Birds ate nearly all of my blueberries and grapes last year. I decided to buy some decent bird netting this year and so far, it seems to be the key to defeating the birds. 'Scare' items like owls and flash tape did nothing to deter the them. I'm next to woods so that may make a difference in terms of bird pressure. Rabbits haven't been a problem but I think the coyotes and raptors (owls and hawks) keep them in check. I'm going to try bagging grapes this year as well. Birds eat strawberries as well, so I covered mine this year and that seems to have helps stave off the losses. Since strawberries are on the ground, I have also had other critters like field mice/voles and box turtles (no I'm not kidding). Birds are the worst offenders. Chipmunks are an easy pest to remove. Use rat snap traps with peanut butter...caught them all within days.

So far 80 degrees has been the high, 52 the low. No toxic chemicals are sprayed in there. I don't know about insects. There are a lot of crickets, spiders, moths, etc. but a lot to me may not be enough for them. As much as I enjoy their company maybe that is enough of a reason to send them packing. Right now there is an electric space heater and I ordered a solar pool cover so we are going to try it that way this year. Thanks for the heads up though. If we do decide to go with gas when we upgrade the heating that will be a very handy piece of information! -Tina

I've tried everything on them, they think egg based spray is a condiment. LOL The neighbors complain if there is an odor (like I enjoy the chemical smells coming from their direction). As they build more houses, the rabbits have nowhere to go. I feel for them but there are literally dozens of them jumping, playing,eating & doing what rabbits do best (make more rabbits) in the unfenced yards. The way they are grinding away at the new clover, I wouldn't think there'd be any room left for my Peas. I'd like to let the dogs in the garden, but I tried that once & they flattened way more than the rabbits ate & didn't catch them. The bobcats mostly stay in the woods, every once in a while someone will see one. Bears, on the other hand, visit the trailer court about a 1/2 mile from me on a regular basis & were on my friend's car 2 streets behind me. Most people around here haven't seen them. I wish they'd eat the rabbits & deer! LOL Linda

Larry, That's a great photo. You know that I am a sucker for these pesky critters and I love to watch them roam the yard, woods and pasture as long as they are not eating my plants. Last night the standard herd of 7 that includes the tiny fawn came to eat. I had put out deer corn for them and they were thrilled. This morning some other herd of 6 was out there when Tim got home from work, but I doubt they found much. I really haven't thrown much on the compost pile the last few days--and what I have put out there the chickens and wild birds devour before the deer come at night or in the early morning. Right now there is a big deer loitering on the edge of the woods snorting and stomping and having a fit. I don't know why, unless she was trying to drive me inside so she could try to scale the garden fence or something. We do have some sort of predator prowling around in the woods this morning so maybe that's what it is. That predator is likely a coyote and was upsetting my cats and dogs and making them very nervous, so I brought them in. The longer the drought goes on, the more critters we'll all be seeing more up close and personal than usual. There's a big copperhead dead in the road near our house this morning. That's a good place for a copperhead. Better there than in my garden. Dawn