Squirrels,birds, and other "pests"

From: John Phillip Jr. (johnatthebeach@home.com)
Date: Wed Mar 22 2000 - 02:46:10 PST


Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2000 05:46:10 -0500
From: "John Phillip Jr." <johnatthebeach@home.com>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg811$foo@default>
Subject: Squirrels,birds, and other "pests"

hello group,
I find it fascinating that this thread has been runnin so long, just
shows what REALITY is like for those of us that grow our plants outside.
A couple of things have come to mind reading the last week's posts..

In almost every state in the US, it is ILLEGAL to trap and transport
animals live without a permit. Generally, this law was put in place to
stop the spread of disease and damaging animals.. So, for those of you
that have those "havahart" traps, for live trapping, by law once
trapped, you have to kill the animal! It seems they usually "forget" to
tell you that when you purchase the trap..BTW, I know because I
wholesaled these traps for several years.
Red Pepper spray, red pepper dust, even Dried blood, work AT TIMES on
pests, by makin whatever they want to eat unpalatable. However, all
these have to be reapplied after rain/watering. And not all animals find
them bad tasteing...I know of a case where a person used Dried Blood to
keep deer away, but her dog went crazy over the taste!

IMHO, the only thing that I have found that truely works is a physical
barrier-greenhouse, or a "cage" of some sort. I agree with the previous
post about using the black plastic "Deer Netting", either over hoops or
some other structure, to protect my plants.
I have three dogs here, and while they can stop people from entering my
yard, even they cannot seem to stop the squirrels and starlings from
attacking my Neps when I hang them in trees.

One other thing, I routinely keep my Nepenthes outside, and the temps
have hit over 100F a few times. My Highland Neps seem to slow down
then, not pitchering or growing new leaves. These seem to prefer spring
and fall for good growth, with the summer growth dependant on the
temps. I have not LOST a Highland nep in the summer from heat{can't say
that about Heli's, unfortunately}, but they seem to slow drasticly
above about 90F. I DO make sure they are sprayed/watered at least a
couple times a day in that weather.

Enjoy the world, one plant at a time..

John Phillip
Rhode Island,
Northeast coast, USA



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