This year the deer and voles are keeping me pulling out all the stops to protect my harvest. Over the years, I have learned what to look for, and what vegetables which critters like the best.
Here is a list of the most common wild animals and what they like to snack on most:
- Deer – Deer love young plants and will often pull them from the ground. Their favorite snack is green beans and corn. Click here to see how we keep the deer out of our garden.
- Vole – Voles love to come and play under the cover of night and will feast on root vegetables.
- Groundhog – Keep a watchful eye during the day when most groundhogs travel in groups. They love tomatoes, squash and beans.
- Rabbit – Dawn and dusk are rabbits favorite time for a quick snack. They feed on young plants and will chew them down to the ground.
- Racoon – A sneaky racoon will raid your garden under the cover of darkness. He is quick on his feet and will pull a chair up to your melons, potatoes, peas and corn.
- Skunk – While a skunk won’t eat your plants they will tear up your garden by digging for grubs and worms.
- Squirrel – Fly by day is a squirrels way! Traveling and jumping from any tree branch close to your garden, squirrels will devour tomatoes, corn, beans and strawberries.
Most gardeners eventually have encounters with wild animals and before you can figure out how to get rid of them you need to know what you are dealing with. We have learned a good barking dog is our best defense to unwanted critters in our garden. Our Libby-girl keeps us alerted to whatever comes in our yard and in our garden.
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What a great article, this would be a great addition to our new weekly blog hop!