Shoo! Stay Outta My Garden!

Crunchy Munchy, living in a city, has little experience with the ravages wildlife can wreak on a garden. We've lived remotely in the past and seen how quickly quail can wipe out the lettuce patch and even lost newly planted prickly pear cactus to hungry jackrabbits. In her post, she wonders what critters people deal with and how they discourage them from eating all the home-grown goodies.

We will have our work cut out for us when it comes to gardening in an animal-rich area. In our short forays out onto the property, we have observed lots of rabbits, quail, and round-tailed ground squirrels (kind of a half-pint squirrel that burrows in the soil like a chipmunk). Javelina, a peccary - not a wild pig, are common; a herd can decimate a garden in one night. Deer are likely. I suspect we may also see raccoons, skunks, and possibly the odd opossum. Given our proximity to the mountains, it is not out of the realm of possibility for a hungry black bear yearling to wander down through the neighborhood, and finding fruit trees would simply be heaven.

Besides wanting to protect our crops from marauding wildlife, we will also want to discourage the concentration of such wildlife on our property. There are carnivores in the area that want to eat. The neighbor has already told us that bobcats are not unusual and he's even had a mountain lion crossing his property on an occasional basis. Coyotes are everywhere, so their presence is a given. Perhaps their cousin, the gray fox, also traverses the washes in search of easy prey. We expect to see and hear owls; the more, the better if they'll keep the rodents in check for us!

Much to my relief, the neighbor mentioned that while he's seen a lot of snakes, there have been few rattlesnakes. I have nothing against rattlesnakes but I would prefer that my dogs don't encounter them, especially since Polie has such a strong prey drive that he would almost certainly be bitten. Thanks to Angel's very early morning bathroom habits, our chances of encountering active reptiles is greatly increased.

I love seeing and observing wildlife, but when it comes to a garden, they will not be welcome. We have not yet determined how we can discourage them adequately, but I suspect a lot of fencing is in our future. We may need to bury hardware cloth or chicken wire to prevent burrowing pests. We may need to run an electric strand (solar powered?) around the fence down low to gently discourage further exploration. Or maybe we just need to fence the whole place and let Polie run free.

I've noticed a distinct lack of gardens in our neighborhood. Is it because so few people garden anymore with their busy lives or because they've tried and failed? I guess we're going to find out.