I don't know about ferrets, but I know that one Hostafile contends that the pair of foxes who live near his house can eat 20 voles in one evening. I wonder how he knows that. From ehow.com "Wildlife # A variety of wildlife relies on voles as an important food source. Birds such as owls, eagles, hawks and great blue herons prey on the voles by gliding over the area or stalking them from the ground. Other wildlife, including coyotes, foxes, weasels, martens, snakes and shrews, also hunt and eat voles." I don't see ferrets on this list. Is a ferret a weasel? Here is a link that might be useful: Facts about voles

Thinking I might have found the bright side of the garlic grass that's invaded most of my gardens, I went googling for "plants that repel voles" and found a promising article on Elsevier (they publish research journal articles). The goal of the study was to find plants that kept voles out of orchards. The method was to see what deterred them from eating their favorite food, applesauce, when it was mixed with different concentrations of the various plants under consideration. I'm not positive that these results actually imply a repellent, but for what it's worth, here are the results: Pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis Sieb. and Zucc.), boxwood (Buxus sempervirens L.), daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus L.), and crownvetch (Coronilla varia L.) were the most effective. The abstract is at the link below. I can probably get a PDF of the full text from the WHOI library system if anyone wants to see it, but I'm hoping to find something more apropos (I really don't *want* pachysandra everywhere - or anywhere.) Here is a link that might be useful: Crop Protection abstract

Thanks for passing on the info on the plants. As to the weasels - I think I'd rather have my chipmunks - thanks. ;) Dave

Lots of violence and sadness... the grackles and cowbirds and the Keene falcon ... mixed in with grace of butterflies and that magnificent display from the Tom. And,of course, I loved all the hummers. We haven't seen any for quite a while ... is it because our neighbors don't have flowers and so they moved on to better pickings? We still put out the feeders and are hopeful. Still, there have been some recent visitors. Most morning a Mama duck brings her brood to our feeders. We enjoy watching the babies mature and become more independent grazers. A few of the babies A chipmunk has made a home in our gardens. He/she travels through the grass, tail up, from the nest to feeders. Love this little guy! And a young deer has been grazing along the river's edge. Ears up, heading back into the woods.