House Grooming

How to Get Rid of Garden Pests, Rats & Raccoons?

Today one can easily find a lot of attractive and whiz-bang products on the market to discourage critters from damaging your garden and even if lots of them are nonsense, you still hear them being suggested because there is not much out there that really works. Critters have the upper hand when it comes to gardens. One major reason is that many of them are nocturnal. Mice, raccoons Cats, rats, skunks, deer and opossums have 8 people-free hours to reorder your best-laid garden plans. But the trouble does not end here as there are day raiders including voles, gophers, squirrels and moles.

Few of the observations and suggestion to get rid of garden pests, rats, etc are

• Rats: Rats are quite similar to us as even they look for water, warmth and food. This is the only one critter that would definitely want to get rid of. One should be careful about rats, like skunks, raccoons and opossums, which generally eat your backyard fruit and vegetables. Cat and dog food should not be left outside. Always remember to seal your house; rats can get into an opening the size of a quarter.
• Cats: The most powerful mark of finding out if there is any cat ruining your garden is its urine smell. One very basic and simple way to discourage cats is to "plant" a regularly used spot with rose-cane prunings. If you have roses in your garden or in your neighbors garden then just take the thorny canes left over from pruning and flush the area with 1 cup of white vinegar to one gallon of water to deactivate the smell.
• Raccoons: This gentleman generally dig for worms and grubs, and also jump for vegetables, fruit, dog and trash and cat food and cat food and trash and in all probability will pick your roses. The only solution is to be tolerant and pick your fruit before they do.
• Opossums: These critters are the most decent ones as they cause very less damage to the garden as compared to its other relatives. Generally, these gentle marsupials will loiter over the garden looking for slugs, snails and ripe fruit. They are the most beneficial to have around, of all the backyard animals.
• Deer: Deer generally prefer to eat native plants. But when summers are at its peak, when water is scarce, they will wander into gardens looking for water in the form of moisture-laden plants. Therefore, to tackle them, get an old half whiskey barrel, fill with water and place it on the perimeter of your landscape for thirsty deer.
• Skunks: These critters do not eat plants – they generally uproot and sometimes destroy precious plants in the process dig for grubs. Skunks are quite skilled diggers but they are lousy climbers. One should make sure that his kitchen garden is surrounded by a solid fence. One must never dog and cat food outside.
• Mice: Mice are generally seed eaters. You may notice the occasional brave mouse making a mad dash for seed during the day if you have a bird feeder. So there is not much to worry about this chap.