Defending my potatoes

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White_Hydrangea Aurora, CO(Zone 5a) Aug 05, 2006

My potato plants are over two months old now, and they're getting big. Ditto the zukes. I came home today to find several excavation holes, WITHOUT potatoes in them. I won't have anything left to eat at this rate!

Hot pepper wax does keep them from eating the leaves, but not the potatoes themselves. Shake-away seems to attract them. I've tried kitty litter, cat hair, human hair, garlic, and red pepper flakes.

Nothing works!

So tell me, how do you successfully keep critters away from your hard-earned crop?

I've heard that sinking glass bottles into the dirt will keep critters away because they're afraid of the noise the wind makes when it goes across the top of the bottles. I've also heard about those "one-eyed" balloons, but I think that's just for deer. Deer don't excavate potatoes.

I'd think about importing a snake, but I'm afraid it might eat the neighborhood cats, and I'd be heartbroken if that happened. (There are a couple dogs I wouldn't miss, though....)

Would diatomaceous earth or baby powder work? I'd think about rat traps, but once again I don't want to hurt the kitties.

After all this trouble and hard work, I really want some taters and zukes to show for it.

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Zeppy Shenandoah Valley, VA(Zone 6b) Aug 05, 2006

What kind of snake would eat the cats? A rat snake sure wouldn't. It's tricky importing critters anyway, as they'll just leave straightaway if they don't find exactly what they want. Wish I had a good answer for you. Those balloons work on birds, I thought. Coyote urine?

There was also something for about fifty bucks in the Peaceful Valley catalog that's supposed to deter things by periodically emitting a mountain lion's hiss. I know, sounds crazy, but it's guaranteed and, hey, you sound desperate!

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