Garden Critters (and what to do about them)

We have two huge oak trees and many squirrels racing around the garden with acorns in their mouths looking for good spots to bury them. I like the squirrels-- they're pretty cute and entertaining-- it's the raccoons I hate. They dig up huge patches of lawn looking for grubs, turn over pots looking for slugs, dig in the pots and flower beds looking for I don't know what. They make a mess where ever they go. But that's not all they do. They chew on the hoses then water sprays out all along the hose in a wild array, they destroyed a large kiddy pool we once had by playing in it and punching holes in the bottom with their claws (I caught them in the act), and they come into the house through the cat door. I had five of them in the house one night and they will only go out the way they come in. They wouldn't go out the door I opened for them, no, they all tried to squeeze out the cat door at the same time. It would have been hilarious if I wasn't so freaked out. I've trapped three raccoons and taken them to a wooded area with a creek. There are one or two more digging up the lawn again so I'm going to set the trap tonight. They love dry cat food.

There was an article in the New York Times a while back entitled "Garden Vigilantes: Peter Rabbit Must Die". It mentions three women who had critter problems and what they did about it. I was shocked when I read that one woman took a sledge hammer to the heads of woodchucks and included a recipe for Woodchuck Au Vin. Another woman catches critters in a cage then drowns them in a barrel of water while they are still in the cage and a third woman shoots any snakes that get into her garden. Now that takes some grit. To read the article go to Newyorktimes.com., Home and Garden section and search for Garden Vigilantes. The article is a bit long but worth reading for shock value.