It ate all the flowering tops off of my snow peas! GRRRRRR...
Is there anything better than a fresh snow pea munched straight from the garden? I'll never know this year... Being that the snow peas were one of only two early spring crops that I managed to get planted in between all of the constant rain, I was extra perturbed! We were only a couple weeks off from enjoying their crunchy sweetness.
I wrongly accused the chickens, even though they had left them alone all this time. I still have two renegade hens that keep escaping, but for now they're all on lock up.
As I sent my husband off to work yesterday, I spotted him...it...her, as it turns out, a big, furry blob lumbering back toward what was left of my pea patch.
I declared war. My Bright-and-Shining-Farmer decided it was time I learned to shoot his 4/10 and was going to give me a quick lesson today, but the whistle-pig (ground hog) showed up right after dinner, along with two more little ones, so I sent him out in the rain after it.
Ground hogs are sneaky and very alert. The slightest movement sends them ducking for cover.
He peeked around the corner, she peeked back and BAM -- it was all over.
You can see my mowed down peas on their bamboo trellis in the foreground.
There is always something living under that corner of my chicken barn. There's been several opossums dispatched from there. Then the barn kitties moved in. I liked having the barn kitties living there. I could spill chicken feed on the floor and nothing would touch it. Then the barn kitties mysteriously disappeared and another opossum moved in. It was quickly evicted. So now there are are still two more little ground hogs under there.
I think I may as well just invest in a trap.
Update: 5/24/11 - We got another one last night and there are still two more small ones out there. They've knocked off almost everything I planted two weeks ago except for the peppers, which they don't like for some reason. I thought the cutworms were getting my tomatoes, so I dusted them and the groundhogs still ate them anyway!! This has been a very frustrating year for gardening.
So that is what's going on here this week. Go see what everybody else is up to over at the Barn Hop on Homestead Revival!
I would say a trap would be the best way to evict any unwanted tenants. When I was a kid my dad and I used to hunt groundhogs all summer long out of the neighboring cow fields. Good times.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain! We are dealing with a groundhog too. We have tried shooting it but they are very alert and wily animals! We have trapped it TWICE and both times it has ripped the back out of the trap and gotten away. We used a ton of wire to hold the back on so hopefully this time it will hold. Good luck with your stalking!
ReplyDeleteThat's for sure, Mandy. I think they can hear you coming a mile away! I believe we've lost the element of suprise now. I hope we can get them while they're still small. :P
ReplyDeletefun times. never anything but my brussels sprouts. traps catch cats and chickens. use a sks and there is no doubt. i bagged a 20 pound beast of a whistlepig today from the dining room window. gopher-cong.
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