Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Animal Wednesday - effects of an animal


I am not showing a picture of a cuddly animal today, because I am too annoyed at the little beasts.  Here's the story. 

I planted a nice garden this year - here are my tomatoes in their cages. 
I also planted squash and broccoli - and boom - they were gone in a day  - bitten down to nubs by some little critter. So, I made cages from chicken wire, and put them around the new broccoli and cabbage plants, pounding them into the ground with stakes and garden staples.   Here's a nice healthy cabbage plant in it's new "secure" cage. 



Not two days later, I found the cages toppled over, and little tunnels dug under the cages and all of the lovely broccoli and cabbage plants were bitten to nubs again. Notice that only the bug repelling marigold is left - guess he didn't like them.  I think it must be a woodchuck - a rabbit wouldn't have pushed over the cage.  
I'm so annoyed and have minimal animal love today.  So happy Animal Wednesday everyone - can you tell me how to repel or catch a woodchuck?????

9 comments:

sukipoet said...

Well up here they'd say, "Shoot em."
I have also read that tin cans of pee set around the garden repel critters but not sure if that is true. Could your hubby go out each night and......

Kerstin Klein said...

Boy, how annoying. All that work gone in a few minutes.

studio lolo said...

it sounds like gophers to me Mim. Although a gopher would pull the plant from underneath. Hmmmm. I'm sure you can find lots of resources on Google! Sorry about the garden..frustrating!

Debra Kay said...

Mim, the scary thing is in my camera right now is a series of shots I took for Poidogz about the effects of dogs on a yard.....

We don't have woodchucks here, but I upset the people in the car with me in Wisconsin when I hopped out to look at one-people are soooooo phobic about rodents.

This is your sign, a good dog is the answer! (Or a bag of coyote urine from the garden supply)

Of course, the dog may dig in the garden....

Maybe you could just put seeds and such out for him somewhere else-he'll go to where the easiest food is.

Miladysa said...

Now I have to go and google "woodchuck" - funny name what ever 'it' is :-D

Kerstin Klein said...

i had to check it in the dictionary too. :)

valerie walsh said...

It was nice while it lasted... we have deer here and they eat everything and I mean everything. My next door neighbor told me yesterday that a raccoon has been fishing in her pond every night and ate all but 6 of her 20 fish and all of her turtles!

Mim said...

I've asked DH to go and Pee around the garden tonight. He thinks I'm nuts.

Kerstin Klein said...

rotfl... so id he going to do it?