Speaking of what’s happening today and predator control- caught a squirrel in a live trap and “relocated” it.
The trap is within easy sight of my kitchen window and it was interesting to watch. I baited it with pb in the deepest part of the trap and left a trail of pb-smeared peanuts to the front of the trap, with one just outside the “front door”.
First a crow came and took the one outside the trap. The squirrel seemed to take more of an interest after that and after approaching the trap warily he came up and took the nut just inside. After taking that off and burying it he repeated the process for the next nut. But when he went back for the payoff he sprang the trap and we got him. It’s just remarkable how careful and delicate these little stinkers can be!
Anyhow there’s two more hanging around, and plenty more, it seems, in the wings, so this may go on for a while.
I shot two more wood chucks. The neighbors cat got eaten by the coyotes. I thought our big yorkie got snagged up by a coyote, but he was just afraid to come when called because he had diarrhea all over his butt! We searched everywhere after dark and I even drove up and down the roads. It was great to see him waiting on the front porch nasty butt fur and all!
JA: We are starting to see coyote x domestic dog hybrids. They’re about the size of a small German shepherd and have little fear of humans. Saw 3 a couple of weeks ago messing around the chicken coops. Shot one and he weighed in at 32#.They have a whole mouth full of teeth.
Pulled the garlic, a week earlier than normal, renovated the strawberries and composted the leaves, ended up with close to 20# from my humble 8x4 raised bed of Jewel and Sequoia.
That’s a big animal! I’d certainly want a firearm to deal with that. Do they still have fear of humans? If they can take a horse…be careful. We can hear hundreds on certain nights, a high pitched yip,yip. reminds you of a hyena on TV.
Boy, I have never, ever seen or heard of a coyote or pack of coyotes taking down a horse. That would be a first. I’m wondering if this was a pack of coywolves that behave in a more wolf-like manner. Coyotes are small-prey animals and when small animals are not readily available, they resort to eating fruit. The commercial avocado growers have quite the time with coyotes, as they love avocados. I am wondering if the horse that was killed was taken down by a mountain lion. This woman gave conflicting reports, stating at first she thought the horse was taken down from the rear, then the next article states she wasn’t there at the time. So, she didn’t see anything. Just the aftermath. This tactic is how mountain lions take horses down - if they can (and they prefer), they will leap down on top of the horse and bite them on the back of the neck. If they’re in pursuit, they will jump on the horse’s haunches and drag the horse down, then climb up and bite the back of the neck. I lived up in Garner Valley for several years on 5 acres in an equestrian community. Our back gate opened right onto the Pacific Crest trail. Awesome horseback riding, but we had to pack at all times when we went out on the trail, as we had a significant number of mountain lions in our area. We have been tracked on several occasions as we trail rode. Very, very unnerving, as you do NOT want to get dismounted at that time. If so, you better hand onto your gun. We do have a couple of coyotes that are as tall as a German Shepherd and look significantly different than the regular 30-40 lbs. coyote, and we all assume out here they are coyote-dog crosses. Fortunately, they all keep their distance and are not becoming emboldened out here. I had a long talk with a Forestry ranger when I first moved out here, to find out about our local coyotes, as we were warned by every neighbor not to leave a small dog out in the yard, and never, ever leave a cat outside. We have heavy coyote activity here. All the local coyotes are afraid of my 3 big Aussies.
Yes they avoid you unless chasing food. I walked up on some turkeys and I saw a coyote crouched down behind them He saw me and didn’t care he just kept on with the turkeys as they kept on going. I barley see them in the day. They are more at night. I guess the horse slipped on ice and fell then was attacked. I’m not sure about the other two horses. One was more recently so there wasn’t any ice.
Yup, I pulled weeds today also. The news said today that our city received the record amount of rain for the month of June in recorded history. 9 inches plus it is raining as I type.
Is there anything that would kill random leaf clusters on an apple other than fireblight?
They are not on the end and no “Shepard’s hook”.
I have one tree that has some leaf clusters dying and turning brown/black. Not many…
But now I’m paranoid and am ready to pull the tree out because of just a VERY few dead leaves.
I’m still new at this Orchard thing.
I look at the Orchard every day and believe that I am going to have some very large HoneyCrisp apples.
They are larger than all of the other trees and I can’t remember such big apples at this time of the year
and I have had some pretty big Hcrisp apples before.
Wanna start a contest for the “biggest diameter” apple on Growingfruit 2015? !
If this rain were and every summer occurrence , I think setting up some high tunnels would be the ideal way to grow fruit trees, or go full @fruitnut style and go green house or bust.
we are due to 2.25 inches from early Saturday through Sunday afternoon here in NYC, at least brunch will be slow on Sunday ;p
already pitched into the compost a bunch of Paste tomatoes that were developing BER from all the uneven watering we’ve been getting.
Got that right Moley. Sheesh just with the bug pressure that feels like a great solution. If I had planned ahead differently, I think a big hoop house or greenhouse may have been in the mix. Somehow. Not sure how I would make one fit.
I got the deck sanded and stained between rainstorms at least. Found a turnip sprouting in the crisper so I’ll pot it up for the greens.
Found a columnar apple in quite good shape for $8. Home, Charlie Brown!
@marknmt I’m so delighted to hear that you are willing to go out of your way not to kill our smart little mammal cousins. Three cheers for you! I know that people who are in the business of growing fruit for market have high pressure on them to deal with furry fruit eaters, but for my home garden at least it would never seem worth it to harm a mammal. (Don’t all jump on me, orchardists! I just wanted to send kudos to marknmt!)
Lizzy, you would sing a different tune if you came down to your beautiful walk & pick orchard, only to find all of your gorgeous peaches decimated. I have zero compunctions whatsoever about dispatching with the (400 gazillion) ground squirrels and gigantic roof rats that ruin all my fruit crops every year. The ground squirrels here are nothing more that a rat with a furry tail. They are such a pest that the California Fish & Game Dept have deemed them pests, and if you’re caught “rehoming” one (or rats or rabbits as well), you face a very stiff fine. If I cannot get a handle on the “smart little mammal furry fruit eaters”, I’m going to take out all my trees. I am not paying hundreds of dollars every season to feed rodents that carry diseases and pestilence, and attract rattlesnakes to my yard. I actually went into the house last Monday and had a good cry I was so upset. Hundreds of beautiful peaches either gone or ruined.
Oh my, Patty, so sorry to hear it! As I said, I don’t want to rile anyone up, just wanted to thank Mark for going out of the way to relocate a squirrel. I have the luxury of not having much of a problem in my small yard, I realize. (And as much as I LOVE my fruit, I’m even more obsessed with and in love with animals, so the balance tips the other way for me.) Also I’m not making any particular claim to virtue. Our problem here is gophers, and I don’t take any steps to prevent my cat from eating all the gophers he can stomach. I really empathize with your grief over lost fruit. It’s so sad to get that far and then lose them last minute. I’m experimenting with fruit cages, fruit bagging, and even large tea-bags around my figs!
HQ, I’m with you. I netted a Montmorency cherry tree two days ago but it got dark before I could secure the netting around the trunk of the tree. Wind blew off the netting in a storm over night. Starting all over again tomorrow, just hoping that birds and squirrels do not get to the tree first. Its pouring rain all day today so I have my fingers crossed. I had deer EAT to almost one foot above the ground 7 fruit trees this winter. If I hadn’t spent the winter in the hospital I would have slept in my orchard to keep them out! These creatures are lovely in someone elses yard. I’m not jumping on anyone, I too love animals just not in my orchard.
Well, believe me, I’m a big animal lover, too. I raised, bred and showed quarter horses and dogs for many years. Still show my Australian Shepherds. I have a wonderful rescued Abyssinian kitty. But, I have zero love-loss for rodents. Guess that’s because I’m a nurse, and I know the diseases they can carry - Bubonic plague (yup, “Black Death”, and it is endemic here in S. California), Hanta virus to name two rather deadly diseases. So, I don’t want rodents on my property, and I surely do not want them eating my fruits. And yes, pocket gophers which, for the first time seriously in the 6 years I’ve been on this property, I’m having issues with. Due to the severe drought, we’re seeing a huge influx of rodents migrating to our properties. They are chewing through my drip systems to get at water. I’d let my cat out to get the rodents, but we have such a high coyote population, the cat would last 1 day if he was lucky. Plus, housecats are the #1 killer of our American songbirds. I don’t feed my birds during fruit season, but I do love to feed my local birds and my yard is a certified Wildlife Refuge. So, like you, I love animals, but I draw the line at rodents due to their ability to carry serious disease and ability to destroy my beloved fruit trees and other plants in my yard.
This is a tough situation. And I have to set the record straight. When I used the euphemism “relocate” in quotes I assumed people would understand that the squirrels were euthanized and their relocation was to be discarded.
Squirrels, as with all other things, have their place in nature. We are unfortunate here in that they were relocated to this area and have done huge damage to more than just orchards and gardens; they are every bit as destructive inside your attic as rats, they damage trees, and love songbird eggs; they displace the native red squirrel.
I’ve never taken any pleasure or even satisfaction in killing anything and whenever I’ve done it it has been as humanely and promptly as possible.But there you have it.
I use the term, “recycled”, or “hastened the recycling of”. For instance, yesterday I netted a vole that had chosen to start the process of recycling himself in my swimming pool during the night.
!