Larsen Poultry Ranch - homesteading journey

[Baymule]

Rabbits got into my garden in Lindale, fenced with 2x4 non climb wire. Grown rabbits couldn’t get in, young ones could. Then they stayed, why leave Utopia? Rabbits easily pass through the 4”x4” sharp and goat wire.

 

[farmerjan]

Of course I wasn't thinking those "cute little baby bunnies"......

 

[canesisters]

That was in the movie Phenomenon! Most of the movie he was battling to keep the rabbits out of his garden - then realized that he had fenced it in and it had never left!

 

[Ridgetop]

Hubby complained this morning that almost all his baby corn has been eaten. He thinks it's the wild rabbits and not the deer, in retribution for him killing a rabbit two days ago.

From DH, who also suffered the loss of his "corn babies", and

Are you sure it is not ground squirrels? They can climb any kind of wire, and jump about 24" high. How about using corrugated sheets of metal or fiberglass - you can buy them up to 12' long at Lowes and Home Dept. They are about 24-30" wide. Put them up around the corn only (since that is where your DH is suffering) using rebar to hold them to hold them in place. Wood stakes give the creatures something to climb with their sharp nails.

If this works for poor DH's corn patch, you could consider gradually extending it around the entire garden. You would still need higher fencing for the deer. If you can find someone who is replacing a metal roof on his barn you could ask for and repurpose some of the metal panels. Another option is to build raised planters and attach the metal roofing panels to the outside of those planter boxes and use them as an exterior "fence". Anything planted inside the planter box fences could be planted in the earth but the rabbits and ground squirrels couldn't get over the metal panels to get to it.

I thought about using electric garden netting but read in Premier's catalog that it doesn't work for ground or tree squirrels because they jump onto the netting and without having part of their body contacting the ground the electric current can't shock them. If you have friends with any rat terriers, Jack Russells, etc. maybe you can borrow them and pen them around the corn plantings. Worked in Ol' Yeller with the raccoons in the corn! LOL

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

As there are less than 10 corn plants remaining at last look, PLUS I told him in advance this would happen, I'm not going to change anything around his corn rows. He is a grown adult and needs to figure out a solution himself, especially when he was told this very thing would happen if he chose to put the corn along the driveway.

To sum up our critters who are potential threats to the flora/fauna of our property, we have seen on a continual basis the following: random cats from neighbors, raccoons, skunks, wild turkeys, ground squirrels, moles/voles/gophers (not sure which, they dig burrows under the potted plants in the old garden), rats, mice, tree squirrels (gray mangy looking), foxes, coyotes (heard only not actually seen), rattlesnakes, wild rabbits, and deer. The neighbor has some good video from a year or two back of a large-ish bear eating the bird seed in his back yard. Neighbors within the zip code have reported mountain lion sightings.

Maybe we should just build a big aviary around the house and garden to keep all these critters out? Built out of hardware cloth, with airlock style entryways? Would probably need a second mortgage to afford that though.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I do have the sight/wind blocking panels to put along the fence, I will make sure those go down to ground level to deter the rabbits. I need to put it up with tie wire, I had one up using plastic zip ties and they all snapped.

I think I'm going to try to still make a gate door sill type thing with cement and rocks, we have a zillion rocks. That might make it look nicer and help prevent erosion.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

We are going away this weekend for father's day, so of course we cannot get anything done this weekend. Also gone next weekend so I guess I should just give up on my garden this year. Not happy with hubby right now.

 

[SageHill]

As there are less than 10 corn plants remaining at last look, PLUS I told him in advance this would happen, I'm not going to change anything around his corn rows. He is a grown adult and needs to figure out a solution himself, especially when he was told this very thing would happen if he chose to put the corn along the driveway.

To sum up our critters who are potential threats to the flora/fauna of our property, we have seen on a continual basis the following: random cats from neighbors, raccoons, skunks, wild turkeys, ground squirrels, moles/voles/gophers (not sure which, they dig burrows under the potted plants in the old garden), rats, mice, tree squirrels (gray mangy looking), foxes, coyotes (heard only not actually seen), rattlesnakes, wild rabbits, and deer. The neighbor has some good video from a year or two back of a large-ish bear eating the bird seed in his back yard. Neighbors within the zip code have reported mountain lion sightings.

Maybe we should just build a big aviary around the house and garden to keep all these critters out? Built out of hardware cloth, with airlock style entryways? Would probably need a second mortgage to afford that though.

That would work! I saw on tv somewhere like Sweden or Finland the do that sort of thing though greenhouse around/over the house.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

I think I might get elderberries this year?!

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Had to go back out and take more pictures, I had forgotten to get the pot it is growing out of. The elderberry is also firmly clamping the fig in place, but as it's is also growing through its pot, it wasn't planning to move anyway. The other fig nearby is also growing through. Both figs have names kinda visible, one is Peter's Honey and the other starts with "Pa". I should have records of the cuttings and can try to find the whole name. Last picture is my Chandler walnut from seed, which had a very bad week or two, but is refusing to give up! She will get planted in the ground when she goes dormant again this fall.