Ok, I'm trying not to get upset but when you spend years babying figs to become this monster tree and it gets full of figs, it feels good to reap a good harvest.  Agree?  

Well, last night my Desert King fig trees were hit by Possums.  I'm trying to stay calm and cool but every time I reach down to pick up little green net baggies off my lawn, I get madder and madder (I know madder isn't a word).  So, to calm my nerves, I went to the dollar store to get a supply of bowls.  It's time to make critter bait.  I did not have this problem last year, but did 2 years ago and I got rid of a family of rouge raccoons.  Now, they are BACK!   And so am I! I don't think its coons this time.  This time I think its possums.  Man I'm getting tired of this!

BRING IT!  IT'S GAME ON CRITTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

time to thin the herd ............Dennis


I think most any animal  are tasty .. ummmm  but possums not so much .


squirrels are real tasty buy the way .

I like critters....when they are not in my yard!!! Go git em Dennis!!!

Princess & Tank like to catch possums.  Have any friends with high prey drive dogs that want to come visit?

Do what you gotta do, man!

If they take more than half then they are being greedy.  It's OK to share a bit, but you should get to taste some too.

Dennis, I feel sad for you.  My Verte (I used your magic potion) is still getting decimated by ground squirrels.  I didn't think we had them, but in the last 3 days, I actually saw two.  They take the branches to make their nests.  The magic potion does not work on ground squirrels.  Thinking of lacing some peanut butter with that potion and spreading it on the trunks they must climb.......... 
The potion got a big possum, but not the dessimator!

Thats too bad Dennis I wouldn't mind if they ate  a couple of figs but doing damage is another story , I had a family of raccoons hit me one night they literally snapped off branches like a tornado came through my yard well need less to say they are history now

What's the mix? GM?

hmmm must be auditions for Animals Gone Wild.   Just put out some more "Just One Bite" bars in a hanging orchid basket.   My neighbor gives me a beer for every dead critter in his yard:  figures that they tried to make it back home after a night or day of binge eating.  He awoke one morning last week to find garbage partially eaten on his front porch and the lid opened on the garbage can in the street.   I am searching for some Mallerin around here to make Critter Cocktails.   So far unsuccessful.   Go Dennis   Get them.    Pogo was a figment of some drug induced nightmare a guy had.   Possums are absolutely worthless,  except they make slow moving pellet gun targets.  Come on Bass Pro  hurry and open so I can go to the weapons section.    Joyce

Suzie, that potion will work with peanut butter. Give it a try. And Joyce is right about "Just one Bite". It will work too. I can't publically say what's in the potion but email me and I will tell you what it is. I already mixed a batch of it....just waiting for dusk.

I just installed these for a customer. It is the first time using an ultrasonic device so fingers crossed that they work. My goal was deer control but it has a setting for other critters as well. For the money it's worth a shot. Can run on 4 c batteries or a 30' power cord (included).

I have a dopey chocolate lab - actually, it's a front, he's pretty smart, but can't shake the lab dopiness - who keeps all the mid-sized or large critters at bay. He hasn't done much for mice, squirrels, or white-faced hornets, though...

An article was just published in my local paper that 3 coyotes were spotted in the vicinity. I'm pretty sure they'll leave the figs alone, but I need to be more careful of my kids playing the yard. A couple neighbors have scotties and yorkies...coyote lunch. Maybe the presence of coyotes if they stay will keep the 100-lb rats (deer) at bay...

Good luck on your crusade Dennis and sorry for your figs butI'm with Aaron on this one! When you kill off the snakes the mice go wild. When you kill off mice their pray go wild and so on... Try not to disturb the balance of the mini ecosystem around your place because in the end the figs will pay the price! Think about it for a minute! Those critters can find nothing to eat around our homes but grass and then baaam! Figs everywhere ! Maybe making the figs unavailable to them through some short of non leathal deterrent is the way. We could kill everything that stands in our way off very easily but where would that leave us? My dog and three cats work wonders for me!

I just trapped a raccoon this morning, but they're after my chickens. Last week I trapped 5 racoons. 

SUCCESS!!!!!!

Man I love it when a plan comes together!  I did not want to show the details of these critters but I got them!  The coon was flat out dead on my deck.  The possum was headed back towards the tree and flat out died.

 
 

YES!!!

Sweet! Congrats!

Dennis Congratulations but just in case any of there family members get the notion to give you some pay back I would post these around your property it will stop them in there tracks 

 

cool  dinner time ....  well  I am not a fan off ether  ...now deer and squirrels yum

Interesting that two species were tag-teaming your figs.

Just a word of advise for those attending Dennis's fig get together. If he offers you a grape soda  politely decline, and look close at the meat for species identification.

So Dennis is that your new potting mix? One critter in the pot, then fill with UPM? We can call it a SDF pot... Self Decaying Fertilizer pot... catchy.

Update on squirrel sighting in my yard and next door neighbor.   0      that is for the last two days.   Joyce    Oh that is the Just One Bite nuturious little snack bars for critter summer camp

"Just a word of advise for those attending Dennis's fig get together. If he offers you a grape soda  politely decline, and look close at the meat for species identification."

LOL

Over the past 2 days, I had another rouge coon knocking over pots on my deck and eating ripe figs from my organza bags.  Last night, I placed 2 bowls of my special mixture out on my deck.  He drank half a bowl, walked 30 feet and well...you know the rest of the story.  I got him!  He came back to the exact same spot on my deck.  He did not get a chance to reach the ripe figs this time!  Since I only had one or 2 figs missing, I know if just had to be one coon and it was.  The other bowl wasn't touched.  These coon are huge.  I'd hate to back one up in a corner.

Wild Critter Alert...........Oh Snap just when you think you have gotten ahead of the game in comes the second string.    WILD HOGS   yes folks  a walled in, gated community has wild hogs rooting up yards.    They got my neighbors front yard 2 years ago.   Looked like a disk harrow went through the front.    Had so much fun then  that they made lots of little baby porkies and came for summer camp this year.   They haven't been in my yard yet and I pray they don't come.  That's where all my pots are.  Now we have hog traps being set in areas in the neighborhood.   Nice trapper anticipating porkie on a spit.     Do hogs eat figs?