Our little Zoo

Yes folks that's right, the Hubby and I are running a zoo! It first started with the evil squirrel problem which you can read about here and here if you haven't already read the story you should check it out.

So now onto why our house is a zoo. I was sleeping in on Saturday morning (3/20, I know I haven't blogged about this yet!) and I woke to a constant knocking or rapping! I was like ok who is knocking on the door of my bed room?? I looked at the door and it was wide open and no one was there, so I laid my head back thinking it must have been a dream of someone knocking or rapping on the door. So Just as I am about to drift back off and enjoy just a tiny bit more sleep I hear it again! And this time it was coming from my wall. I shot upright and just sat there and it started again! So I yelled for my Hubby and told him that I thought there might be a woodpecker on the side of the house. So he went down stairs and there indeed was a woodpecker. He scared the beast away to find that the woodpecker had put a 6 inch hole in the side of our house and tore out some installation in order to properly prepare a nest! So now we have to get that fixed before it settles down and lays eggs!


Also the other animal that has moved into our house is a rat snake! I am beyond afraid of snakes so this just sends me to the moon! There is little 6 inch holes in the top of our house that are sealed by pieces of screen. I suppose this is for the attic?? Anyways one of the screens fell off and went unnoticed by us until just very recently. This particular hole is right off our patio so one day while my husband was outside he noticed a black snake poking it's head out of the hole. I garden on this patio and am now afraid to go outside and tend to my plants because of this nasty vile beast! I am afraid that this snake is probably a female snake because it only came out of the hole to eat and then would go back up into the hole and stay there. So yesterday that nasty rat snake came out of the hole and slid down the lattice down the porch into a bush so my husband took down the lattice and now the snake is unable to get back up into the hole, and hangs out on our porch! Jon said he will hack the bush to pieces this weekend or next in hopes that the snake will leave and not be able to gain entry to the porch anymore!

So that has been our experience with animals over the past week!

Green Tea

So we finally received our Green tea wrap in the mail! It is beautiful! We both love it very much! It is super floppy and extremely soft! So here is a picture of a cute baby and the wrap!

See how much he loves it :)

Now an update on the evil squirrel! He has not been around since yesterdays happenings, so we are hoping he got what he wanted and will not return! I got some feedback on the thread I posted on IDigMyGarden.com

Here is what I posted:

So we have a squirrel problem! Has anyone else experienced this problem before? My husband went out to check on our garden today and found that the "evil squirrel" (as I call him) had dug up one of our container's and had eaten the seeds. He was about to star on our cucumber sprouts when he was caught in the act and scared away! How can I stop the squirrel from eating all the fruits of our labor, without causing harm to the evil squirrel??

Here is what some people suggested:

When I use planters, I lay down a chicken wire screen -- not always the prettiest solution, but if I mulch on top of the screen generally it turns out okay.Agreed on how destructive and devious squirrels are. Often the little maniacs seem to uproot stuff just for fun, and they always seem to know what's the most important to you...

You can cut the tops off 2 liter bottles (or smaller 20oz ones if you prefer!) and push those (and the bottoms) over the areas you plant. Don't remove the bottles until you have a little plant? Might work for the seed digging part at least!

I know what you mean. The squirrels have taken over the bird feeders and are now digging up snap pea seeds. Hubby is going to put out a Have A Hart trap and relocate a few of them to a nearby park. He has his tomato cages over some of the raised beds.

The last guy suggested that I kill them but personally I am not one for killing animals even if they are evil!

Also my SIL Holly suggested this:

Wow... I've never had a squirrel actually eat my plants. They just squish them on their way to bury nuts next to them. I've had success with old dish drying racks- I put them on top of the pot until the plant is big enough to hold its own.

So there you have it folks! If you ever have an "evil squirrel" infestation then you can try/do all of the following and it should help :)

The squirrel ate my plant!

I am serious people! The silly stinking squirrel ate one of our plants! He was about to start on our cucumbers when Jon caught him and chased him off! Has anyone ever had this problem? How do I stop the evil squirrel from eating all the fruits of our labors?? To be honest I am not too sure what he ate because nothing had sprouted in that pot yet... And now I have to replant! Well at least I have an extra pot for more tomatoes! And why now after two weeks of sitting there has this evil squirrel decided to tear apart my plants?

Well if anyone has ever had this problem or knows of a way to fix this problem that doesn't involve hurting the evil squirrel then please let me know! I am open to suggestions! Maybe I will write a post on the IDigMyGarden Forums and see if I get any feedback? I may only accomplish people thinking that I am nuts but if I can find a way to stop it then I am game!

I will try to post a picture of what the evil squirrel did to my plant and even if I get lucky a picture of the evil squirrel himself!