FW: Varmint's


             

Hi Linda,
Nick and I were plagued by gophers in the past, on our Los Angeles hillside
lot, adjacent to vacant lots (making our garden seem nice & tasty to hungry
critters). Considering the state of our adobe soil at the time, these were
some mighty gophers. I actually had a tug of war with one, gopher
underneath, me on top, both of us tugging on an aloe from either side. I
also once heard one inside a huge old yucca trunk, apparently hollowing it
out. That this was during a drought may be some explanation, but it was my
first garden experience and very traumatic.

During this time Nick and I discovered a part of our nature we hadn't known
about. I (a normally gentle soul, I swear) would wait by holes with a
shovel, always just missing when the voracious creature showed it's head. I
was mad, but a wimp. Nick on the other hand, found various ways of murdering
them. It was them or the plants--this was WAR. He drowned one with a hose
down the hole (this doesn't usually work, but this one was young and
stupid). He beheaded one with a shovel. His final assault was a suprise--
one day when taking a wheelbarrow load to the compost heap down the hill, he
saw one run across the path, let go of the wheelbarrow and ran over it,
causing it to explode).

I apologoze for any trauma caused by this letter. As I said, we became
aquainted with our darker selves during this period.

The wheelbarrow event was too much, even for Nick. We decided that it would
be better to let the creatures of the garden duke it out for themselves. We
would augment natural enemies. So here is what works for us: Gopher snakes,
and any smart cat whose life has not been too soft. Our neighbor released a
gopher snake next door, and they have proliferated since (must have been a
mate waiting nearby). Once a year we'll find a six footer in the house.
Quite an event, thrilling even, and preferable to losing all the plants. Our
cat Olympia also does her part. She is not an Abbysinian. Or even very
large. Just smart.

Best of luck to you-
Laura


P.S. Gopher purge doesn't work, traps don't work, poison can kill things
you'd rather keep, and forget about those underground sonic thingies.
             
-- 
 Laura Cooper
           


> From: Monarch <mastiff@swbell.net>
> Reply-To: mastiff@swbell.net
> Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 21:33:25 -0500
> Cc: Medit-Plants <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
> Subject: Varmint's
> 
> Hi Guys,
> 
> Since we all share basically the same climate and plants, I assume we
> share the same soils.  I live in very sandy soil here in south Texas.
> 
> My biggest problem comes from below ground rather than insects and
> disease.  (Although the squirrels tear up a lot of stuff too) I am
> plagued with gophers and moles which destroy so many plants I could
> cry.  The moles let air to the roots and in our miserable heat, they dry
> out and wilt, often die.
> 
> The gophers eat the roots of many plants but mostly seem to just destroy
> them on their way to somewhere else.  I have even had Texas natives and
> naturalized plants like Lantana and Crepe Myrtle's ruined by these
> critters.
> 
> I can't grow Buddelia's to save my life, the gophers are drawn to them
> like a magnet, eating all the roots.  I have now taken to making wire
> baskets and burying them in the hole before planting anything.  This is
> time consuming and expensive.
> 
> Is anyone else plagued with gophers or moles?  Do you have a remedy to
> get rid of them?
> 
> If you have seen the movie Screamers, then you will know how I feel.  I
> plant something and before the last shovel full of dirt is dropped, the
> ground seems to come alive with varmints screaming toward my plants!!
> <G>
> 
> Thanks a bunch,
> 
> Linda (Who identify's with Bill Murry in Caddy Shack)
> 
>
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