Keeping varmints at bay

From: MARK POGANY (MARKP@CRSCMS.COM)
Date: Sun May 24 1998 - 22:06:08 PDT 

Date: Mon, 25 May 1998 01:06:08 -0400
From: MARK POGANY <MARKP@CRSCMS.COM>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg1766$foo@default>
Subject: Keeping varmints at bay

Trent wrote:

Now the raccoons. Don't be fooled by their cute, bright eyed little masked
faces. They are destructive creatures1 They get in my lathe house and do
what you described. They turn over pots, dig up plants (yes. I've had them
actually dig Nepenthes out of the pot. Why? I'll never know.) They climb up
into plants in hanging baskets, causing them to crash to the ground. After a
night of cavorting, they leave their "calling cards", if you know what I
mean. Nasty. I also get opposums, which, as far as I'm concerned, are racoon
understudies

Trent and others afflicted,

I have the same problems, the only difference being moles and chipmunks. I
grow all my Sarracenias and temperate sundews outside my greenhouse. These
nocturnal denizens seem to be hitting the same pots night after night. Large
pots of D. filiformis and S. excellens sustain large holes in the
peat/sphagnum, leaving roots exposed every morning. I've tried wire netting,
natural chemical deterrents (dried bobcat piss), and other things short of
nuclear warfare. They keep coming back!

Any helpful suggestions from fellow CP'ers?

Mark Pogany
Cleveland, Ohio

markp@crscms.com

This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 17:31:32 PST