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Post by steev on Oct 21, 2012 14:35:44 GMT -5
The rotten rodents tunnel up into my melons as the fragrance develops. I tried putting plastic-laminated paper plates under melons before they were much grown. Haven't lost a single plated melon to gophers. A few have been gnawed on their sides, but I think that's voles, as they don't get into the cavity and clean out the seeds.
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Post by 12540dumont on Oct 21, 2012 23:17:30 GMT -5
Steev, Someone threw out an entire bag of plastic picture covers (cheap photos still inside) on the side of our road. As soon as I knew what they were, I figured out a use for them....melon pedestals...or gopher interrupters!
Good job. No tunneling allowed. Alas, I did lose a 20 pound squash to tunneling varmint. It looked perfect till I picked it up. It was completely hollow!
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Post by circumspice on Oct 23, 2012 8:17:33 GMT -5
I've been reading about the trials & tribulations of tunneling rodents with interest for some time now... I have never seen a mole, a vole, a gopher, a prairie dog or any other tunneling rodent. All we seem to have down here are the blasted armadillos. They don't eat the crops, they just wreak havoc in your garden digging for soft bodied insects to eat. Except for the damage they do, they are probably a good, natural form of insect control. They have no teeth, just bony ridges in their mouths & long curved claws for digging. The only rodents I've seen out here are squirrels & field mice. They're bad enough. I tip my hat to you gardeners who have to contend with the voracious tunneling rodents!
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Post by steev on Oct 23, 2012 10:44:56 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about your rodent-deprivation, circumspice; a variety-pack of voles, gophers, and ground squirrels will be in the mail ASAP.
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Post by trixtrax on Oct 23, 2012 11:46:46 GMT -5
Steev, are you going to offer this in the Rodent Savers Exchange (RSE) this year? Out here we have mice, voles, rats, and mountain beavers but they don't seem to bother things too much, just a lil' nibble here or there. Actually this year I did 150 potato varieties this year by pole starts, so I had a bunch of tubers at one point in the greenhouse and some of the tubers I had sprouting out in 4in pots were nibbled on and moved. One variety actually straight up disappeared, each of the tubers. Must've been real sweet and low in alkaloids.
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Post by steev on Oct 23, 2012 19:28:20 GMT -5
I've seen no mountain beavers on the farm, which is fine, as I understand they are host to the world's largest species of flea; something like being bitten by a navy bean.
If I thought anyone would pay three bucks a pop for rodents, I would certainly list them in the RSE. As it is, however, I only have a "U-Pick" operation.
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Post by circumspice on Oct 23, 2012 20:16:54 GMT -5
I've seen no mountain beavers on the farm, which is fine, as I understand they are host to the world's largest species of flea; something like being bitten by a navy bean.If I thought anyone would pay three bucks a pop for rodents, I would certainly list them in the RSE. As it is, however, I only have a "U-Pick" operation. You oughta see the cow ticks down here... They're humongous! Get bitten by one of those, it's like donating blood... *shudder*  |
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Post by MikeH on Oct 24, 2012 2:32:22 GMT -5
For me, it's raccoons. They rototill our raised beds looking for the richness that lies hidden. Pee seems to deter them. I keep an industrial size specimen bottle - 2 litre pepsi with a dish detergent top for dispensing - as full as I can. Works well, fertilizes, and there's a never ending supply. Corn, on the other hand, was a complete write off. They destroyed everything. This year, it'll be catch and release traps since Max and Maggie, our cats, do a bit of miceing now and then when they're not solving the problems of the world. Max solves a lot. This is Max very hard at work. The tighter his eyes are shut, the more he is concentrating. Attachments:
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Post by circumspice on Oct 24, 2012 3:01:19 GMT -5
For me, it's raccoons. They rototill our raised beds looking for the richness that lies hidden. Pee seems to deter them. I keep an industrial size specimen bottle - 2 litre pepsi with a dish detergent top for dispensing - as full as I can. Works well, fertilizes, and there's a never ending supply. Corn, on the other hand, was a complete write off. They destroyed everything. This year, it'll be catch and release traps since Max and Maggie, our cats, do a bit of miceing now and then when they're not solving the problems of the world. Max solves a lot. This is Max very hard at work. The tighter his eyes are shut, the more he is concentrating. "I taut I taw a puddy tat... I did! I did tee a puddy tat!!!" ;D |
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Post by steev on Oct 24, 2012 12:41:32 GMT -5
I don't know that cats are concerned with the world's problems, although any help is useful.
I have noticed, however, that cats are unique in that their weight is directly proportional to the depth of their sleep; just try to get one to move over in bed when it's snoring.
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Post by MikeH on Oct 24, 2012 13:24:22 GMT -5
I don't know that cats are concerned with the world's problems, although any help is useful.
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name. Once that truly momentous problem is resolved, the world's problems are but a triviality for a cat to solve. Yes, Max is familiar with the passive resistance works of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr among others and has developed Zen passive resistance - his totally limp body becomes heavier and becomes one with the bed. Maggie on the other hand is more of a free-form thinker rather than a deep thinker. Attachments:
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Post by steev on Oct 24, 2012 20:34:18 GMT -5
I am so jealous, being catless; not my natural state. My ecosystem is profoundly de-stabilized by their absence. The bed's too damn big, for one thing.
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Post by littleminnie on Oct 24, 2012 21:39:52 GMT -5
Yes at about 4:30 in the morning, when I have to pee, my 16 pound fatty suddenly becomes a very hot, soft, 35 pounder who is seemingly dead to the world. Look at this picture I took of him yawning!  |
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Post by steev on Oct 24, 2012 22:13:25 GMT -5
That's not yawning, that's laughing, and the joke's on us!
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Post by 12540dumont on Oct 25, 2012 1:49:44 GMT -5
Here is my first ever rodent dispatcher. I would never be willing to be without one again. Attachments:
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