Irises: Protecting Iris from Voles, 1 by Mainer

Mainer wrote:
Milk Adders and Garters live here in Maine on our farm naturally. Milk Adders if riled up will bite and grow quite large but we never had a reason to rile one up.

We have a dirt cellar, walls are actually boulders and was used as a vegetable and canned food storage place in the 1800's which got converted to a wood furnace destroying what it was intended when it was built by making it too warm. Things rot in warmth.

Well the old furnace was not used when we moved into the house for a modern oil furnace was installed but snakes do live down there at times through out the year. This milk adder got into the main house, the kitchen while chasing a mouse which did startle my cat Robert one day. Robert was growling like a cat does when about to attack another cat so we went to find out what was the matter.

This Milk Adder longer than the length of a kitchen broom was what my cat was growling at and there was blood on the floor. Robert was not hurt and we saw it was eating a mouse. Mom took a kitchen broom and guided the Milk Adder out of the house after it ate his prey and was sluggish. Mom was quietly talking to it that if it wanted to live in our gardens, it had better stay outdoors. It seemed startled to be in our house and when it was ready left voluntarily through our front porch door with the guidance of the broom. The pipe vent to the kitchen was near the dishwasher and so we blocked the hole up immediately with metal and have had no more in the house incidents.

Now we got our bulb cages through Garden Supply catalogue and White Flower Farm. I will try to find a photo of it somewhere but mine are in the ground and staying that way until I need to divide.

Okay, I do not know the legality of copying and pasting the garden catalog item but here it is. What I bought and at the time what it cost. I believe White Flower Farm's were about $14.00 where Garden Supply was $10.00 and this was about 2005 when I bought them but they work really well for me for keeping out squirrels, voles, porcupines, and racoons.