Caster oil products

I was considering a critter repellent at High Country Gardens, but it contains caster oil. Isn't that stuff toxic? Do I really want to grow my potatoes in soil treated with caster oil? Might stop the gophers from eating them, but that's no help if I can't eat them, either.

But I have to figure out a way to keep the critters from eating my vegetables and digging up my potatoes!

Castor oil used to be the standard remedy given to all kids for virtually every complaint. I hate the stuff, but my generation survived many doses, so it it is certainly not very toxic.

I grew up on castor oil, too. Sure was nasty stuff, but I tell ya one thing - we'd make darned sure we were REALLY sick before we'd ask to stay home from school!

You might do a Google for more scietific info, though!

Castor oil can be very healing when applied topically to the body, but there is something about the seeds and plants that makes the plant a deterrent to burrowing, chewing critters. Castor oil can be expensive, so I can't imagine having enough to pour on your soil. But try it and let us know.

I have heard of pouring caster oil down gopher holes to get rid of them. I haven't tried it myself, but I am not sure that a gallon of the stuff would be that expensive. It is worth a try. I have also heard of putting chewing gum in the holes which theoretically they eat and it gets stuck in their gut and kills them. Haven't tried that either. I did try cat and dog poo in their holes. That doesn't work, at least not for long. I have tried destroying their underground system with a water hose.. It would be easier to destroy Bagdad. Short of a small nuke, I think trapping works best. You should really see Caddy Shack.

Whatever I've got, it digs and excavates, but I don't see any burrows around. Well, I did find one hole just under my fence. I'm wondering if I ought to do something about that. I was guessing I had problems with chipmunks or ground squirrels, or possibly bunnies. Whatever it is, it scampers on the surface and then digs into my potato and squash hills.

Castor oil it is. High Country Gardens has a deterrent that uses castor oil. I'll order some.

You might also try piling up rocks around the base of your fencing to discourage raiders.

There is a new product on the market I saw it on Paul James' show, He didn't say the name of it but I found it from what he said about it, (he's clever that way!) It is called Mole Max & it is made with a corn mash laced with Castor Oil. (I guess there is a liquid form too) I have used it & it does seem to work. It says it's safe for plants & pets. One thing that the pkg. doesn't say & PJ did, was that you can drive them out of your yard with this stuff. Start in the middle one week & work out farther each week. I started at my house & am moving out farther each week, I do not see any activity where I put it 2 weeks ago. I have a mole that has been raising havoc near this small earth dam on my stream. He/she keeps going along the dam & opening holes & the water starts washing away the dam. I wasn't there yet with the Mole Max & didn't want to trap them in between the creek & house so I let it go & just kept plugging the holes. Finally I have made it there with the stuff & ya know... there has not been anymore breaks in my dam. So I'd say it works but it is a little pricey. Bj

Oops! I lied! I grew up on Cod Liver Oil, not Castor oil!

It's the whole seed and leaves that are highly toxic if taken internally, not the oil that is expressed from the seed. Some people get contact dermatitis from the fresh leaves, although there is a history of steaming the leaves and applying them to bruises, injuries and stiff joints to relieve pain.

Castor oil has been used for centuries as a purgative (taken internally) and externally (applied as a poultice) to draw out toxins and as an antiinflammatory.
Edgar Cayce recommended castor oil packs for many ailments, including menstrual cramps and arthritis. We've used it for generations, usually for a topical application, but interally when needed. In fact, I used castor oil as a nighttime eyeliner to grow thicker eyelashes when I was in high school. LOL! It actually worked. I read about it in a small booklet of "french beauty secrets" where is was called "huille de rincin".
If it doesn't drive the gophers off, maybe it will make them prettier? (batting my eyelashes here)
:-)

It could be chipmonks that you have. I trapped a gopher last year and wearing sugical gloves, put its corpse in the tunnel. I haven't had any gophers since but started noticing lots of holes, not quite gopher like. I see chipmonks all over now and I think they have moved in. I don't really see any damage from them and they are kind of cute. I think I will live and let live unless they start eating my garden. There are some cats in the neighborhood, but they don't seem to catch chipmonks.
Gophers will run across the surface of the ground when no one is around. They build an immense web of tunnels and then plug up the holes with a thin layer of soil on top. The holes are quite unique. And they often dig. and throw mounds of dirt all over. You rarely see them. Chipmonks are all over the place. Rabbits -- I know little about.

The castor bean and plant parts are toxic because of a nasty protein called ricin. Fortunately, it is not normally present in the oil and any traces of it are deactivated (denatured) by the heat used in extraction and separation. The oil is totally yucky, but non-toxic.

I'm wondering if I have chipmunks. I remember being out late at night once, and I kept hearing something skittering around the yard. It didn't sound big enough to be a squirrel (though what would I know? I'm a city girl.), and it didn't sound like a rabbit, either. And whatever I have, they dig to excavate or to dig up seeds, but I haven't seen burrows, except for one by my property line.

I was out watering the potatoes last weekend, and this one squirrel was "chuffing" at me angrily from the safety of a tree. Seemed quite "het up" about my walking around in his salad bowl. :-)

The nerve!

I've never seen squirrels or chipmunks out after sundown, although I suppose it's possible. They usually become owl bait if they are out in the dark. Is it possible you've got a mouse/rat? We get roof rats sometimes at change of season. I think they move into the attics in the winter, then back out to the slough in summer. Rat and mice will definitely make a skittering sound at night.

Rats and mice! As if spiders and earwigs weren't enough!

Probably, It would make sense to identify the critter before trying to evict it. It does sound like rats and mice could be a problem, but try asking others in the neighborhood. You can't be the only one who has ever experienced this. And keep your eyes peeled. I would try to shine a flashlight on whatever is scurring around. It doesn't sound like gophers or moles which move around underground and which don't even come out at night. I bet your neighbors know what it is.

Rats and spiders. Forget Arachnophobia. I'm at the center of a Lovecraft novel!

Whatever it is, it does come out after dark and digs in my yard.

The castor oil product I was looking at drenches the soil with castor oil flavor, which is yukky to critters. I would think that it would also soak my potatoes, making them yukky to me. And what would prevent it from moving up the stems to my broccoli and zucchini?