????

Gita

Welcome home Gita!

stormyla- I moved that heuchera and since then its regrown and doing great! I'll never really know what ate it.

Stormyla,
Home is Chicago. We rarely take vacations but back in 2001 we planned on a trip to Kentucky. Looking for someplace where there is nothing going on. No bars, no people, no noise. I found a cabin on Jonathan Creek which we rented for a week. Something about the place just touched our hearts. We drove around looking for land and we came across High Ridge Resort. But it's not like a typical resort. It's land that has been sectioned off for sale. They're big into fishing there. We bought a small lot of land and several years later, built a cabin. We spend all our time outside working in the garden. If it's too cold, we drive around looking at antiques. We hope to retire there. We love the people. Warm and caring. Both my husband and I are city people. Living in Chicago is wonderful but so different. But when we're in Kentucky, we are so happy. So at peace with ourselves and each other.
My Chicago garden is cottage style. Took my neighbors some time to get use to it but I love it. The only thing I have to battle here are skunks, squirrels and slugs (and now yellow aster disease). Kentucky is such a challenge but I am very determined.

I posting one section of my Chicago garden that is in the back of the yard - early summer. I think the zinnas are starting to bloom.

Rose, It's a lovely little garden! What is yellow aster disease? Does it affect everything? As I write, while taking a break, before my fingers can no longer type, DSO is on his 8th vole cage. I've made 6. Got to get those Hostas into the ground before I go off to the beach!!!!

Critter, He has seen the light!!! We are now doing a much quicker job lacing the cages!!!! Sheeshh!!!!!

Gita, after my brother was here and the topic was rattlesnakes John took the opportunity to tell me (for the umteenth time) about his experience of getting lost in the mountains of West Virginia, walking 17 miles, and how he killed two rattlesnakes the same day.

After returning to the family camp, he says that two of his sister in laws disected the rattlesnakes and had a biology lesson of sorts. The next day his mother fixed the snakes for everyone to eat. I didn't pay attention to how she prepared them, but will ask when he wakes up and get back with you. He made belts for the sisters in law of the skins.

All of this was before my time, thankfully.

Ruby

Whew! Lots of catching up to do, I've been busy with my daughter and son-in-law visiting from Maine. Ruby, you're giving me the willies talking about rattlesnakes! LOL I don't really have a phobia but I don't like them. I remember seeing my first black snake when I moved here - sent one of the guys at the nursery to kill it. He walked up the hill with a 2x4 and came back telling me it was JUST a black snake - WHAT???? He wouldn't kill it, said they were "good" snakes!!! I've since learned to accept them and have even avoided killing them when they're in the road, BUT I still don't "like" them! LOL Ever since Rick killed a copperhead on the property two years ago, said it was the largest one he's ever seen, I keep looking for them. I've also heard that rattlers hang out on the rock cliffs along the creek, which is one reason why I haven't collected any of the wonderful rocks that are there. I'm waiting for winter before I venture into "their" territory!

stormyla, "Aster yellows is a fairly common disease that can cause bizarre symptoms on a wide variety of plants." http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2006/9-13/asteryellows.html I just found it on one of my Echinaceas. Thought it was acting odd, shrunk in size, etc. and then when I saw the "bizarre" blooms yesterday realized I have to destroy it :( Wow! You're a busy woman, first an Elton John concert and now the beach?? I'm thinking you deserve a break after all the work you've done to control your critters :)

roserairie, your place in Kentucky sounds wonderful! My DH is originally from the Chicago area (Winnetka - sp?). I've never been to the area but would love to visit sometime so he could show me around - he has very fond memories of growing up there :)

Debra, I feel the same as you about snakes.

Ruby

Ruby,

I don't need a recipe for rattlesnake fixins.....There are NONE here, and I would not want to ever find one.
Just heard that my neighbor had seen a pretty big black snake on her patio. GOOD! We need one here--too many critters running around. I will keep my eyes open.

Up early--again. Will start posting pictures from my trip this morning.

Gita

rcn48,
Love Winnetka. I love Sheridan Road. I work in Buffalo Grove and sometimes take Sheridan back to the city to visit friends and just love the gardens.
I would never kill a black snake. Copperheads are another story. Nasty creature!

Debbie, did you know the black snakes will actually keep down the venomous snakes on your land? They will eat your frogs too, I found out the hard way after a black snake discovered my ponds and the frogs in them. That's how I learned about Snake Away.

Alright Hart, I have been hearing references to the Snake Away. Do you mind telling me what it is and what it does?

Gita, I had to laugh. I didn't think that you would be having rattlesnake to eat any time soon. I asked John how it was prepared and he said that she fried it and everyone loved it. The four year old in the group wanted more in fact.

Ruby

Here you go.
http://doyourownpestcontrol.com/snakeaway.htm

I got a big container of this at Tractor Supply when the black snake was eating all my frogs, to chase him out of my pond. Worked great. Then he moved to the flower bed under a tree and I caught him up in the tree trying to eat some baby birds. I got SO to knock him down, sprinkled more in that bed and that got rid of him there. Then he moved to another flower bed next to the kitchen. Sprinkled more and I haven't seen him since. There are plenty of nice snake residences around here without him living in my pond or flower beds.

The next year, when something was pulling up my newly planted perennials, I sprinkled the Snake Away just because I had plenty left. I think it was groundhogs. Anyway, it worked. Last fall I used it after I found a couple of flower bulbs I'd planted had been dug up. Worked again.

Ruby, It keeps squirrels and rabbits away too! PU!!!!!!!!

That's what I meant, Stormy. I don't think snakes were digging up my bulbs and plants. LOL They better not!! I have enough four footed critters to worry about around here.

My gosh ladies, I wonder if I have raccoons. First my parsley leaves all get eaten.. Then all of the Hollyhock leaves. None of the stems were touched. The planter that holds the parsley is about 2' tall. The Hollyhock stems are about 1' tall.

Today I found a 2" wide by 4" deep hole dug in the parsley pot planter. There was no dirt on the ground outside of the planter. What a mystery!!!!

No new squatters have taken over the groundhog den. All holes into it are still sealed.

There hasn't been a squirrel or bunny here in almost a month.

Voles don't climb. What on earth could it be?????

Hart, You probably do have bulb chomping serpents!!!!! Shenandoah Sidewinders..

Wow, RCN... Thanks for the article on the Asters yellow disease. I'll be on the lookout for it. I had a deformed Daylily. I chalked it up to the Juglone.

I forgot to add chrysanthemum to the list of chomped leaves. Something's been eating my mums.... GRRRRH. Again, the leaves have been eaten from the top of the 2' high plants.

RCN, my week at the beach is to accompany a niece and her 3 toddlers all 4yrs and under. Their dad can only go on the weekend and she can't manage getting them and all of their paraphanalia down and back to the beach by herself. So the candy bearing aunt gets to have all of the fun starting daily at 6am. Not that you would mind all of that early bird activity one bit!!! Dirty diapers before your first coffee UGGH!!!

Nooooo! I definitely don't need any Shenandoah Sidewinders eating my bulbs. LOLOLOL

Could it be deer eating these plants? They tend to start out nibbling on the top before moving on to wholesale destruction.

Thanks Hart, will check it out. Wonderful that it seemed to work on other critters too. A real bonus.

Ruby

Hart, Maybe it's deer, but I doubt it. The deer usually stop their forays about a half to a full block from here. Several homes whose properties all meet in this development were owned by older folks and have recently changed hands. The new people have been clearing out lots of brush and overgrowth. This is one reason why the groundhogs are such a problem. Now they are moving under everyone's sheds, steps and decks!!!! My neighbor says there has been an opossum in his yard. Do they eat garden plants? I've never seen an opossum or raccoon repellant.

RCN, One of the vole repellants that I sprayed is called Dr T.'s Whole Control Mole & Vole repellant. I don't know that it's doing much good. Where are they going to repell to? I put so much vole killer & repellant down in the 2 beds in front of my house, that they moved into all of the other beds on the property. I can see the trails through the grass from bed to bed. I think that killing them and reducing their food supply is the only way to cut down the population. I've been so busy planting before I go away, that I haven't put any ramik down in about 10 days. There are still fresh holes everywhere, but they are smaller and not as many. UGGH, while planting, I've found 3 corpses under the mulch. I really think that you should call Tomcat and see if their pellets would harm your dog. Or maybe ask your vet. Those buggars also like my new potentillas.

Stormy--

I wonder if you could go to someone's farm and bring back a couple of big, black snakes? They will help with the mole problem....Just make sure they have a nice, cool spot to retrieve to. Under a shed...the porch...

Gita, When I was a girl, my uncle in Kansas used to keep three big bull snakes in his barn to cut down on the field rats. They would stay coiled around the rafters overhead. Whenever my aunt had to go into the barn she was always armed with her dandelion digger. She always swore that a good snake was a dead snake! They had rattlers everywhere. The men would often eat rattler meat. There were also some kind of snakes that mimicked their surroundings as camoflage. I remember walking down the road by the pasture and noticing an abundance of some tall growing weeds. Upon closer scrutiny, I realized that I was looking at a large section of standing snakes mixed in with the weeds. There were at least 20 of them. I backed away very slowly and then ran all the way back to the house, which enraged their great big old charlay bull!!

No thanks, snakes can get into the house way too easily!!! Try getting one out. In Kansas they used to get all coiled around the car, truck and tractor engines. My one cousin had one hiding in her refrigerators' coils!!!! The men used to compare kills whenever a combine rode over a nest of rattlers!!!

Stormy,

I had a black snake one summer--I wish I had one back again. Yes, the thought of it finding some way into my house did occur to me--as I think it lived under my front, concrete porch. The ground under it had settled and there were openings where the porch met the ground. I was afraid that somewhere, between all those cinder blocks there would be a gap....NOT really likely...BUT.....

I have lived here for 38 years and NEVER seen a snake until that one Summer about 3 years ago. I just looked over and saw this black "branch" in my grass. Went to see and almost freaked out! it was a snake!!!! I ran in and grabbed a camera ans followed it around for an hour and a half.
To my surprise, it started climbing into my old Juniper bush. I got between the house and the bush and tried to see it. Then, all of a sudden, I saw TWO heads. Someone was in there already--waiting.....So they were all twisted around each other--"doing their thing" and then they both slithered down and crawled in under my porch.
I had visions of a whole lot of baby black snakes the following year--but I have never seen any since.

Now--my neighbor (on the other side) are gone to Spain and their SIL and kids were over and said they saw a big, black snake twisted around the legs of one of their patio chairs.
They have a huge Fig tree right there. I wonder if it lives in it????? Do they eat Figs? I want to pick some when they get ripe, but I sure don't want a snake falling on my head......

Anyway--Here's the snake I saw.....Didn't care for me bending over it--camera in hand--but a nice picture.....

Here it is heading for my old Juniper bush,,,,See how long it is??? I guessed about 4 feet...

And here's the 2 "lovers" heading under my concrete porch.....

The amount of baby rabbits and Chipmunks we all have this year--I sure want it back! maybe that is why one has moved into my neighbors yard. I am sure it cruises mine too--I just haven't seen any....

Gita, That photo of the 2 of them gives me the willies!!!! They sure do have beautiful skin. I wonder what they're eating. My friend had one living in a dwarf Juniper right outside his front door. But his was nowhere near the size of yours.

I knew a lady living in the Bronx who found one coiled up among her radiator's pipes. She lived on the 9th floor. I wonder how long it had lived in the building. There were no gardens around her building. It may have been someone's pet who got away. She was a native New Yorker and moved to a hotel for a week unitl the fire dept. could catch it. With all of the subway rats in New York, they are well fed.

I'd need an army of snakes to control this vole population. I can't imagine why it is so out of hand. There are plenty of predators here. I get lots of foxes, owls and birds of prey. Today, I found new holes dug under the cages of two Rhodos that I planted in the spring. I'm going to dig them up and put them in the cage pots. This will be the third time I've planted them. These were the ones that I found dug up and thrown on the ground. I think the groundhog did that. Another time I found them with all of the dirt removed from their holes. Could have been the squirrels. Gardening is fun fun fun!!!!

stormyla - I'dstill suspect some groundhogs are cruising your yard, based nearby. "They " say they can stand up and reach to eat 2 ft leaves. Ever hear any whistling? I was hearing what I thought was a bird whistle, but near the ground. Then- duh- realized it was the groundhogs.

OK- I am offically taking Kansas totally and completely off any list of places to move.

Sally, Yes, I heard a groundhog noise the other day, but didn't see him anywhere.

They call them whistlepigs out here, Sally. Guess you know why.

Yesterday the first squirrel showed up!! Guess all of the rain is making the Snake-a-way less effective. Today I found him dead in the garden. I haven't put out any poison in about 12 days. I didn't see any laying around in the beds. Strange.

Is this ridiculous???? I used about 8 of these today and these ones are all set aside for Hostas. I need at least 20 more!!!! There are more Hostas, Laurels, Rhodos and Azaleas to be planted!!! I surely hope those voles don't like Heuchera. I didn't use 1 cage on them. They are attacking my 6 new Potentilla..... GRRRRR It didn't occur to me to cage them. I'm not sure that it would be effective to sink these cages completely into the ground, with no cage at all above the dirt. The critters could then get down into the cage pot. I have some mini Hostas that are so small, the cage would stand higher than the Hosta. Not sure what to do here.