Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Pesky rodentia.

Last year, it was chipmunks destroying my feeble attempt at growing corn. This year, it was a squirrel making the pumpkin on our porch look like a JFK jack-o-lantern.

The folks at Locally-Grown Gardens claim they have some kind of pumpkin rodent repellent, but it's too late to save our gourd.

19 comments:

Wolfwood said...

Sounds like you were bored out of your gourd.

Tam said...

Aren't you just the littlest bit ashamed of that awful pun?





(I can hardly wait to use it on someone. :D )

og said...

Leave it. JFK is at least as scary as anything you might carve intentionally. A nice retro ladies suit and a pillbox hat on a stuffed burlap scarecrow reaching across the porch for some of the spilled brains would complete the ensemble.

Anonymous said...

Chicken wire mesh. Chickens in , rodents out.

Or in thie case Gourd in, sqirrel out.

Air-rifle, and the gourd placed somewhere ballistically efficient works too. For halloween put the former Mr. Squirrel inthe gourd's mouth.

Joanna said...

Mouse/rat trap + peanut butter = dead squirrel? I'm just guessing 'cause I've never tried it, but it seems like it would work. Put me some knowledge if I'm wrong.

fast richard said...

I once tried a rat trap on a squirrel that had taken up residence inside the house. It didn't work. It wasn't quite big enough, or the squirrel was too quick. It did give the squirrel a nasty knock on the head that slowed him down enough to finish him off with a pellet pistol.

Tam said...

I'm thinking seriously about using my air rifle to violate a city ordnance...

Tam said...

Er, "ordinance", that is. I'm too used to using the one spelling. :o

Jay G said...

Instead of a mousetrap, get one designed for a large rat. They're about the same size as a squirrel, and the heavier spring will be certain to SQUASH the offending critter...

(There, advice *and* a pun all in one comment!)

Baker M. Romeo said...

"So let me get this straight: you guys paid a squirrel to come and gnaw The Cheat into your pumpkin? That's a waste of money. A colossal waste of money. Those squirrels' rates are... pretendous." ~Strong Bad

Laura said...

in the future: board the gourd and surround it with buried garden fencing/chicken wire (depending on your aesthetic preferences - we opted for green wire fencing since the garden is visible from the front of the house). burying the bottom of the wire will keep out rodents, and perching it on a board will prevent rotting.

a spray mixture of Sriracha hot sauce, garlic powder, and water to dilute also works wonders. thanks to this stuff, my garden went untouched by all pests.

Anonymous said...

The application of large omnivore urine (needn't be too large, 70 kg or so) around the bed will do the trick. Either on porous rocks (or cinder blocks) or on the ground. You need more for the ground approach. I'll help out if needed

Weer'd Beard said...

Cayenne Pepper will keep them away and GOOD!

FatWhiteMan said...

Squirrel problem? Heh! My squirrels have a human problem.

The Big Guy said...

Tam-
I have to think y'all could come up with something along these lines...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3Ya6z-NlDo

Perhaps with a re-tasked clay pigeon thrower, instead of the old surgical-tubing-and-collander standby.

Some video would be nice....

TBG

Anonymous said...

big outside cat + squirl = limited saveings on cat food for a day

Home on the Range said...

Barkley does the big "sniff trail" each morning on the back deck. Apparently there's a mouse that makes the rounds and horrors, circles his water dish at night.

I'd rather he go hunt out the Jabba the Hut spider that built a web in the corner of my office when I wasn't looking.

Tam said...

"big outside cat + squirl = limited saveings on cat food for a day"

I have more than one neighbor who feeds the local ferals, which keeps them from really having the Eye of the Tiger.

Anonymous said...

Steel fishing leaders make good snares. Squirrels are edible.