Turning enemies into friends

Expensive biological deterrents were applied to the creature's favorite digging spots (in other words, the earthwormy places where I regularly dig in organic fertilizer), but not around the faux planting hole I created especially for the creature. The aluminum pie pan I use to put out stale bread and other tidbits was filled at sunset with two cups of dried cat food of a type that we no longer use. The results this morning were encouraging. The bay tree is still in place, unmolested, as are the eggplants and passionflower vines. The faux hole was lightly tossed, the cat food was gone, of course, and that was the extent of the damage.

I'm glad these products are available. Many people say the only solution is to trap and relocate. That's a lot of trouble, and critter controllers are happy to take your money to do it for you. It only creates an opening for a new animal to move into the vacated territory. I prefer to find a way to communicate to the animals that there are certain parts of the garden they can dig and toss and certain parts that are off limits.

For that reason, I continue to try various deterrents in the garden. The organic deterrents I have put out for years are fairly mild, they diminish in strength when it rains, and the night visitors eventually become more bold. But this new approach I started last night should be more effective. While we do have foxes, bobcats, and coyotes move through the woods and the garden, they are not so obliging as to pee where I want them to-- on the rose bushes, new plantings, and other earthwormy places. 

The location where I dug the faux hole yesterday is right next to one of the places in the paisley bed I have been using to distract the night visitors from my new plantings. I have been putting something out in the pie pan an average of once a week, on an irregular schedule. My goal is not to create a feeding station. That would be a disaster. It is part of my effort to work things out amicably with the animals that come to the garden. I can't fill up the birdfeeders and the birdbaths and expect only birds to be interested.

Some of the pests I was railing about weeks ago have become a source of entertainment. My husband has just finished reading "Gifts of the Crows." About an hour before sunset yesterday, earlier than the usual time, I put out chunks of stale bread just for the pleasure of seeing how the crows would deal with it. I have seen them putting bread in the birdbath before, to soften it up, and that's what one of them did yesterday. One of the others, a fledgeling, sat on top of the birdfeeder poll and tried to figure out how to eat her chunk whole. Within a few minutes, they had carried off all the bread.

So many other worries occupy my mind right now, especially about family. Dealing with the animals who are tossing the garden is one area where I can act decisively.