[CH] Daggun Varmints!
Sheryl Chatfield (CHATFIELD_SL@PENCO.com)
Tue, 20 Jul 1999 09:19:41 -0500
I've been following the various varmint advice with interest, and would like to
offer a couple of tips for indoor and outdoor pests..apology for the length, if
you live in an apartment, don't bother to read (other than the end about mice..)
Last years, I had a serious problem with burrowing animals, used "mole med" from
the Gardens Alive catalog with pretty fair success. It is actually simply
castor oil. However, my best success has been fighting varmints with other
varmints...
my tribe of particularly vicious cats (one mother plus four kitten 'trainees')
have gone after chipmunks, birds, moles, one small bat (i would have saved him
but was too late), everything up to raccoon size. (I live on a property with
some sort of universal cat connection, as soon as one cat departs for whatever
reason, another shows up, usually pregnant. I have tried to keep up in the
birth control area, but there are more cats than i can afford to have surgically
altered...). My neighbors had a war with the raccoons, using real weapons,
after those critters did several thousands worth of damage to a storage
building...so the 'coons began wandering over to my place...the cats were
ineffective (in fact the coons were eating the cat food while the cats cowered
at the back door). I went to "plan B," Andros the dog. Andros, an
almost-two-year-old Great Pyranees, really does have a bark much worse than his
bite. He's friendly and cuddly with the humans (it can be awkward when he tries
to sit on your lap), but Messers and Misses 'Coons took one look at that 120 lb
give or take bundle of white fur and haven't been seen since! I don't know how
he'd do with bears, and 'dros is as destructive on plants as the wilder critters
(he digs holes, seemingly, to gather rain water..), but as long as his access to
the garden is limited (we use the green vinyl coated small square fence, he can
walk over fence with bigger squares), he is an effective deterrent. Realizing
that not everyone wants or can keep a dog, this isn't a universal solution,
however, also consider the plus of a 'watch dog' element with a large animal
when you are a country dweller. (We're accessible, yet rural enough to have
regular vandalism and burglar activity on our street.) 'Dros lives outside, he
has a dog 'house' (spare barn), for shelter, as long as he has shade and water
in the heat, and shelter from extreme cold, he is perfectly happy in the
weather. (Pyrs are sheep dogs, from, of course, the Pyranees.)
On inside pests, the latest mouse or mice (they move inside to get away from the
tribe of cats), were tracking all over my kitchen Saturday night. They actually
ate through plastic to get to some left over hot dog buns! Sunday night, too
tired to set a trap (sorry to the animal lovers, I use regular spring traps), on
impulse, I spread a plate with crunchy peanut butter, and topped it off with
Campbells "Backdraft" sauce. Monday a.m., some sign of 'tasting' the
concoction, no tracks, no other signs of mouse. No sign Monday night. I
suspect they have braved the kitty patrol and moved on....