i find being patient and very gentle with a stuck spike works well. having said that i have used more extreme measures when i'm in the mood to control, lol. i have used spring type clothes pins to redirect the offending leaf, and regularly use manicure scissors to trim plant material that may be restricting spike growth. but beware, as others have offered too much fussing may result in a broken spike.they can be as unforgiving as a spun sugar thread! good luck.

Mice have long tails. We have two kinds, the gray mouse and the brown with white belly. Brown ones, Deer mice come in pairs, if you kill two, they are gone. Grays, House mice are non-pairing, come in quantities. I hate seeing the gray ones, you never know if you got them all. Voles here are mice sized, with very short tails, like Hamsters. Also come in quantities, but I have never had them come into the house. Barn cat catches a bunch of them. Look very like mice, just no tails. Shrews are tiny, often dark, about half the size of a mouse. Maybe as large as a lady's thumb. Terrible fighters, will kill mice and eat them. I look at the funny noses to see if they are shrews. Some are star shaped noses, or other wise different than mice. Usually the eyes are also very small, compared to mice with big eyes. A full sized Mole is about hand sized with the front feet looking like he wears baseball mitts!! Way oversized front feet to allow lots of dirt moving very quickly. You might mix him up with a small rat, but not a mouse. Much bigger than mice. They also might have a funny shaped nose to help them locate earthworms in the dirt and aid in moving dirt as they tunnel along. I don't think they kill mice like the shrews. My dog is more likely to dig up a Mole and flip it around to kill it. One small dog with big ears will track the digging mole, while the other large dog does the digging to find Mole. I get the corpse as my present or find it later in the yard. The cat doesn't work that hard, she only chases things above the ground.

I have not heard of a squirrel catching an adult bird, but they (along with chipmunks and likely other rodents) are predators of eggs and nestlings. Nature is harsh, but perhaps this is natural behavior. Why not feed the squirrels along with the birds? My feeders are baffled against the squirrels (quite effectively), but I throw a handful of BOSS on the ground for the squirrels and the ground feeding birds.

--"The younger SD went into a screaming/crying fit. I asked them both to leave the barn because the older could have easily given her the broom and the younger didn't have to make such a fuss. "-- I'd likely be annoyed little sister is to get her own way and that I'm expected to give it to her so she won't cry/fuss/whine too. Personally I would have handed each child a broom and said 'here, this is the one you are using today'...since that was not first thing done, secondly I would not have the idea that 8 yr old should give in to 6 yr old just to shut her up. In my opinion the only 4, 5, 6 only plays part in this when it comes to Dad giving these kids excuses. From what was posted it might be a bit of younger sister has learned how to manipulate you/Dad/sister into getting what she wants. And the attitude of 'older could have easily of given younger' may just be feeding the tirades of the younger child. With younger child tossing hissies and getting her way, if I were her 2 yr older sister I'd likely think I just might try that method too. Hey, works for little sister. It could also be building strong resentment between the girls. I'd be mad if I had to give into somebody to shut them up. This six yr old does not get away with this at school you can bet on that. A soon as she would fit over someone having what she wanted, the teacher's attitude would not be 'oh ok, kid give the crying/whining little girl what she wants to shut her up'. I think prehaps Dad and you need to sit these girls down and have a talk. What is occuring is unacceptable. Should not matter if it is you tending the kids for the day, just Dad or the two of you together. Dad is wrong to excuse behavior. Bad lesson to teach a kid. You are wrong in thinking oldest should cave to smallers hissies. It is hard to only have the girls every other weekend but sharing, taking turns, listening to rules and following them should be expected ...it's not optional. Whether it is you or Dad, when you tell them they can not act this way around around animals they need to know exactly why. Not just are they not listening and being naughty, they are changing getting kicked, getting you kicked, hurting the horses blah blah. It's not going to matter if these girls 'are only 4, 5, 6' kicked is kicked. My DH is deaf in one ear due to being kicked on the side of the head by a horse (no he was not scaring them or mishandling them, he was flying with them and they got spooked by storm) The age difference should not be a real big factor in that whether you are 23 or 38, when these girls are left in your care for the day, it's not so much (IMO) that you think they are demon spawns, but that they are indeed acting like little demons. You have to get the 'give the younger kid her own way' nipped and nipped immediately. If they both insist on acting like 2 year olds, you might have tried 'fine, you both can go sit on that straw bale and think about your behavior while I finish this'. Alot is going to depend on how the girls are allowed to behavior the other 20something days a month. If they really are 'well behaved' except for when with you...you need to change your tactic in dealing with them. If they think they can run over you, they will. With you being closer to their age than their parents, they may have a tendency to not view you as an authority figure. If so, Dad needs to work on that too. Most 1st and 2nd grade teachers are young 20's these days. Children respect them and listen to them and are disciplined by them on a daily basis.