You put a fence around the garden. Standard practice when living with wildlife since they are just doing what comes naturally for them.

Dave

They have to eat, too.

Check that they haven't dug a den inside your garden
(and if they have, call in the pros)

Then put up a fence that's:
* at least 4 ft tall
* floppy at the top (so they won't climb over it)
* buried at the bottom (so they won't dig under it)

It's also helpful to plant cabbage family crops well inside the fence
They love that stuff and can be creative in getting to it
-ExNJer

Let's make it a rule that before posting like this you have to post your receipts of either a 100 ft roll of fencing or an electric fence.

I can offer absolutely no constructive solution because the pests here are just as bad. But your subject line was so funny, it made my day!

{{gwi:65390}}

Try some rubber snakes also but fencing will be your best bet.

Well I have a fenced in garden, but that's nothing to the raccoons. They haven't done anything yet, but they've let me know that they're watching the melon plants very carefully, waiting, waiting for a taste. I interspersed the desirable melons with an old Victorian heirloom called 'Granny Plum' melon, which has a bland flavor, but a very strong fragrance, as well as being very small and "raccoon-sized", so we'll see if the decoy works.

If it doesn't work, I've decided not to have a heart attack. I guess I can just be thankful that neither the squirrels nor the raccoons care about my tomatoes. There's plenty else to eat around here, to the point where I'd say the wildlife, that is raccoons, squirrels and deer, are borderline fat.

My 40x60' garden is in a rural area. There is an old 4' high wire mesh fence around it that seemed no better than swiss cheese to all comers--woodchucks, rabbits, deer, raccoons, etc. Ever since I installed an electric fence 2 years ago powered with a livestock charger, haven't had any major losses. Once in a while there a little nibbling, which I assume are either birds, or baby rabbits that can scoot under the low wire. I have the charger on a daily timer so it's only on from 6PM to 8AM.

Let's make it a rule that before posting like this you have to post your receipts of either a 100 ft roll of fencing or an electric fence.

Second the motion. Discussion closed, all in favor?

Dan

You don't have to "off" them. You just have to be smarter than them. :)
A good fence is the very first step. NOTHING else works.

Lelia, It's funny. I have all the usuals living in the country (coons, possums , skunks etc) but for some reason they haven't bothered my garden! Been at it 10 years now! Nancy

I think alot of it depends on if you have some woods around you. We have woods around us and there's absolutely no way we could have a garden without a fence. But I see people who don't have any woods around them with no fence and their gardens seem to do fine.

Nancyjane, it's the same way where I live. I'm in the middle of the woods and the deer circle us. I even saw a ground hog that has taken up residence under the deck with the chipmunks. It's right on the edge of the garden. I can't for the life of me understand why they haven't bothered anything in the garden in all the 8 years we have been here. We are kind of isolated so I'm thinking maybe they don't know they would like my garden plants and then sometimes I think it's because they know the dog is here and she kind of keeps guard....when she feels like it, but I'm afraid one day, they are going to figure it out and then I will be doomed.

I have about 500 feet of fence around the backyard... haven't helped so far.

Fencing the average garden is a very different thing than fencing a yard. Yard fencing isn't counter-sunk and there are far too many access points in a yard fence to adequately control. Not to mention the type of fencing normally used for fencing yards.

Most gardens, when properly fenced with standard garden fencing, are wildlife proof except for deer. They require a much higher fence set at an angle.

Each rural gardener has to decide for his/herself if they want a wildlife-proof garden. If they don't then they will have to share with the wildlife. If they do, then they have to do it properly.

Dave

I was told that spreading around chips of Irish Spring soap will help. I tryed it last year and it seemed to work for a few days. I think the critters get used to the scent and come anyway. Samething with scarecrows, they seem to work well for a few days then they get used to them also. I am going to try the electric fence this week along with the four foot high snow fence I'm working on.

Fence won't stop a ground hog. They are talented diggers. You'll need to poison, trap, or get a dog who hunts.

I've got no problems with the wildlife as long as they give me a minimum of respect in return. I've got several thousand dollars worth of fence and as long as they stay outside it, it is live and let live.

I'd be willing to plant extra and share, but they don't share well. They destroy all the food, kill the plants, kill the fruit trees. So they have to be kept out.

I had a gopher appear inside the fruit orchard, and he was promptly killed before there were more gophers. If he hadn't made the mistake of thinking apple tree roots should all be removed from the tree and stayed outside the fence, he would have been left alone.

Dad once locked our dog into the sweet corn patch to deter raccoons. Said dog was found under the front porch the next morning. He wanted no part of a fight with those critters. Animals apparently can be tough to keep out or in in the gardens.

A ground hog will be kept out if the fence extends out for one foot underground (out, not down) and the top of the fence is electrified.

I found electric fence was the only way to keep them out of my garden. It is solar powered and works like a charm.

Our garden fence is ridiculous. Its so old and falling apart. Its hard to believe we don't have rabbits living in the garden this year, but we don't. But.....I think some deer have been eating things, since the stuff that has been munched on is up high. We've been too busy to put up a new fence this year, unfortunately.
so....what I've been doing is taking any extra fencing and just laying it around the stuff that is chewed on the most.
We have various pieces of chicken wire rolls placed in good spots. most animals don't like messing with wire on their feet. Its a good stop-gap measure.

All 500 feet fences are 6 ft tall counter sunk. Haven't helped so far... No electrical fence... love my dogs.

Last year, I had this empathy towards living things, that ate my crops.. I too, thought ,, they need to eat tooo. UNTIL, they destroyed AALLLLLL my heirloom tomatoes. I had 30 tomato plants, 24 of them were heirlooms like black krim, pineapple, purple cherokee,grannysmith, san francisco fog, etc. @##@@$@#@ gophers killed all of them, left the beefsteak, earlygirl and those dang,, sweetpea currant tomatoes alone. BTW, dont ever plant those, they are a bush from hell and only produce fruit the size of peas.. any way,, I have readjusted my view on them.. They shall be killed upon discovery in my garden, same with racoons, rabbits etc. They will be dispatched humanely and given a proper burial.I need to eat too, and well, we didnt end up at the top of the food chain by not eating.

terrier

Thanks all for the Replies. I forgot to mention that this is my first year gardening, so I'm a bit on the beginner side. My first gardening area just turned out too small, then the second area wasn't enough. So I made a third, fourth and a fifth. I have crops all over the place (they do look great). That is why the fence idea was ruled out, just too much ground to cover. The other day, I caught him going into my shed. I closed the door on him and tried to figure out how I was going to remove him without having to kill it. Well, next thing I know, he somehow pushed the shed doors open (it was latched) and escaped. I have a burrow in my yard, I believe that the shed and my yard is their vacation home. Their place of residence is my neighbors yard. I could always lay stone all the way around my yard, but I would need a lot. (its at least close to 1000 feet of fence. I'm going to get a trap and trasfer them to a much nicer place far away from my garden.