More Varmints and Critters!

Critters!
Originally uploaded by croatoan_found.

Squirrels are not the only wildlife in the yard.

As one can see from the photo, I have a very healthy, well-fed garter snake in my yard. I'm not bothered by snakes (at least not garter snakes) but when she moves unexpectedly, I get a bit startled. This one is about the length of my arm and is either expecting or has just eaten something substantial.

I also have other varmints in the yard. Voles and chipmunks. The chipmunks are a cute nuisance but the voles are a pain. They have a penchant for eating the roots of my hostas which gets me a little perturbed. After pulling up several of hostas with NO root system late last fall, I went out to find any method of responding to these attacks. I bought two of those "sonic molechaser" vibrating devices that allegedly work on moles and voles. According to some sources (i.e. the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency), these devices work.

Maybe in Canada or maybe just on moles but not in my yard.

However, I have used the castor-oil based sprays will a fair amount of success. These sprays appear to also give a shine to the hosta leaves which is interesting. The sprays do have to be re-applied periodically but appear to be working.