North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Doreen Howard" <doreenh@ticon.net>]

Tom,
It sounds like you have a possum.  I had the very same thing happen in my
garden--uprooted plants, holes dug that were too delicate to be done by my
dog, etc.  My dog finally nailed the possum and the digging stopped.
Several people on this list have told me that the possum was digging through
the mulch (cedar, also) in the rose and blueberry beds and in the bare soil
of the veggie garden to get worms.  My soil is loaded with worms, because I,
too, dug in lots of compost, manure and other organic goodies.  If your dog
is not the aggressive type (possums can be fierce), you might try a Havahart
trap and then call the local animal control people to remove the raccoon.
Bait the trap with grubs, worms and raw meat.  Some city animal control
departments have traps you can borrow.
Wishing you luck,
Doreen Howard

-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas Olenio <tolenio@sentex.net>
To: nafex@egroups.com <nafex@egroups.com>
Date: Thursday, July 20, 2000 9:00 AM
Subject: [nafex] Nocturnal Diggers?


>
>Hello All,
>
>I do have a question for you, but doubt whether it has to do with ribes
>directly.
>
>I put in ribes this spring, filling the holes with 50% rotted silage, and
>mulched them in with 3" of clean straw, and then capped that with some
>cedar mulch (some only got cedar mulch).
>
>With all the rain this season they have done very well.
>
>The problem is that some animal is now pawing through the mulch 2 1/2
>months later, pulling it away from the plants during the night.  As the
>plants are starting to sucker, I do not want the suckers destroyed.  The
>pawing looks like very delicate work, and not something as clumsy as a
>dog's digging.
>
>I am in a sub division, but close enough to fields, wooded areas, and a
>river to hit them with a good stones toss.  So this could be varmit
>trouble, or could it be a cat?
>
>Any ideas on animals that like to paw through mulch?  What would they be
>looking for?  It does not disturb the soil, just moves the mulch away from
>the plant.
>
>Moth balls are not an effective detterent.
>
>I have noted that those only mulched with cedar are not pawed, but those
>with a straw mulch covered with cedar are.  I have alos noted it is
>primarily the black currants which get pawed.
>
>Since I have a dog, this varmit/pest is not bothered by the scent of a dog
>in the area, and gets through our casual fencing that keeps the dog in
>the yard.
>
>Any ideas?
>
>Small planting of;
>    Crandall - black currant
>    Red Lake - red currant
>    Pixwell - gooseberry
>    Un-named Red Currant
>    Un-named Jostaberry
>
>Regards, (and thanks in advance)
>Tom
>--
>Thomas Olenio
>Ontario, Hardiness Zone 6a
>
>
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