Beau has been dealing with a Big Fat Mama Rat in our barn. He got the best of her, yesterday and thinks her offspring have taken the bait as well.
I told him a number of weeks ago, ‘That is NOT just a mouse in the barn!’ That thing was HUGE, and I only caught glimpses of her! Yikes.
The ‘Repels All’ spray is good - smelly when you put it on, but then the critters can smell it and we can’t. You can also make your own spray:
Stay out of my garden!
by Carol Martino
Ingredients:
1 whole Spanish onion
1 jalapeno pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
Directions:
Chop up the onion and the pepper.
Mix and boil in 2 quarts of water for about 20 min.
Let cool, and strain the water through a cheesecloth.
Using a garden sprayer, spray any area outside where wild animals or even neighborhood pets are nuisances. This probably will not work for birds (birds do not have a sense of smell.) This process may have to be carried out for two weeks to ensure success. This mixture is non-toxic, and it will not harm any animal but will succeed in keeping them away.
We use something called Top Gun which is not much a poison but has something in it that makes them stop feeding. It works best on mice and won’t on larger critters and is supposed to not be toxic to animals that feed on mice.
I went to my local Lowe’s on Friday to get more critter ridder - my pepper patch is being flattered by something that likes to lay in it at night (probably cool) and is breaking my jalapeno pepper plants apart (I plan to make jalapeno relish as Christmas gifts this year). I suspect it’s a large raccoon.
The regular spray bottle was $17 !! and the granular variety was $22. I think I paid around $7 for each one last year. I was really shocked and passed.
Found a DIY version on the Internet that uses cayenne powder, tobasco sauce, dish soap - all of which I have at home - and black pepper oil, which I found on Amazon for $8.00, ordered and it arrived the next day. Plan to make some today to spray around the pepper patch and the bird feeders, which the squirrels are now conquering.