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Vegetable Gardening

Maybe a silly question?

6 years ago

When I had coons marauding my garden, in particular the tomatoes, someone here said something about "they don't want what they can't see".........and that made me wonder if I put something like shadecloth or a tarp around the 4' high fencing, if that would deter them? Or do they smell tomatoes and would climb the fence to see what's there? Thanks.

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Comments (5)

trickyputt
6 years ago
They could be bought off for the price of suet, because they would like the lard.
daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
6 years ago
Coons will lift off the tops of garbage cans to get to consumables inside. They appear to be smart about what they can't see. Of course, maybe "garbage can" means food to them, while "fence" might not.
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lazy_gardens
6 years ago
They have a very good sense of smell, and have been known to pry open sheds that have ripe fruit in them.
catherinet
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks ya'll..

I don't want to start up feeding them suet. It would just get them used to the idea of food around that area.

Yeah, I was afraid they might have good smell. I can't say for sure if my electric fence worked to keep them out. Didn't have any tomato loss after we put it up......but sometimes they just find someone else to bother. I'm thinking it also has something to do with them seeing red........since there wasn't any damage until the tomatoes started turning red..... Maybe pink/red tomatoes smell differently? I really like my electric fence though, and hope that's what's been keeping them away.

Thanks again.
trickyputt
6 years ago
No doubt an electric fence works on anything with canine teeth. But it does not attract woodpeckers either, and their billity to reduce insect pressure is spectacular. And nothing is free. I literally had to argue my wife into cutting suet blocks into quarters because she was so conservative she wanted to bring the suet in every evening where we would lose a whole $1.00 block every few days during hungry times of the year. When choosing to control our environment this has worked well, but my idea of garden fencing is to keep it high enough to allow predators under it to help me, and this would not be what a lot of people would consider. Our fencing is for deer, and not high either, but we feed them corn for the same reasons plus we feel that 8.00 for 50lbs of corn is like paying for a cable tv subscription as back yard entertainment for ourselves and our guests. In truth, I buy doctored sweet feed and mix it in as the enhanced vitamin and supplement structure seems to support them and their offspring. This has been going on for 20 years now.

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