Possum control?
danielkemp
19 years ago
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Comments (28)
cosmicgardener
19 years agoRaymondo
19 years agoRelated Discussions
So, What Do YOU Do About Coons And Possums?
Comments (45)I think this is a very tough issue. We chose to live on conservation b/c of the wildlife that we might see. We have lived in our home for over 4 years and I've never seen a 'coon or 'possum in our yard. We did have an armadillo issue for which we hired a trapper to catch and relocate to his acreage (he said that's what he would do and I hope he did). Other then that, I have never had a problem with any animal eating/stealing/destroying anything I have grown. I have a 40-mile roundtrip commute to my office each day. Every day, I see so many poor animals that have been run over. At the rate I am seeing roadkill, I truly question that there are more of them than there are of us. Look at the amount of habitat loss! I also blame some, certainly not all, of the animals that get hit on people not paying attention to the road and/or speeding. One of the main roads leading to where we live is a very dark, narrow, 2-lane road. Because I have seen deer, rabbits, 'coons, etc., I know to drive as slow as I can and pay extra attention to my surroundings. But that is my soapbox for another thread. Personally, I cannot justify killing these animals, unless like Nicki said, it's for food or the animal is suffering. Call me a bleeding heart, but I personally do not think it is right to kill or harm these animals because they eat our veggies. Like Marcia and others have said, my philosophy in my yard is to live and let live. I have enough space and grow enough stuff to be able to share with the wildlife that live around me....See MorePossums, Racoons and Cats Oh My!
Comments (14)I've got a ground rat (chipmunk) who's decided the new Iris bed I made last fall is a good place to make a new series of tunnels. I was hoping they were just "trial holes" but he disappeared into one hole and didn't come back up from that hole. This may be a stupid question but I'll ask anyway since I had to hack out clay soil and competing roots with an ax for days to make this bed. Will these chipmunk tunnels damage the Bearded Iris roots and, if so, far enough to kill them off? Do chipmunks nibble at the roots? The roots on these Iris aren't extensive yet since they were just divided last Fall. These miserable little "rats" already tunneled right for the Daffs I transplanted in Spring and my funky but delicate Allium Bulgaricum. The Bearded Iris are from stock well over 60 years old and I don't want to lose them to chipmunks who I used to think were cute until their population exploded this year. My father has many, many more that he's having extracted from weed infested landscape cloth in the next few weeks so I'm going to be dividing and replanting LOTS of these plants since they haven't been divided in almost 25 years. Needless to say, I asked him to have it done last fall so there wouldn't be so many thirsty/feisty critters about at that time who didn't have other fallen bird foods to satisfy them. It's not my house...I'm just the gardener... LOL. The critter problem is taking up a lot of time and plant material this year. If it's not deer, rabbits, groundhogs above ground then it's moles and chipmunks below ground. Sometimes I think it's just my bad planting, arranging, selection or protection until I read a thread like this and see most people have critter problems of one kind or another unless they have an entirely double fenced piece of land. Deer and rabbit resistant plant lists are a mean joke on new gardeners. Squirrels aren't getting much food from me right now since I had to stop ground feeding birds because chipmunks were taking it all. Maybe I haven't had a problem with them in the past since they had enough "hard stuff" with corn to file down their incisors when planting fall bulbs. I can only dream of having Lilies. Deer decimate them. The rabbits have eaten the gladiolus foliage in 2 new beds. Another case of my wanting to strangle them after having to take an ax to cement clay soil to plant bulbs...LOL....See MoreHELP! I need the possum lady!
Comments (24)Well, I still have not caught the possum. Where I thought he was all day is not where he was, apparently. Carol Ann, you are being sooooooooooooooooooooooo bad! I cannot pick him up. I am afraid of him. And I bet he is every bit as afraid of me! So, I have the live trap set in the living room. Baited with little cat food and a piece of orange. I think they like oranges. At least, from the looks of my Satsuma at harvest time, they like oranges! I am going to Austin on Thursday to watch my sweet little Grand Daughter graduate from high school. (BooHoo, the baby is grown up too fast!) I might talk to some of those people at the rehab places about taking this one. He/she is not hurt tho, would it be better to just turn it loose? Marilyn, you are the one who does rehab with possums, aren't you? I appreciate all y'all's helpful advice. Kylie, stop laughing! Right now! Janie...See MoreBackyard surprise
Comments (21)WOW that's serious. I can smell the rat nests from *here*, pesky. ugh ugh ugh...how the city refuses to do anything about that public hazard is beyond me. Maybe they're waiting for a pet to get bitten by rabid vermin?? (sarcasm). How can they ignore anything that looks like those photos? I just don't get it. I wish you fast and effective luck in your pursuing it through the channels you know of. And sable, glad to spread the word of "Rascal" -- he also wrote a book called "Raccoons are the Brightest People" which was in heavy rotation on my nightstand with the first-mentioned book. http://www.amazon.com/Raccoons-Brightest-People-Sterling-North/dp/052518788X REALLY worth reading along with "Rascal"; like the nonfiction version of it. And re starlings: we have had an ongoing battle with them as they nest *right above* our front door every year, leaving poop-trails down our walk and driveway, across the court to one particular tree they always fly to...just constantly embarrassing, as no matter how often we cleaned the walk and the door, they'd mess it up again as soon as we were done. We tried putting metal mesh to block the entrance they'd been using--they pecked right through it, even though our contractor said it had always stopped starlings before. I hated starlings until I found a book called "Arnie the Darling Starling" at Goodwill. I do agree with the criticisms of the author's care for the bird, but I will never look down my nose at starlings again (although of course I'll keep my mouth closed when I'm looking up at them : )). (actually, I'm happy that that one negative [and correct, IMO] reviewer mentioned Linda Johns, because I now search or her books every time I go to GW. ONE of these days, one of these days...) Here is a link that might be useful: O.K., they're cute too : )...See Morecosmicgardener
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