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The rodent family is very large

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Have you ever heard of the term overkill?  I'm not trying to be punny, yet there are many easy ways to rid your garden of rodents.  

It would really help to know what kind of rodent this gardener is talking about.
 
Since cats were mentioned, I tend to think we are talking of mice, voles, or rats.  Squirrels are rodents.  Rabbits are rodents. Moles are rodents. Prairie dogs, chipmunks, and ground squirrels are rodents.  

Also, this gardener has provided some important information about their garden.  This is their first turn in this garden.  Most fallow land, even next to a house, is prime habitat for small animals. The soil is fairly loose in comparison to the nearby areas, and this means lots of food for the animals.  Often this food is of an insect nature.

Eliminate the food supply, eliminate the pest.  Keep the weeds down, dig the ground up deeply, and eliminate perennial roots that the rodents might be eating.  Excessive pillbugs, beetles and other food sources can be kept to a minimum in this way also. Let the soil freeze over the winter.  Then use other insects, in the spring, to battle the food sources of the rodents.

The smell of humans also keeps rodents away, so work in your garden often.  Keep large areas of empty yard with short grass between your garden and wooded areas. 

Please think twice before you decide to use urea.  If you have ever dyed cloth you will know how truly obnoxious the smell of urea is, and it doesn't matter if it is coyote, dog, cat, human, or the rodents themselves.  You may be run out of your own garden, because the smell must be fairly strong to keep out some rodents.

I am just a bit concerned that this "new person" asked for help, yet they did not elaborate when that was requested.  There are a multitude of other methods that can be enlisted, from building a two or three foot fence with chicken wire to making a mini pike fence with pointed sticks that could prevent the animal from entering.

I am not going on any further, and I would ask that person who wanted to know all this to be kind enough to be more specific and describe the garden area and the type of rodent.  

I love email, and I love to read and respond to messages.  Why would anyone ask for help, but not respond when it is offered?

Sheryl


---
"The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven"
-Milton










On Tue, 29 Sep 1998 06:40:48   clair wrote:
>Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
>
>
>This may offend some environmentalists, but we buy a product called 'Havoc'
>at the local feed store.  It's the only thing we have found that kills the
>disgusting creatures.
>
>Shirley B.
>
>>Have you considered trying fox or coyote urine?  That's supposed to work on
>>other critters like rabbits.  I joined the list yesterday and thought I'd
>>jump right in.  I have a 12x12 garden and hope to expand it as soon as we
>>find land to buy.  I'm looking forward to learning more about this
>>technique.  I've only experimented with it so far.
>>
>>Jo M.
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>
>>>New to the list and not even begun to try the method.  Hope to prepare my
>>>garden this fall for the spring time planting.  Here's the question.  We
>>seem
>>>to have a rodent problem of late and am wondering if planting avegetable
>>>garden will make this problem worse?  What can I do to keep out the pests?
>>>Aside from adopting some cats! -- I'm allergic to them!!
>>
>>
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