Comments | equusmaximus: Happy Canada Day!

equusmaximus

Happy Canada Day!

Jul 01, 2009 23:27

Another birthday for our great nation! There were a number of events in town, but we were far too busy out on the farm to partake in any of them except for the fireworks much later in the evening. Last year they had "virtual fireworks" at the library, which we didn't bother with as we had some of our own fireworks which we set off out at ( Read more... )

accidents, farm, mowing, canada

Comments 5

centauress July 2 2009, 22:13:48 UTC

Barriers work on gophers as well as deer.

Also, planting other things further out that you don't mind being nibbled on also works. They nibble on things near the house because predators won't follow them there.

kevinbunny July 2 2009, 23:16:26 UTC

I've heard that.. uh.. 'marking your territory' also works...

There's also the option of a stretch of barbed wire.

equusmaximus July 3 2009, 03:45:22 UTC

"Marking" my territory might be one option, and let's face it, flushing out a gopher burrow that way might be a bit of sweet revenge. ;)

Barbed-wire = bad idea. Nasty stuff, and I'm doing everything I can to eliminate it on the farm. As for barriers, they'd be fine for deer but I seriously doubt that it would be effective on gophers. Any kind of fence would be useless on a gopher; if they couldn't go through it, they'd just tunnel under it.

It also has to be understood that out here, gophers are officially pests and have actually reached the "infestation" levels where farmers can use poison bait. This is absolutely something I do not want to use, as the poison is Strychnine, a particularly nasty substance that can also poison any predator species that happens to eat a poisoned gopher. The "Gopher Destroyers" are a better option; They flood the burrows with a lethal gas and kill them underground. Faster and (supposedly) more humane than poison bait, and no risks to other species. Farming ain't a pretty job at times, and ( ... )

kevinbunny July 3 2009, 07:02:57 UTC

Hmm.. what about a low-voltage electric fence, then? Mind, some due caution when territory-marking would be advisable, but it'd keep the deer out..

equusmaximus July 3 2009, 22:00:19 UTC

There's no such thing as a low voltage electric fence - that would completely defeat the purpose. I suspect what you mean is a "low current" electric fence, which is a viable option as far as deer go. What we're thinking of, is to just put some portable corral panels around the areas we don't want the deer to go into. A hot-wire could be added as an extra deterrent.