Mark i did pretty much the same thing. I don't have a pond but I do feed a lot of birds. I just took in all my feeders at sunset everynight and brought them out after sunrise for about a month and the racoons left. It was an inconvience but worth it. Now I'm fighting an armadillo digging up my nice St Augustine grass. GRRRRR
Raccoons, how do I get rid of 'em?
Hey Texasgrower !
Glad to hear the birds are able to still have their daily feedings, I certainly don't miss the Armadillos. Grew up in Killeen. Know that all too well.
well I guess Im glad I don't have the armadillos. Them 'coons are bad enough!
Well, this was not the subject that I expected to find when looking for tropicals, but I have tried living with racoons in the country for 15 years. After losing many chickens, most just killed and not eaten, and realizing that while they might be cute they can be very aggressive and carry a variety of diseases. I trap them, this can be tricky, use a cat food can put a hole in it and wire it to the back of the trap so the can sits on spring plate. You may catch a few other things but just let them go. I won't even pick the trap up if a racoon is in it without gloves on. It isn't PC to say what I do with them after I trap them but I never trap the same one twice. I don't relocate them because I don't feel it is right to pass the problem on to somebody else. We do have Armadillos too but the ground is so hard and rocky that even my pigs have a hard time rooting.
Fond of Fronds: Here is a recipe I found in a gardening book:
It's called All Purpose Varmint Repellant:
2 eggs
2 cloves of garlic
2 TB of hot chili pepper
2 TB of ammonia
2 C of hot water
Mix all in a bucket, let mixture sit for 3-4 days, then paint it on fences, trellises, and whereever else unwanted varmints are venturing.
Lay crumpled up newspaper in your beds, they hate that noise.
Sprinkle dog droppings, blood meal, fox scent, or coyote urine around the base of your plants.
Spray your plants with the varmint repellant.
joy112854
does this repellant work on deer?
Here's a tonic for that: It's Deer Buster Eggnog:
2 eggs
2 cloves of garlic
2 TBSP Tobasco sauce
2 TBSP cayenne pepper
2 C water
Put all ingredients in blender and puree. Allow mixture to sit for 2 days, pour or spray it all over & around the plants you want to protect.
joy112854
bless you joy.
Texas Grower: Thank you for that. This book and others are simply marvelous for coming up with solutions that are safe for children and pets to be around, and don't mess up the balance of nature either. When we wipe out a bug, or critter we upset the balance of nature and that is not good. We have deer out this way and so far haven't had any problems; but of course, I have Daffodils and Canna Lilies in the front of the house and my garden is behind a 6 foot tall wooden fence. I had the fence put real close to the ground, reinforced with cement, so even the bunnies can't dig under it, and don't think a squirrel will jump 6 feet down for a little food, that would be suicidal. So think I'm safe from any critters getting my vittles.
joy112854
I have an acre in the country and the deer are through here every night. We saw three when we came home from dinner. I haven't had a problem with them so far with any of my plants. But I am wanting to plant my hydrangea next year along with hibiscus and don't want the deer grazing on them. I have French Mulberry bushes along the depth of our property that the deer love. They also love the acorns that fall. I don't want to discourage them from the yard I just don't want them to eat these two plants.
I couldn't begin to afford to fence off this acre. I'm not so sure I'd want to.
Deer love hydrangeas. I love watching the deer myself, they are much smaller here in Florida, but we have them in the country too. They don't like human smell or dog smell for sure, as we are to them predators, so they won't come near our smell. I would think, unless the deer are really starving, that these methods I have listed will work, don't know, as I try not to plant things that will attract them to my gardens and I erected a 6 ft wooden privacy fence for my veggies out back.
joy112854
thanks. I'll try the repellant around the hydrangea.
The Hydrangeas will probably love it and hopefully the deer won't. I had thought about Hydrangea bushes; but hesitated when I took a good look at my lawn. LOL
joy112854
well I'll probably put it near the house. They don't usually come close although one did this morning, right next to the driveway.
I just noticed you are in the same zone as I am here in NW Florida, I'm an 8B also. I think it depends on if the animal feels safe or not. I have a few bunnies that were cute this last spring, you could tell one was female the other male. They were not afraid to come right up into my front yard. I could almost read their little minds, they were huddled so close to my 6 foot wooden privacy fence, just as if they were saying "I know there are veggies back there, how do I get there?". LOL They never did get back there though, I made sure they couldn't when I had the thing put up and it was put up to keep them out. LOL
joy112854
I know what you're saying. I love animals and they seem to know it. We have had bunnies and deer and racoons and squirrels and birds of all kinds. i feed them all. I so enjoy watching them. Like I said, I haven't had a problem with any of them eating any of my plants. My hydrangea has been in a pot, no temptation. But it has grown so big that it needs to be put in the ground, so I will work around the deer.
I lived in Florida for 28 years. Started out in Lakeland, then Tampa and then Englewood which is SW Florida, on the coast. I know where Crestview is.
Yeah, I used to think Crestview was the best place to retire to. My dad had 10 acres and a house out on the outskirts of town. So; I bought an acre and thought, whoopee country, peace and quiet. Was I wrong. 6 months after I put in my house, some contractor started whacking all the trees down and slapped in 600 houses on little parcels of land. The poor animals in the woods didn't know what to do. I wonder if people think about that when they chop whole pieces of woods down. There are still woods across from my place, very little; but, it has caused the deer to run out in the highway and get hit, the bunnies to go from living out there into this shrub-filled lot next to me. Upset the whole environment out here.
joy112854