Sleeping with the Enemy

12 July 2010, by gj

Like any other garden, mine has its share of intruders. I have been pretty successful at keeping out the deer, the biggest garden problem in this area.

To accomplish this I:
(1) planted near the road, that’s where the best sun is anyway, and the deer shy away
(2) make jumping the fence into the garden problematic, i.e., have chairs and sheds and trashcan potatoes and the like scattered everywhere that might be considered a good landing area
(3) plant vining crops like squashes and melons, near the perimeter of the garden, deer don’t like that.
Too much trouble for them, off they go to a neighbor’s yard I’m sure.

Other typical intruders:
Slugs-beer, need I say more? Die happy
Japanese Beetles- hand pick and drop into sudsy water. Unless they are doing no harm, I let them have at the raspberry leaves once the canes are done.
Leaf Hoppers – I start with Hot Pepper spray, but if ineffective I will use Orhto Sevin, the only thing I have found to work absolutely
Then there are the burrowing crits.

We have been able to scare the groundhogs away. We don’t see too many, fortunately. Having a big dog and a cat with attitude helps.

Sleeping with the Enemy? It’s the chipmunks I’m willing to feed. When I first see their holes, I dump hot sauce in the ones inside the garden to put them off, and I put veggie scraps near the holes outside. For me this works every time. They seem to be quite content being fed what they need, and I put the scraps farther away from the garden over time. They are cute too and I like to watch them. I have never had a family two years in a row; they must find another garden the next season. A nice relationship, and I thought that is what the end of this post would be.

I haven’t seen any chipmunks this year, now I know why.

Apparently this year I have something else. Most likely a rat. Whatever it is does not respond to gentle feeding, nor to the hot sauce. It is in fact eating my onions by the bulb. Unstopped, the corn, cabbages and tomatoes will be next.
So, since all other efforts have failed. I’m going to ‘do him in’. Yes, that’s right. I am ruthlessly going to eliminate him from my garden.
If you are expecting a funny punch line here, sorry. I wish there was one.
In 25 years of gardening this is only the second time things were so bad I resorted to a rodent poison. I really hate this. I know SaveTheWorld will hate it too.
I should mention I don’t put it in the beds of course, just in the other blatant areas he has left holes.
I am still offering food outside the garden, he has a choice.
I am really hoping he takes it.

Categories: gardening

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