Jornal de nicholaix, 25 jul 15

You can also trap slugs with small containers of beer, they love it but it kills them. salt does work. This summer we have had a lot of them, salt is useless because of the amount of rain we have had it dissolves too fast. Not worried much about them, most of my garden wasn't planted.  

Didn't realize we had so many gardeners, you guys are full of awesome idea. Thanks! 

Oh yes, slugs love beer. As for squirrels - not sure about rabbits - and birds, I got about a dozen rubber snakes all over my garden. No problems at all, everything is in good shape. I know praying mantises eat regular assassin bugs, but the ones I got in the garden are the big "wheel" ones. I've observed them, they seem to keep their distance. I need to move more assassin bugs on my cucumbers, some neighbors started complaining about squash bugs. They're more efficient against those than the mantises. 

Human or dog hair on the perimeter of the garden will keep the critters out too. 

Plastic owl in a couple of trees works wonders for the rabbits and squirrels. 

Might try that plastic owl trick. Saw a squirrel running off with the very last peach from the tree in it's mouth this morning. Oh well. 

The dog doesn't seem to keep the squirrels away at my house. NM might try the owl next year. I actually love owls so one or two in my yard would fit. I have a carved wooden one that watches over my interior.  

I've got 2 little dogs, they don't deter the squirrels one bit, they like to tease the dogs from the fence. I wonder if a plastic owl would scare away birds, we've got a couple bluebird boxes that get used by wrens, chickadees, or bluebirds and wouldn't want to mess that up. So I might need to just step up my current control measures. 

I the beginning of my gardening in Oklahoma, I tried the plastic owl thing. It doesn't work on anything - the birds were eating my tomatoes, the squirrels my bulbs, etc. Rubber snakes though did it. That and a stray cat who decided to adopt me a couple years ago. She's an outdoor cat, spayed, hates to be in the house and watches over "her property" dutifully. She even fights bravely whatever possums or raccoons might pass by, that is why usually her nose is always scratched. 

Here's my brave little guardian cat, in her favorite watching spot. She sits on the roof until it gets too hot to be up there, and watches over the property ready for fast intervention - nothing gets past her.... http://s15.postimg.org/3z63pt6iz/pisah.jpg 

Talking about rubber snakes, a neighbor years ago kept them on his windowsills and they kept the birds from roosting there and pooping on the side of the house. I will put some rubber snakes in my peach trees, might help with both birds and squirrels. Thanks for the reminder. Next year will be the 6th year they've been in, maybe I can finally get a peach to eat! 

Rubber snakes owls can try those. How about coons are they scared of rubber snakes?  

Not sure, coons are smarter than birds and squirrels. Dog poop "sprinkled" around my fence keeps them at bay in my garden, works for skunks too. The only ones who don't care are the baby possums who come to sleep on the three-seater on my back porch. I think even my outdoors cat gave up on trying to make them go away, one night I found them sleeping in a pile on one end of the seater, and the cat sleeping at the other end. I am not happy that she's "fraternizing with the enemy" but I didn't find anything messed up by the possums (yet). I do have my suspicions though about a jar of elderberry flower wine that was on the back porch to ferment, covered with cheesecloth fixed with a rubber band. I found the cheesecloth ripped and half of the jar contents missing. Maybe they had a party.