Petee Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 2 minutes ago, steelnut said: I forgot when I responded about getting a good mouser. I'd love to but hubby, son and grandsons are all allergic to cats. Only myself and dil are immune. Even though son and family don't live with us, they always stop in a few times each week and hubby would be miserable. I'd be afraid to have an outdoor only cat. Many reasons. Winter, all of the hawks that we see out here, roaming onto other's property, getting hit by a vehicle .... Feral cats are excellent mousers, that's how they survive. I always had indoor/outdoor cats and they led good lives having the best of both worlds. Now with allergies, ours live outdoors all of the time. Give one a chance to up its lifestyle by adopting it, providing it outdoor shelter, a basic diet and clean water, and love. Yes they may lead shorter lives, or not, but at least they get to have a chance and some vet care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted July 6, 2017 Author Share Posted July 6, 2017 On 6/24/2017 at 10:27 PM, Petee said: Feral cats are excellent mousers, that's how they survive. I always had indoor/outdoor cats and they led good lives having the best of both worlds. Now with allergies, ours live outdoors all of the time. Give one a chance to up its lifestyle by adopting it, providing it outdoor shelter, a basic diet and clean water, and love. Yes they may lead shorter lives, or not, but at least they get to have a chance and some vet care. I just don't think that I can commit to an outdoor cat as nice it would be as to getting rid of some of the critters. I've always thought that cats should be held to the same restrictions as dogs. And even though we live out in the country, we've had a time or two when a cat has walked all over our vehicles, crapped in my flower beds, etc. If I had an outdoor cat, it may stray to someone else's home and do that to them. And the biggest reason is the thought of loving it and having it hit by a car is not something that I want to deal with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted July 6, 2017 Author Share Posted July 6, 2017 On 6/20/2017 at 8:25 PM, steelnut said: Arggg, the garden was looking so great! This morning I went up just to check and evidently a rabbit got underneath the lowest rung of our electric fence and feasted on the green and wax beans. No tracks at all, so it had to have been a rabbit. Most only have the stalk left, a few have a some leaves left. Nothing else was touched? Question is, if only the stalk is left, they're done for, correct? I tried to research it and got impatient trying to read through all of the sites that didn't give any answers. The plants were 5 - 6" high, I could have cried when I saw what happened. I posted previously about my one sunflower bed that the chippies destroyed, I replanted the seeds and the next morning I checked and it was all dug up again! How in the heck do they know that those new seeds are in the ground??? Just an update, it's those wascally wabbits! Funny, we used to have them everywhere, then the coyote moved in and we didn't see a rabbit for 3 or 4 years. Then they started to come back, then the coyote moved back in. Evidently the coyote moved on, because the rabbits are back big time. To be honest, I'd rather have the rabbits than the coyote. I just want them to stay out of the garden! Pappy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 The only way to really keep rabbits out is to bury fencing 6 inches to a foot deep around the garden. They apparently won't dig deeper than that. It isn't very practical if you have a large garden. We have had some success with ammonia. Tying saturated cloths at nose level will over ride the scent of that yummy lettuce and beans. It works for coons and corn too but it has to be renewed frequently. Anything that confuses an animal's ability to scent food works. They rely on their noses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 2 hours ago, steelnut said: Just an update, it's those wascally wabbits! Funny, we used to have them everywhere, then the coyote moved in and we didn't see a rabbit for 3 or 4 years. Then they started to come back, then the coyote moved back in. Evidently the coyote moved on, because the rabbits are back big time. To be honest, I'd rather have the rabbits than the coyote. I just want them to stay out of the garden! On 6/24/2017 at 10:20 PM, steelnut said: I forgot when I responded about getting a good mouser. I'd love to but hubby, son and grandsons are all allergic to cats. Only myself and dil are immune. Even though son and family don't live with us, they always stop in a few times each week and hubby would be miserable. I'd be afraid to have an outdoor only cat. Many reasons. Winter, all of the hawks that we see out here, roaming onto other's property, getting hit by a vehicle .... Feral cats are excellent mousers, that's how they survive. I always had indoor/outdoor cats and they led good lives having the best of both worlds. Now with allergies, ours live outdoors all of the time. Give one a chance to up its lifestyle by adopting it, providing it outdoor shelter, a basic diet and clean water, and love. Yes they may lead shorter lives, or not, but at least they get to have a chance and some vet care. You may want to try a repellent meant for rabbits or some coyote urine spray. If any of the leaf axials were left then the plants will regenerate themselves. If not then you will have to replant. A proper installed fence is probably in order. The rabbits are terrible this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted July 6, 2017 Author Share Posted July 6, 2017 20 hours ago, Petee said: Feral cats are excellent mousers, that's how they survive. I always had indoor/outdoor cats and they led good lives having the best of both worlds. Now with allergies, ours live outdoors all of the time. Give one a chance to up its lifestyle by adopting it, providing it outdoor shelter, a basic diet and clean water, and love. Yes they may lead shorter lives, or not, but at least they get to have a chance and some vet care. You may want to try a repellent meant for rabbits or some coyote urine spray. If any of the leaf axials were left then the plants will regenerate themselves. If not then you will have to replant. A proper installed fence is probably in order. The rabbits are terrible this year. I've been spraying the stinky stuff around the perimeter of the garden (not cheap, but oh well!) and so far so good. But every time it rains, I have to spray again. But we need the rain. It's 1/2 dozen of this.......it's gardening, no guarantees, just lots of hoping for the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted July 6, 2017 Author Share Posted July 6, 2017 21 hours ago, lavender said: The only way to really keep rabbits out is to bury fencing 6 inches to a foot deep around the garden. They apparently won't dig deeper than that. It isn't very practical if you have a large garden. We have had some success with ammonia. Tying saturated cloths at nose level will over ride the scent of that yummy lettuce and beans. It works for coons and corn too but it has to be renewed frequently. Anything that confuses an animal's ability to scent food works. They rely on their noses. We have a big garden and I'm not even going to suggest to hubby burying the fence, lol! I want to try the ammonia method. Is the only way using cloths? Would spraying it around the perimeter, like I do Liquid Fence work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-Rabbits-out-of-Your-Garden-Organically https://dengarden.com/gardening/How-to-Naturally-and-Safely-Keep-Rabbits-Out-of-a-Garden steelnut 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted July 7, 2017 Share Posted July 7, 2017 3 hours ago, steelnut said: We have a big garden and I'm not even going to suggest to hubby burying the fence, lol! I want to try the ammonia method. Is the only way using cloths? Would spraying it around the perimeter, like I do Liquid Fence work? I've done that too. Ammonia doesn't seem to kill grass or anything else. It probably lasts a bit longer on a cloth. I don't think I've ever seen it recommended anywhere I just made it up out of pure desperation. Animals have very sensitive noses and ammonia is awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 Weeeeelll, the second planting of the beans was doing great. I kept spraying the Liquid Fence around the perimeter and also ammonia. But, it's been raining off and on and the rain seems to wash away my efforts. I checked after work today and they got my beans once again, I give up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 We got a spray from the internet that does stay on but it is the bitterest stuff in the world so I wouldn't spray it near harvest time. It only takes a teeny amount. I may still have some in the BUDS shed so I can get the name of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 If the sprays aren't working the next step is a physical barrier. We have a plastic netting that we throw over things. It came from Lowes. Chicken wire works as well. Most animals aren't smart enough to get around the flimsiest barriers. steelnut 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petee Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 Hanzleys has garden fabric kits for $12. They would keep everything away from your beans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted July 16, 2017 Author Share Posted July 16, 2017 On 7/6/2017 at 8:24 PM, Gator11 said: http://www.wikihow.com/Keep-Rabbits-out-of-Your-Garden-Organically https://dengarden.com/gardening/How-to-Naturally-and-Safely-Keep-Rabbits-Out-of-a-Garden I replanted for the 3rd time and I'm going to use the mixture from the first site to see how it goes. Thanks for the info, much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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