Moles, rabbits, squirrels, and tulip bulbs on order

[haapai]

Opps!  I'm not really sure how this happened.  I was eying a list of mammal-resistant bulbs while ordering and I somehow got it into my head that botanical tulips species were shunned by pests.  I was wrong, and now a mess of innocent tulip bulbs is headed towards my vermin-infested yard.

Will bending wire mesh into cages help me defend against the moles and squirrels?  Will tulips manage to thread their way through the mesh?  Should I augment the mesh with some sort of spray or granular repellent once sprouts emerge?

 Something feasted on my crocuses last spring, so it's not just a matter of getting the bulbs whole until the spring. 

FWIW, eliminating the vermin is pretty much impossible.  I live in town and am willing to set cruel traps but I live about 100 yards from the expressway.  The easement around the expressway acts as a natural reserve for rabbits, moles, and skunks.  The yard is also on a corner lot and pretty much unfenceable, as if a fence would keep them out. 

Please tell me about your experiences with mesh bulb cages and chemical repellents. 

[Green Eyed Lady]

I plant marigolds here and there.  Someone told me rabbits don't like them and they stay away.  I don't know if that's true or not, but the rabbits no longer eat my flowers down to the ground.  I have no idea if this works for squirrels and moles. 

[dannylion]

From the thread title, I thought you were ordering moles, rabbits, and squirrels along with your tulip bulbs. Sadly, I see I was mistaken. I was going to offer to send you some of my surplus squirrels.

Does anyone else need squirrels? I have plenty. I'd be happy to share.

[Bonny]

How big are these tulips?

Can you "force" them in containers indoors?

Daffodils are about the only bulbs I can grow between the deer, voles and squirrels.

[Bonny]

Sept 2, 2014 9:15:54 GMT -5 dannylion said:

From the thread title, I thought you were ordering moles, rabbits, and squirrels along with your tulip bulbs. Sadly, I see I was mistaken. I was going to offer to send you some of my surplus squirrels.

Does anyone else need squirrels? I have plenty. I'd be happy to share.

LOL, I thought the same thing.

I was ready to ship her my voles and deer since she doesn't have any yet.

[swamp]

I have extra deer, squirrels, rabbits, skunks, foxes, Turkey, ans raccoons

[Tennesseer]

Any mesh fencing you use has to be partially buried underground.  Many of those varmints tunnel underground to the food.

[travelnut11]

I had some luck keeping the critters off my tulips with the smelly rabbit spray stuff you can buy at Home Depot.  I made sure to spray as soon as they started coming up and repeated regularly depending on how much it rained. 

[Bonny]

My black cat just gave us a "present" of a dead baby vole.

Shall I rent her out?

[sesfw]

I don't know if this would work or not.

Dig out your tulip bed about 5 inches and put down some chicken wire. Replace an inch of soil and put bulbs in.  Cover bulbs up within an inch of the surface and put another layer of chicken wire.  Then cover everything with more dirt.

Somehow close the ends and sides, effectively making a chicken wire box so the critters can't get to the bulbs. Then surround everything with more chicken wire.

For us tulips were a losing battle so we planted daffodils.  Can you change your order?

Good luck ..........

[haapai]

That's pretty much what I did with the crocuses last year.  I made little boxes out of half-inch mesh and put the bulbs inside.  They came up beautifully but I don't know if the same can be said for tulips.  Tulip sprouts are considerably wider. 

I was hoping someone here had also tried the same thing and could report on the results. 

And recommend a repellent.  The vermin loved the crocus sprouts.  Maybe having the flowers chewed off before too much energy went into making them will make the bulbs stronger this year, but I somehow doubt it.  The pests ate a good portion of the leaves too. 

[973beachbum]

We have hundreds of squirrels and they have never tried to eat anything that didn't come from my kitchen.   I have never had a plant eaten or even nibbled at by one of them.

I don't have any of the rest of your critters so I can't say about them.


ETA we do see stray cats, foxes, opossums and a variety of vultures and hawks, but none of them have ever gone after a plant or even hung out in the yards for more than a walk through except the stray cats, who definitely don't eat bulbs!

[Artemis Windsong]

Container gardening with pots tall enough the vermin cannot jump in.

The nursing homes here have container gardens as high as a kitchen table so the elders don't have to get on their knees nor bend down.

[zibazinski]

Get some maloridite. It's human waste from Wisconsin. Smells awful but its good fertilizer and it protects your stuff.

[Deleted]

Like Dannylion, I thought you were ordering animals online ...

My crazy DD did that, after her locally-bred, much adored pet bunny from a local reputable breeder died very young of a rare illness. DD insisted on ordering a bunny online from the other end of France. 

He arrived via Fed-Ex, express overnight delivery, in a Fed-Ex box full of holes LOL. I was initially horrified, but he arrived safely, and we've made it up to him in spades, he's a very happy and well-loved bunny. 

[Abby Normal]

Sept 2, 2014 16:40:44 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Get some maloridite. It's human waste from Wisconsin. Smells awful but its good fertilizer and it protects your stuff.

No way.  I have used the phrase " your shit does not smell like roses" way too many times in my house.  There is no way I'm giving DH a chance to tell me that my roses smell like shit.

[zibazinski]

But it works and it protects your stuff. I actually saw my flowers this year!!

[happyhoix]

Like Bonny, I have a calico cat that was walking death to the mole population around here. She also managed to get a bat, a baby flying squirrel, several mice and a bunch of small amphibians and reptiles (she was fond of skinks) until I started keeping her in the house full time. However, since you're so close to the expressway that probably isn't an option, and you have to find a good mouser - a cat that was taught to catch vermin as a baby. I have a beautiful Maine Coon who is dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to killing things.

I mostly plant daffidills because where I live (in the south) tulips only bloom well the first year and then don't come back. Something about it not being cold enough in the winter. Or maybe the moles ate all the bulbs. Apparently nothing at all eats daffidills. I also have some wood hyacinths and tiger lillies that have mostly survived. Since you've already purchased them I would probably get some attractive pots and plant them in containers.

To keep the bunnies out of my veggie garden I got some plastic mesh screening and wrapped the raised beds with it - not bad for a veggie bed but not attractive for flowers, I don't think, and they wouldn't help with the moles and voles that can slip underneath.

[milee]

Sept 2, 2014 16:40:44 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Get some maloridite. It's human waste from Wisconsin. Smells awful but its good fertilizer and it protects your stuff.

It should be called maloridite (or malodorite!) but I'm pretty sure it's Milorganite.

[zibazinski]

You're right. Brain is on overload. Thank you.

[Malarky]

Sept 2, 2014 9:23:31 GMT -5 swamp said:

I have extra deer, squirrels, rabbits, skunks, foxes, Turkey, ans raccoons

Thanksgiving is coming.  I could use two turkeys.  One for the dinner, the other for the freezer.

[haapai]

I talked with a neighbor this morning.  She was of the opinion that voles (or maybe moles, my hearing is phhht these days) are doing most of the damage.  She suggested either

• sticking 'em in a pot
  
• throwing lime on the lawn in an attempt to completely change the pH of the soil and eliminate the grubs that are attracting the digging varmits.

<sigh> I think I'll break out the tinsnips and give bulb cages a whirl.  It feels a little over-engineered but I've never been very happy with my container-gardening attempts. 

[973beachbum]

Sept 3, 2014 13:32:52 GMT -5 haapai said:

I talked with a neighbor this morning.  She was of the opinion that voles (or maybe moles, my hearing is phhht these days) are doing most of the damage.  She suggested either

• sticking 'em in a pot
  
• throwing lime on the lawn in an attempt to completely change the pH of the soil and eliminate the grubs that are attracting the digging varmits.

<sigh> I think I'll break out the tinsnips and give bulb cages a whirl.  It feels a little over-engineered but I've never been very happy with my container-gardening attempts. 

Voles actually make more sense.  They are also underground but I could totally see them going after your bulbs. 

The ones around here look like small mice but stay mostly underground in little tunnels.  I can't imagine building a cage with holes small enough though that they couldn't get through.  they can squish their bodies pretty good. 

[haapai]

I'm pretty sure that I have both.  I've seen dead moles and live voles on my walks.  According to my neighbor, even narcissus don't survive for more than a year or two.

I'd like to point out that having all of your bulbs eaten does something to a Midwestern neighborhood.  Think about it, you have to plunk them into the ground six months in advance and they are supposed to be easy and last forever.  When they don't come up, you really begin to doubt your gardening skill and consequently ignore your yard until the grass needs mowing. 

I think that I'll divide my bulbs into caged and uncaged batches and see if it makes any difference.