# Constant fight this season for me and the peppers against the wildlife!



## PA. Woodsman (Aug 1, 2020)

I had put on here that I tried a raised garden this year, the tomatoes are going gangbusters, I FINALLY came through on my promise to the missus that some year I'll get her good tomatoes, it took doing a raised garden to do it but they are really good and there are lots of them! The poor peppers, however, are having a heck of a season; rabbits chomped on some of the plants in the same garden as the tomatoes, weeks ago we had to put some chicken wire around them which stopped that, the ones that got chomped are trying to come back but the poor things seemed traumatized, chomped down to only a few inches left, but they are growing and we usually have a late "push" of them every year in September. I have a box next to the patio that I got years ago from someone at work throwing it out, always plant peppers in there and also the lettuce that we talked about months ago, but when I yanked the lettuce out I put in 8 pepper plants, two Cubanelle and 6 Apple peppers, not many have these around but an Amish farm not too far from me does and they are really good, red like apples and sweet! When I planted them they were only 2.5-3" tall, but they made it and are now 2' tall. I had to put a temporary wooden barricade around it because the squirrels and chipmunks and maybe even rabbits had to chew on leaves and some stems but not too bad, and I got tired of taking the barricade down so they could get sunlight and putting it up again every night so last weekend I removed it and waited to see what happened but they all left it alone so I thought I was good!

Yeah, right......

Our neighbor down the block that goes to our church emailed me last week and told me she has a groundhog, wondered if that was causing me problems but I told her it was the squirrels and rabbits because I would see them do it. This morning, I started the day by seeing many pop ups on my computer so I ran Malwarebytes and it removed one issue thankfully, then I proceeded to go outside and next to the pepper box was a stalk laying on the ground which led my eyes to check the plants and low and behold the two Cubanelle plants that had 6 peppers on EACH of them had NONE, they were all gone except for bits and pieces of peppers laying around so that tells me that fat blimp of a groundhog found his way here either last night or very early this morning, the plants were full last night as I even was sitting out back telling my mother on the phone how these two plants were loaded with big peppers and flowers.....well now it's just flowers, a few small peppers growing but we'll have to wait for them now. I bought some of those green metal stakes and we pounded them in and wrapped the chicken wire around them and I put wood up to block any access for anything now, the only thing I could see is the stupid squirrels thinking this is a "gym" for them and climbing it but I hope not! This has been a war, a fistfight this season trying to protect the peppers. We have the most rabbits around that we have had in the 31 years we've lived here, don't know why but we do.

But the tomatoes are doing well lol!!! Ugh......


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## Bobby Kirbos (Aug 1, 2020)

0.177 and proper shot placement. The neighbors will never know.

Unless you live in the sticks... then make that pink mist.


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## PA. Woodsman (Aug 4, 2020)

Now we picked off about 7 low hanging tomatoes that have chew marks in them, some about the size of a dime, some a quarter or bigger, they aren't eating them just taking a few bites out of them and leaving them hang there!!! Probably squirrels or rabbits, I don't think a groundhog could get through the fence!!


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## Huskybill (Sep 24, 2021)

Wildlife? All my fruit trees are bare( bear). The wife seen my resident bear shaking my apple tree and broke branches.


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## Mad Professor (Sep 25, 2021)

PA. Woodsman said:


> Now we picked off about 7 low hanging tomatoes that have chew marks in them, some about the size of a dime, some a quarter or bigger, they aren't eating them just taking a few bites out of them and leaving them hang there!!! Probably squirrels or rabbits, I don't think a groundhog could get through the fence!!


Just saw this thread. Might be voles on the tomatoes. We are overun with them last two years. They went after my broccoli and cabbage starts, ate my garlic bubs which I never had problems with. Too small to fence out. Dried blood fertilizer will keep them off stuff but has to refreshed if you get a good rain. Garden is worst I've had in years. I didn't put mulch down because of the voles. Rain has been a problem too, over 14 inches in just July. Have not had rabbit or woodchuck problems this year, I killed most of those off last summer and the yotes and foxes patrol the property daily.

Had problems with a bear, ate most of my berries and got into the peaches. Have a bear tag but the SOB seems to know when to not show himself. Was in my garden last week middle of day, but it was Sunday and no hunting. If he stuck around and did damage I'd have popped him anyway.


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