Ravenous Rabbits and other Garden Pests Part #2.

OK! The old Thread was getting a bit long....

So--I moved us over to part #2.
You can further continue your woes and solutions on all kinds of critters here....

We came from here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/865841/

This message was edited Aug 21, 2008 8:16 PM

Critter woes... I like that Gita!!!

ever wonder how a mole can dig so well? look at the claws

Pet of yours???

snort---^_^ It fell in the cellar steps. one night. I 'lost' my dog one morning last month--had no clue where she was, but she was cornering this guy in the steps. Funny- we don't have a lot of mole problems. and what I've seen was nowhere near there. Maybe the cat helped the mole get down the steps. Weird little snout!

They are freaky looking.

might be one of the few creatures you'd rather see from the rear

I really must go to bed- US won boys beach volleyball. Don't even get me started on why do Girl BV players wear bikinis and the boy wear tank tops and long baggy shorts. Don't EVEN...


SEXIST !!! CHAUVENISTIC!!!!

grumble...must go listen to katydids and calm down...

I was wondering the same thing.

Sally, Just how I wanted to end my night!!!! I'll be dreaming visions of Mole Butt. Only you could find one of these in your basement & CATCH it!!! I read that they average digging 700lbs of dirt in a year. Not bad for something that weighs 6oz. Maybe you should send him to Beijing!!!

Gita, How did your garden survive the creatures while you were away?

I just mostly have rabbit problems--hence this Thread......
I still have all my beds fenced with the green, plastic fencing. There is one "teenage" rabbit baby still foraging about. Haven't seen any others. I think the Mom's abandon their young pretty early...seen some no bigger than 6" fending on their own.

My last count is about 4-5 generations of rabbits here......Then, of course...THOSE rabbits have rabbits, etc....
Might take the fencing down.........Hmmmmmm??????

I see a lot of Chipmunks too, but they don't harm anything....
BUT--I DO have a pile of squirrels--I think they have discovered my Sun Gold Cherry tomatoes.....seen them lurking under the plants....

Well--gotta get ready for work......Gita

jen - we need to unite and protest for male volleyball in skimpy attire. The marathon females are the same way. But I couldn't stop staring at the stomach on the 38 yr old mother (of one?) who won that.

stormy--I had to re read- I thought you said visions of Male butt--Oh yeah,, you can't really SEE them in Long shorts!!

Go, Sally! Mankinis for men's volleyball!!! Oh, well, there's always swimming and gymnastics. sigh

So, Sally, what did you do with your little mole?

Mr Mole was well traumatized by all that. We let him go way over in the new development ( to terrorize the incoming homeowners tee hee.) With a stern warning from Fraulein Addy. Who has no patience with lurking squirrels either.

The guys in swimming and gymnastics are usually so much younger, though, I feel I'm looking at my nephews.

that is a weird thing too- when you go OOhh..., oh he's the sam age as XXX AAACK!!

Great photos Sally! Do I predict an upcoming articles on moles? ;-)

Jen, It's OK to look and appreciate!!!! That's why it's called eye candy!!!!

Flowerjen, I was speaking purely from an aesthetic appreciation point of view of course. ;>)

Yea!!!! Saw some mankinis tonight in the diving competition!!! What abs!!!! Yes, they were very young, almost kids.

Some were 14...

Yep, I'm not a fan of the baggy shorts attire, either... especially not with the women wearing such different outfits, LOL.

So... *trying to wrench the thread back O/T* what's the latest fashion for hip bunnies hopping in your garden?

Can't complain. I have been blissfully free of any caterpillars or beetles in my Garden this year. I am sure I had some jap. Beetles while I was away--but not to many....

I don't think I have ever seen any Hornworms at all on my Tomatoes. Then again--I have only been growing them for 3 years now. All the leaves are OK--they are starting to wither from the bottom up now, though.
Besides--I DO NOT live in a real country environment! No woods or shrubby growths too near me. I would have to walk a whole 3 houses away to get to my nearest "woods"--but these woods belong to the High School I am close to. Nothing much there to entice any of the vermin.....
EXCEPT Squirrels and Rabbits and Chipmunks......
IF I have any voles--I am not aware of them.....

Gita

God bless you, Gita, You surely don't want them!

After entirely removing everything from under the deck, it turns out the Groundhog is not living there!!!!! He must be living at a neighbor's property, and just visiting. Twice I startled him & I guess he ran under the deck to hide.

Oh well, at least I was able to convince DSO to put a bunch of junk from under the deck out in the trash!

We did find a whole family of the cutest frogs living there and one very dead squirrel and a very cute black puppy that dropped by to watch!

black puppy? did you say black puppy????
Probably didn't hurt re the voles to clear all that out. Or mice. One or t'other would have had fun in junk under the deck.

I just saw the tell tale eating of tomato hornworm, and found the guy yesterday, but left him and cant find him today, and no new damage. How do those huge things just appear and disappear?

They have extremely good camoflage, Sally. Also, it may have been his time to drop & pupate. :-)

Yes, Sally. He was very playful, looked like some kind of Spaniel. I think he lives in one of the houses behind us.

Now I've got to look up Hornworm. I bought a giant box of tomatoes today for $4 to try out Critter's roasted sauce recipe. Must be over 50 big ones.

Puppies - the Mid Atlantic Gardening garden pests of choice. LOL

so annoying gotta be in everything.

Sally, No wonder we didn't see you in that photo wielding your pitch forks. It was really your "pest" doing all the digging!!!!!

The feared Canina nigra marylandus in its larval stage, known for its burrowing habits.

Sally--

LOVED your article on Dividing Daylilies......
NOT so much because of the "how to".....I already know that....but I so love your way of "telling" people how to do it". Simple language and NO pretense to be the ALL OUT expert on any one thing--just plain old "Garden Talk" type of writing. Keep it up!!!! You are on a roll......
Next--you should write about "Preparing for a Plant Swap".....

I was "forced" to learn how to divide Day Lilies when i was "rescuing" my neighbors red ones from sure doom by the new owners. Also--the Naked Lady ones.....
Glad I did it----Now--EVERYTHING is GONE!!!! Oh yeah?????????????...:o)

Secretly, I chuckle, because they are in for a surprise next Spring. Even though they think they have dug up everything and all the roots and bulbs and such--and have planted grass seed over all--I KNOW that they all will be in for a surprise next Spring--as all kinds of things, buried DEEP down, will come a-sprouting again.
Like--the woman is SO sure she has "destroyed" all the roots to "Nandina' (Heavenly Bamboo) by just hand-digging up all the roots she could find! NO!!!!! NADA!!!! NOPE!!!

They just have NO clue about gardening.......

The wife--in all her Indian robes and head-scarf are out there every day, shovel in hand, sweating and digging and pulling and chopping.....AND, SOOO happily shows me how she has cleared all the beds of junk and weeds, and such in her yard.
And--YES!! It looks great.....BUT--I also tell her there will be so many things coming up next Spring that she will not understand WHERE they all came from. She just looks at me---like--"What do you mean"???
I KNOW that every area in their yard will be covered in "Star of Bethlehem" plants...SOO invasive! I KNOW they grew everywhere--but since these people only moved in early Summer--these tiny bloomers were all gone already....SURPRISE!!!!!!!!

There are MANY things she does not understand---even if I try to explain to her, in a VERY patient, simple English. She just nods her head and keeps saying:..."Yes!....Yes!......

Oh well-----They LOVE me and I LIKE them.....However--I don't think I will never make them into gardeners...no matter how much she tells me she loves gardening.
She wants everything NOW!!!!! She has NO clue about seasons....Annuals vs Perennials....She wants every color of Roses--and wants to plant them all in her total shade beds. She wants me to go buy them NOW!!!!!
A person of "Instant Gratification".......

The Husband is the main problem...HE RULES!!!!! (b/c in their culture the woman has NO say!) Yet--he is the biggest idiot in the bunch. HE is the one who cut down all the Hollies and shrubs ans such....He is the one who took a chain saw and destroyed all the foundation plantings....thinking he had "won".....Teeee..heee....More Surprises to come!!!!!
The women HAVE TO comply......They don't like him,,,they don't want to.....BUT--they do....I guess it is a way of "keeping Peace".....

Example--He thinks he should cut his lawn like--1" high! Scalping it!!! To him it means he will not have to cut it as often.....I am trying to "educate" him about the benefits of cutting their grass 3" high---to NO avail! The daughter understands and agrees with me on everything---BUT--she is a Female......SOOOOO.....
I am NOT going to change their Cultural beliefs......Sure wish I could educate them, though, about gardening.....I HATE ignorance......

Meanwhile--I just am the nicest neighbor to them...sharing my Tomatoes and letting the Wife walk through my garden and enjoy the "sights".....:o) The Wife says she LOVES my Garden--it is like walking through a park.....Oh, Yeah?????? Talk is cheap! AND "glib"...
SOO! WHY are you destroying the "Garden" you have at your house???? The plants and shrubs and flowers that have been there bor years and years?????
No sense asking that question! There is NO answer......

Gita

Well Gita and Hart, I guess that Garden Pests come in all shapes and sizes!!!

oh hart, your command of Latin is exmneplary ROFL

Gita thanks for your wonderful feedback! I'm so glad your neighbors are more of a pleasure than you thought they'd be. Gotta give her credit for being a hard worker.

Well, that's a word I definitely need to add to my vocabulary. LOLOLOL!

Gita, sounds like you got some fun neighbors there.

hart LOLOL--obviously I never took official typing lessons, unofficial ones, or anything in between. Or proofreading lessons!!
EXEMPLARY

Shoot, I thought it was a joke "latin" word. Maybe a cross between exemplary and mnemonic? LOL

flowerjen---

Where did you read that I said they were "fun"???

They are nice people, all right, but they frustrate me with their ignorance on plants and gardening and just keep digging everything up and killing everything off. I will have my chuckles next Spring when half the stuff they think they dug up comes up all over the place--because you cannot hand-dig deep enough to dig up bulbs!

Then SHE says she wants a garden just like mine! They (she) just don't know the first thing about plants--annuals OR perennials....HE knows NOTHING--yet HE rules what gets dug up and cut down......Something is missing here......

I am the one who helps them and shares my Tomatoes with them......I try to educate HER about plants--but I can see that she does not understand what i am saying--and I am pretty good at Charades.....
Besides--she does not drive--and keeps asking me to buy her every Rose bush I can find. I am NOT doing it! She has a daughter--a Husband--and a Son that all live there too....and they all drive--even though they all work very long hours and are seldom home.

I just have to remind myself that it is now THEIR house--and I need to mind my own business!

Gita

Should have put the fun in " " I was being sarcastic.

If they were my neighbors I'd be putting up a HUGE privacy fence.