Wild Animals Causing Problems On The Homestead
I have made some previous posts about some of the various wild animals on our property. One that we have to compete with every year will completely ruin any chances of a good harvest. There have been years where they have destroyed our corn crop and this year they have beat us to our strawberries.
The culprit this year has been raccoons. They have eaten a majority of our strawberries, so we have been trying to do something about it before our corn starts producing. We know that they have been eating all of our strawberries because the several piles of droppings we found were full of the strawberry seeds.
We have seen several adults and even a mother with her babies, so we can tell that it will be a battle the entire summer. In summers past, we have had issues with other animals like opossums. It is important to act fast before they get out of control and destroy any chances you have of getting a good harvest from your garden. So far, we have caught two raccoons, but we expect to catch many more before this year is done. Most everyone will encounter some problem with their garden every year, like bugs or plant diseases, and it looks like our big problem will be the wild animals.
Thanks for reading!
Animals can be sooo much more difficult the insects, But the also can be true :P
Raccons are a pesty problem, what do you do with them after capture?
Well to put it nicely, we humanely dispose of them. We do not relocate them anymore because, then they will just become someone else’s problem. Also, we have chickens and rabbits and we do not want them to try and harm the smaller animals or kill them.
I have found that putting powdered cayenne pepper on the plants will discourage most pests or if you don't want it on your plants you can put it around the perimeter of the garden. Just remember to reapply it after it rains or every few weeks.
Okay. We may look into that. Do you know if it deters Japanese beetles?
I haven't had much luck with bugs. It's mainly an animal repellent.