We have a problem. I like wildlife. I like observing it and photographing it. I want to garden and raise fruit on trees and bushes and ground. Wildlife like my gardening and fruit production, too. My neighbors would not like for me to shoot the deer they are feeding and have enjoyed for years before we moved here. I don’t really have a need or desire to shoot them either, though I do like and wouldn’t mind venison. I considered shooting groundhogs, especially after my neighbor saw one crawling up into my truck. Now that I was watching, I saw it climb up about where the spare tire is. I was actually relieved since that meant it wasn’t crawling up into the engine compartment where wires and hoses may be chewed, yet. I had to put netting over my strawberries to exclude the birds who were beginning to peck my ripening berries. I put 50-lb test monofilament fishing line at three levels around my fruit trees to dissuade the deer from continuing to crop the branches. I abhor chemical repellants, herb/pesticides and my wife’s health can’t tolerate them.
The netting and monofilament line seems to be working. Concerning the groundhogs, my neighbor came to the rescue. Several days after telling me about the “truck-hog”, he left a live trap out next to my truck, later explaining the internet claims that groundhogs like apple. Thus far I have caught 2 groundhogs, 2 possum, and 1 raccoon with the trap. It has been a challenge to find a place to offload them. I will not loose them near a house and the country roads around here are narrow without pullouts other than driveways. I finally found a place with a large, wooded hill, but I am not telling where. Check out my pictures of my catch and release and yard wanderers at “Wildlife Blues.”
CreatorWorship 