something dug up my newly-planted rows!!

[Use Less]

There's been a skunk around, though I don't catch a whiff this morning. The rows I planted with beets, carrots and beans yesterday are all disturbed. Sigh. I'm not going to wait to see what might still come up. I have more seeds of some of the varieties, so in they go. I have some chicken wire I can pin down over the rows. I might be able to piece together some fencing to go around the outside. Anyone have an experience like this??

[Deleted]

Squirrel? Crow?

....James

[Use Less]

Have not seen crows around, James. There are some mounds some 8 inches square in a couple spots, and what look like single holes where some beans must have been. That doesn't seem squirrel-like.

[Woodpecker]

The squirrels here are what dig up a lot of what I plant. They love to dig up my flowers in pots the most! I purchased an array of butterfly attracting flowers, planted them in different areas of the yard. The squirrels got to three of them so far. The squirrels dig them up mostly when I first plant them & water them, it seems. It's more than annoying! Sorry for your veggie loss...keep on planting!

[feather]

Use Less, for us, rabbits seems to clip off beans at the ground and eat the whole bean leaves and sprout. The deer like to eat mostly the tops of the plant. Neither digging.

I have seen skunks dig, mostly for grubs, disrupting the grass in patches looking under the turf pushing the turf back, eating grubs right there, they do dig. They also eat leaves, so it's very possible.

Fencing is a great idea, yes, do that. Or if you have a gun, you can wait for them, which I don't have the stomach for, but mr feather can. A live box trap is another option, they are a little expensive but a good investment whether it is raccoons or skunks. (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned at great length the raccoon issues we've had here, and we use box traps.)

I don't know if it could be squirrels, we have squirrels but I haven't seen damage from them. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[Maura]

What I have done is plant marigolds in the rows, let them grow a bit, then put in the beans. Because of the time lag for the beans, I sometimes start them indoors and then plant between the marigolds.

[susannah]

That is so frustrating!

I've had problems with chipmunks (and squirrels) digging in my container gardens. The second story deck may keep the plants safe from the deer, but the little rodents have no issue with climbing up on the deck and digging. This year I read about putting plastic forks - tine side up - in planters to keep animals away. It was mainly for cats, but it also mentioned that it works for squirrels. Since I have hundreds of clear plastic forks...WHAT? I told you guys I'm married to a packrat. My husband took a huge box of clear plastic ware from his mom's house after she passed (I have no idea why she had so many of those) and the box has been sitting in our basement ever since. Anyway! I grabbed a big handful and planted them around my newly planted seedlings. Since I only planted the seedlings on Friday I can't say if this will work, but I have my fingers crossed.

In the past I've set up pinwheels next to plants - it's super windy in our yard most days, and the pinwheels were in perpetual motion. It apparently scared off the critters because I never had problems when I used pinwheels (except for the expense). I love, love, LOVE and adore pinwheels, but it was a kind of pricey garden fix. They got pretty trashed after awhile. Plus I'm not doing a lot of hanging out in stores these days, whereas plastic forks are something I have on hand so no shopping trip was required.

We have deer netting around the big raised bed garden and so far all the animals have left those plants alone. The only problem is that I keep getting my shoes tangled in the netting at the bottom - but then again, maybe my cussing helps keep the animals away, too.

Use Less , I hope you find out what animal is doing the damage, and wish you success in taking care of the problem!

[mogal]

If you aren't on a bunch of medications, try catching your urine, dilute it about 10 parts water to 1 part pee and spray around the plants. If that turns you off, try garlic-pepper tea as described here:

www.dirtdoctor.com/garden/Garlic-Pepper-Tea-Recipe_vq2545.htm

He says it's for insects and diseases but I bet that combination would deter a critter.

[Use Less]

mogal, I take thyroid and cholesterol meds. Multi-vits. What do you think?
We've gotten lily-livered about some things. Whole families used to p...in a pot, and haul to the tannery. Not so long ago.
No plants up. 2nd set of beet and bean rows, just put seeds in yesterday. I dug compost in there this spring. That could be attracting whatever.

[feather]

May 31, 2020 19:56:12 GMT Use Less said:

 I dug compost in there this spring. That could be attracting whatever.

I don't know if skunks are repelled by stink, but let's say they are. Milorganite is a slow acting non-burning fertilizer, that smells terrible. I know that deters deer, so maybe skunks? It just gets sprinkled near the plants and improves them as it slowly dissolves.

[mogal]

They also took that urine back in the day to the dyer's as it made a good alkaline mordant. I had a lovely friend from Fayette MO who was a fiber artist. She raised her grandson and told the story at her presentations that every morning, she had young Willie pee in a bucket because according to her, a little boy's urine was strong and the strongest first thing in the morning. She then aged the urine and used it with indigo to make a beautiful shade of blue on wool and mohair which she called "Willie Blue." This story was fine with the child as long as he was a child but once he reached puberty, the telling created consternation to the young man. Then she would tell the story and follow it with "but I don't tell it any more to keep from embarrassing Will." She was quite a character and such a sweet lady.

Use Less, I don't remember any negatives with those meds. I have put a little of my "nitrogen" in compost tea with no adverse effects. I read somewhere that an individual passes all the NPK and trace minerals in their urine to grow all the food they need for a year.

Feather, I know Milorganite is a popular product and many cities handle their sewerage sludge similarly but I've also read that they don't have a way to remove the heavy metals, etc., from industry so I've never used it. Do you have chapter and verse on that? With all the little poop factories here, I really have no need of it.

[feather]

mogal,I tend to believe when a university, not connected with a company making something, has an objective analysis. home.eng.iastate.edu/~jea/w3-class/456/article/milorganite.html
Things have changed over time, with the EPA guidelines, improvements in processes. Other cities besides Milwaukee make fertilizer products from waste sludge, also have metals in them. That report is from 1996. I imagine the standards have changed again since that time.

Another member moldy, suggested fox urine and coyote urine for deterring deer and possibly raccoon. We've since purchased coyote urine from a trapper's convention last year. We never did trap a fox and squeeze it.

[Jolly]

#1, maybe?

www.duketraps.com/coil-spring-traps

[Use Less]

No damage overnight, or sign of whatever critter. Day at a time. I pinned rabbit wire and hardware cloth over the rows. Only 3 and about 10' long, so not too difficult. The rabbit wire can stay right there. The hardware cloth will have to come up when things start to sprout. I may buy more rabbit wire. I'm in the village, so either using a firearm or a leghold is problematic. I have box traps, but if I catch a skunk, or anything, actually, I have to do something with it.

[feather]

Use Less,

[feather]

Use Less, back about 30 or so years ago, mr feather had a trapping friend. He would take baby skunks and de-scent them and sell them for pets. I can't imagine that it is safe or legal to do that now. Those skunks sure are cute.

[Use Less]

Update: so far, no further sign of whatever critter. That doesn't mean it won't show up tonight. Still think skunk. My neighbor and I both saw one in our yards, and it would seem the digger went after bugs, grubs or worms. I know this because where I added more bean seeds has sprouted, roughly double, and randomly placed. Some sprouts will be volunteer squash hybrids or locust seeds, but I'll pinch those off. Those squash-things were mostly not tasty (blech!!! in fact), so none are being left to grow. As an aside, my neighbor's son took one of their little dogs out at 230AM the day before my garden was dug up, saw the skunk, thought it was that little black & white cat... so there they were, cleaning up poor Bandit, and hanging Jake's jacket WAY out back.