Visitors

Chicago Cardinal Red
July 15, 2009

My garden despite a late start is growing nicely. We still haven't added the other raised beds which will likely be a fall project now. The past couple of years we have been dealing with mice, voles, centipedes, pill bugs and earwigs indoors. This is the year of the earwigs! So far the battle has been going rather good as we drive these critters further from the house. The massive sealing and removing any debris from around the house has been an ongoing project since we moved here as is ripping out idea rodent hiding spots near the house. On a larger scale of critters we have a family of swans that visit regularly. The mother Mallard and her seven little ducklings visited last night. The rabbits visit daily. We didn't see the skunk but knew he was there! We hear the raccoons chit chatting at night but have seen them yet and the possum that frequents the area hasn't been spotted either.

The first year we were here, it never dawned on me to treat the lower level as if we were camping. Four of the lower level windows are pretty much at ground level including the large kitchen window. The patio door in the kitchen in on ground level for the back of the property but well below ground level for the front of the property. The kitchen is tucked into one corner completely open to the family room. There is no way to get to either the patio door or window without going through the kitchen. I was watching television on the couch when I smelled the presence of a skunk. Now the kitchen window and patio doors were both opened and it doesn't take much for a hungry critter to get through the screens. The fresh apple pie I had baked for my husband was sitting on the counter cooling while the skunk more or less wandered between one screen and the next. The problem was there was no way for me to get to either to shut them without triggering the skunk. I used a broom handle to flick on the patio lights. Sure enough there was the skunk! Then I remembered a trick from our camping days. If you shine a light directly at their eyes they will mosey along. So I quietly got the big Mag flashlight and prayed that trick would work. Thank goodness the skunk headed towards the edge of the water. I could still seem him as I quickly shut the patio door. Had it been a raccoon instead of a skunk it would have been in the house after the pie! Come evening in the warm weather if the windows are open the patio door and kitchen window are shut to leave only an inch or two opening for air to get through but not the critters.

Yesterday I heard a bit of scratching in one of the upstairs rooms and discovered signs of something in the pantry. Nothing had been gnawed on that I could see. More than 90% of all the food is in glass, heavy plastic or metal containers but there are a few things a hungry mouse could get into. I did a walk-around and discovered a bit of wood coming out from under the eaves directly corresponding to where the noise is coming from in the house. So my husband is currently poking around in the attic to see if he can see anything. He'll put out more bait then get up on the ladder to see if he can get the hole plugged if there is one. What we think happened is we discovered a mouse free-for-all run under the side entrance. Three bags of cement later that problem was solved. What it looks like we did was trap a mouse in the house and the mouse is trying to chew its way out. In the meantime it looks like I will be spending a bit of quality time in the pantry organizing and doing more rodent proofing.

Garden Gnome
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