Squirrel gravy is really delish!
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Goes well with Raccoon burgers, venison steaks, and deep fried crow:yum:
Anthony
(went out at 9am and found a family of coons wandering around my deck and garden)
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Yes but I would (and have) use the chicken wire as the ground. Then you need to run the hot wire along the top supported by PVC (which I weave through the chicken wire where the end of the PVC is above the top) such that it does not touch the chicken wire. I have a little battery powered unit and it make me yelp.
Edit…so as they climb the chicken wire they are grounded but when they get to the hot wire they get shocked…a…trained. 
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I live out in the “sticks” and it’s out in these areas that idiots bring their unwanted dogs and cats and “drop” them off for a visit. Sometimes these animals move along and sometimes they don’t and my dogs “allow” them to stay…we feed them usually and in return I have not been bothered by deer, squirrels, rabbits, birds, etc. I have one small cat that will bring down squirrels and rabbits bigger than she is! At one time the dogs had an understanding with a giant sow and piglets that she could root up our grass if she didn’t kill them but since big mama disappeared I haven’t even seen too many hogs. I know I’m crazy but so far I have less pest problems than I could have out here “in the sticks”.
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Our neighbour have two cats who like to chill in my backyard. I have no problems with them cause they help control the rodents & birds. Unfortunately, raccoons and skunks are not in part of their “prey category”, hence the need to get my electric fence working.
Anthony
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I was hoping that I could electrify the whole cage top to bottom.
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The purpose of this tip is intended to assist in keeping birds from attacking your ziploc bagged fruit. This year my Oneal blueberries ripened before I was ready to cover them with bird netting. I had a few extra ziploc bags that I slipped over several clusters. As you would expect the bird waited until they started ripening and then started pecking at them through the bag. I happened to be spraying surround/neem that day and put a little on the bags. As you would expect the white spray completely confused the birds. My point is not to protect blueberries this way but to promote an idea that a little surround or something else probably would keep birds from going after bagged pears, apples, or stone fruit. It might not be practical to spray the whole season but it might be feasible the last 2-4 weeks before ripening. I have a few late ripening apple varieties that I plan to try it on this year. I suspect bird will be more attracted to the darker bagged fruit.
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That’s a valuable cat!
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I found that household vacuum does magic job on fruit flies that come in the house with fruit and vegetable crop. They are so light that you can catch them even in the air. No need to follow each single fly - have vacuum ready and use it several times a day where you see many flies. Eventually they all be caught.
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Great tip
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Two quick tips that may already have been mentioned earlier but I’m not re-reading 500+ posts to double check.
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When working with dirt or other messy substances, even if you’re planning to wear gloves, rub your fingernails through a bar of soap. Getting a thin coating of soap under the nails will keep the dirt out and make washing your hands a lot faster and easier.
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If you have kids or grandkids, get them their own pairs of gardening gloves and you’ll double their enthusiasm for helping out in your garden. Having and wearing their own gloves just seems to motivate my kids to come work with Daddy in the back yard.
Anthony
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Those are great tips for my visiting grands who like to help out. Also good tips for me.
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Yeah, well I don’t trust people with clean fingernails! A little dirt in the nails indicates you do honest work for a living. 
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Well I do most of the cooking at home and all the cooking/grilling for big parties and if there’s a lot of grunge under my nails it throws off their appetites
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When you first see something like this it is a little late for total control. I don’t know the culprit but I’m guessing it was an opossum or raccoon.
This happened last night.
Picked this morning
Good washing
Wash and bagged
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Do you freeze your grapes? I’ve been wondering what to do. I don’t have many this year but hopefully next year…
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Freezing grapes is my favorite way of eating grapes. It’s like eating grape Popsicles. I don’t grow grapes but when I buy them, I freeze some for that purpose. 
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Good to know…I love my blueberries frozen and also blackberries. I think I’m gonna have to have another freezer just for fruit!
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my tip is to work the soil around where you intend to plant very well with potting soil and or planting mix and organic mulch instead of planting without working and just mulching ontop, especially if you have hard clay soils. it makes it easier to establish instead of just sitting there
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Frozen Raspberries are the best. Just the right size and they break apart into those little (I don’t know what we call them) fragments.
And. because they are so small those little bits defrost right away and the flavor explodes in your mouth.
Michael
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