Critter Control & Photos

Here on Whisperwood Farm, critters are abundant. Deer are plentiful, leaving ticks everywhere you walk. So, farmhand Mark has sprayed insecticide all around the house, the gardens, and the fruit trees. That seemed to help tremendously, but if you get off of the paths that he's sprayed, you'll pick up some hitch hikers.

A mother fox and at least two kits live in the thicket by the larger garden plot. Mark saw a vulture the other day sitting on a fence post by the garden. Upon closer examination of what the bird was picking at, a tiny fawn leg was found. Obviously something the fox had caught. And a lot of bird feathers have been seen near the garden, too. Some of the feathers looked like they were from a vulture. Maybe the fox is baiting the larger birds with leftovers?

Groundhogs also reside on the Farm. We will have to do something about them, before they find the vegetables just recently sprouting through the crust of the garden soil.

To control the pests that will surely find the fruit trees, Mark put up three bluebird houses. Bluebirds have been seen, almost every morning, fluttering around the fruit trees, so we should have more permanent residents soon. I read that bluebirds will have 2 or 3 broods over the summer, and may even winter over in a bird house. I haven't seen any pests on the fruit trees yet, so the ones in the area must be doing a good job for us so far.

One birdhouse was put on the grape arbor.

To keep the deer out of the corn and beans, our farmhand constructed a scarecrow and planted it in the garden. It seems to be working very well. No deer, fox, groundhogs, or crows have been seen near the garden. And there have not been any fresh footprints in the soil either. The tinfoil hands wave madly in the wind, and the scowl face on the jarhead lets the critters know that they are unwelcome. He also makes a good target for Jame's bb gun.

To protect our potted garden, deer netting was placed on the ground around the plants. You may be able to see some of the yellow, dandelion-like weeds surrounding the pots. We read that the deer will not step on fence material. This has worked very well. As the grass and weeds beneath the netting grows taller, the netting rises up off the ground, making a more formidable barricade. We used 7 foot steel fence posts to hang the netting around the fruit trees. But even a few leaves were nibbled on, so we may have to put more on the ground. Or put up  another scarecrow. To keep deer away, should we call it a scaredeer?