RE: Ground squirrel control

Yeah no kidding. I have gotten zapped by the little ones before. The
worst time, we had one at our old house to keep the dog out of the
garden. One day I was stepping over the wire, and I got it caught
between my foot and my sandal. That was unpleasant. 


Cyndi 


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On
Behalf Of james singer
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 9:09 AM
To: gardenchat@hort.net
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Ground squirrel control

Let us know how the fence works. Be sure to put a switch on it so you
don't electrocute yourself when you're picking all that stuff.

On May 9, 2007, at 11:52 AM, Johnson Cyndi D Civ 95 CG/SCSRT wrote:

> My husband ordered a high-powered fence charger, we'll see how it 
> works.
> I'm sure this is weird. Normal people don't have conversations about 
> how to prevent electrocuted squirrels from catching on fire and 
> burning down the place.
> In the meantime, I put up a smaller chicken-wire barrier around the 
> pea plants, hoping that will slow down the varmints enough for me to 
> get a few peas this spring. My garden is absolutely festooned with the

> stuff
> -
> there are little chicken-wire cylinders around the okra, the eggplant,

> and the zucchini; the entire pea bed has a fence now; as it got dark 
> and my enthusiasm waned I simply laid down a long strip of it over the

> lettuces. What's left of the lettuces anyway. This is the second year 
> I won't get many salads, and I can't remember the last time I got 
> enough peas; I think it's been about 4 years since I managed to put 
> any in the freezer. I gotta rethink my strategy.
> I feel kinda bad for the squirrels & rabbits (not bad enough to let 
> them eat my vegetables though), last year was pretty wet and their 
> populations must have gone way up but this year it is dry dry dry. I 
> found out why I'm seeing so many more bees - no flowers anywhere else,

> and no water, so they are congregating in people's gardens. Bees I can

> live with.
>
> Cyndi
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On 
> Behalf Of Vera Metzke
> Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 7:29 PM
> To: gardenchat@hort.net
> Subject: Re: [CHAT] Ground squirrel control
>
> Sorry I had maked/saved you for the pest problems we have around here!
> Seems I loose alot of bulbs to the squirrels, Deer have even left 
> "appetizer" digs even though I am in town!  They have a safe block 
> walk from the creek at the end of the street!  Just haven't figured 
> out how to do it in town?  City seems to have a problem with the 
> electrical aspects?  I suggested doing the whole fence?  They didn't 
> think that was a good idea either?  Go figure!
>
> Vera
>
>
> On 5/8/07, james singer <islandjim1@verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>> Thanks, Vera. I'd remembered sending that, but didn't save it.
>>
>> On May 7, 2007, at 8:53 PM, Vera Metzke wrote:
>>
>>>     would this by chance be it....I hightlighted it when it came 
>>> up....keeping it in mind!
>>> Vera
>>>  show details
>>>  5/14/06
>>> From: james singer <islandjim1@verizon.net>
>>> To: gardenchat@hort.net
>>>
>>> Cyndi, here's a post from another list re gopher/ground squirrel
>>> problem--
>>>
>>>
>>> I've tried electric fences before using a "small pet" transformer, 
>>> and that stopped the ground squirrels for a while -- then they 
>>> started just taking the shock and destroying things again.
>>>
>>> So this year I covered the railroad ties that surround the garden 
>>> with wire mesh ("hardware cloth") so that any animals on them would 
>>> have a good "ground".  Then using a "large animal" transformer I put
>
>>> plastic insulators on top of the railroad ties and ran the wire 
>>> about an inch and a half over the tie.
>>>
>>> So far I've actually killed every ground squirrel that has tried to 
>>> get into the garden -- with zero damage to any of the plants!
>>>
>>> Of course I have forgotten that the electric fence is there and I've
>
>>> shocked myself a number of times.
>>>
>>> Richard Primbs
>>> Encinitas CA
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On May 9, 2006, at 1:52 PM, Johnson Cyndi D Civ 95 CG/SCSRT wrote:
>>>
>>>> Good weather and gardening, what more can you ask?
>>>> I meant to take pictures of the gardens this weekend but once again
>
>>>> didn't get to it. It'll be in full bloom for a little while yet so 
>>>> there's still plenty of time.
>>>> I did most of my activity in the vegetable garden, figured I would 
>>>> get on top of the weeds there while they are still small. So the 
>>>> onions, the lettuce, and the peas are all weeded and mulched. We 
>>>> are feeding our ewes oat hay instead of alfalfa to help dry up 
>>>> their milk, and they waste so much of it there's plenty of mulching
>
>>>> material. The tomatoes look pretty nice, the soybeans and the corn 
>>>> are up, but the green beans I planted didn't sprout. Could be old 
>>>> seed...or maybe the ravens ate them all...I figured I'd replant and
>
>>>> see if it works. It's very late to be doing that, green beans don't
>
>>>> set real well in the kind of heat we get in the summer, but what 
>>>> the heck - I don't need many. And I direct seeded some eggplant and
>
>>>> okra, pretty old packets though, we'll see what happens there too.
>>>> Peppers are hardening off and will go in probably next weekend. One
>
>>>> thing about cutting back this year is I didn't buy new seed, so I'm
>
>>>> getting rid of all those old packets I was going to use "someday".
>>>> Silly to keep old seed but I am a pack rat, no denying it. Now I 
>>>> can plant them with a clear conscience  and I've even tossed those 
>>>> I know I won't use.
>>>> We have gophers and ground squirrels galore. It's incredible, there
>
>>>> can't be 10 sq ft anywhere without a gopher hole in it. My husband 
>>>> has about 10 gopher traps set all over the place and as soon as he 
>>>> catches one and moves the trap to the next place, a new hole 
>>>> sprouts where he just was. And ground squirrels, we have not seen 
>>>> them in years but last night we saw two scampering in the vegetable
>
>>>> garden. They do a lot of damage to my irrigation system, plants, 
>>>> and they dig big burrows. I hear they steal eggs from chickens too,
>
>>>> but I've never seen that. Anyway we are trapping for them too.
>>>> Sheesh!
>>>> We bought a new ram lamb the other day, the girls need a boyfriend 
>>>> for next fall. Lots of pushing and shoving when you introduce a new
>
>>>> member to the flock. Sometime during the night somebody busted 
>>>> through the gate into the veg garden. My husband shouted for me 
>>>> that morning and my heart just sank, but it wasn't nearly as bad as
>
>>>> it could have been. They had walked on everything but didn't eat 
>>>> much so there was surprisingly little damage considering. Talk 
>>>> about lucky.
>>>> Out front the roses are blooming, not yet fully loaded but soon.
>>>> The dutch iris and bearded iris look great. The hardy geraniums are
>
>>>> the best I've ever seen them - maybe they really liked the wet/cool
>
>>>> weather we had since February? I've got to get after the vinca 
>>>> though, it will smother them. I've moved a bunch of daylilies, I 
>>>> don't even know what colors they are so that will bear watching.
>>>> The dry garden looks very nice indeed although I still have bare 
>>>> spots. It's harder now to plant in there, new natives want a season
>
>>>> of almost regular water while the established ones will hate that.
>>>> Going out there with a watering can is not real practical but it 
>>>> may be what I have to do. I have already lost a few of the new 
>>>> salvias to gophers, grrr, it's what I get for not taking the time 
>>>> to make the cages.
>>>> But all in all, it's pretty good. Going to be about 90 today. Wish 
>>>> I were outside...
>>>>
>>>> Cyndi
>>>>
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>>> Island Jim
>>> Southwest Florida
>>> 27.0 N, 82.4 W
>>> Hardiness Zone 10
>>> Heat Zone 10
>>> Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
>>> Maximum 100 F [38 C]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 5/7/07, Johnson Cyndi D Civ 95 CG/SCSRT 
>>> <cyndi.johnson@edwards.af.mil>
>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Some time back I was griping about ground squirrels, and someone 
>>>> sent me a thing from another list - a guy who had set up a 
>>>> high-powered hotwire so that the ground squirrels would get 
>>>> electrocuted when they travelled over the wire.  It sounded like an
>
>>>> interesting idea and husband wants to try it, but I can't find the 
>>>> message. I think we could figure it out - but if whoever sent that 
>>>> to me is still around, and has the message, could you send it 
>>>> again? I can't find it in the hort.net archives either, so maybe 
>>>> I'm remembering wrong, but decided I would ask.
>>>>
>>>> Cyndi
>>>>
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>>>
>> Island Jim
>> Southwest Florida
>> 27.1 N, 82.4 W
>> Hardiness Zone 10
>> Heat Zone 10
>> Sunset Zone 25
>> Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
>> Maximum 100 F [38 C]
>>
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Island Jim
Southwest Florida
27.1 N, 82.4 W
Hardiness Zone 10
Heat Zone 10
Sunset Zone 25
Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
Maximum 100 F [38 C]

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