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Critters 2, Robyn 0

Posted on July 17th, 2007 – 8:19 AM
By Robyn Dochterman

Please put your hands together for…the raccoon family circus!

GGraccoonfamily.jpg

These four masked marauders visited us last night, gorging themselves on bird seed, suet and oriole jelly, and then washing it all down with nice sweet hummingbird water. I should have chased ‘em off. They ravaged my sweet corn last year. I got exactly no ears of corn from the whole patch. But they were soooo cute. Critters 1, Robyn 0.

Remember those very uncute Colarado potato beetles I was battling earlier this season? I valiantly picked them off my nice heirloom potato leaves by hand. Once, twice, thrice. They were so oogy and I was so proud to be so organic.

Well, it’s all over now. They won. I couldn’t chase them off. They’ve decimated my potatoes. Today I watched a wasp doing something evil (I’m not sure exactly what, but I’m pretty sure it involved death) to a potato beetle larvae. It rolled it this way and that. Then bug juice squirted out. Really, I’m not making this up. I felt like the lion was getting the zebra in one of those Wild Kingdom episodes from when I was a kid. I couldn’t look away, though I really wanted to. I didn’t know whether to cheer for the ugly larvae or the hideous wasp.

I can’t spray the beetles because my honeybees forage in the garden. I’m thinking seriously about zapping the whole lot of ‘em (the potatoes) with one of those propane torches to get rid of the bugs. But I’m afraid that if I burn up or rip out the potatoes, then all those nasty bugs will just head over to Robyn’s tomato buffet and keep on eating. Critters 2, Robyn 0.

What to do, what to do? Have you ever given up on a crop entirely? How much shame is there in that?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 at 8:19 am and is filed under Critters + vermin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

9 Responses to "Critters 2, Robyn 0"

jeff says:

July 17th, 2007 at 8:36 am

The coons are currently (on a nightly basis) sharpening their teeth on my garden containers (herbs). I’ve never given up on a crop but then again I’m a first time gardener this year. I hope I don’t have to give up on a crop ever. Anyone ever had coons (or any other mammal or bird) go after tomatoes?

Connie Nelson says:

July 17th, 2007 at 10:34 am

Don’t give up, Robyn. If there are some leaves left, you may still get a few potatoes!

Robyn Dochterman says:

July 17th, 2007 at 11:03 am

Squirrels loved the tomatoes I grew on my deck last year, Jeff. They don’t bother them in the garden, though. Well, not so far.

As for the potatoes, Connie, well, I want the bugs gone more than I even want potatoes. My gross-o-meter has maxed out, I’m afraid.

MH in Lakeville says:

July 17th, 2007 at 11:40 am

We caught the culprit who has devasted my garden– a woodchuck. We knew he was nesting beneath our garden shed. He enjoyed the pond view and the abundant feast located nearby. He has wiggled through a small gap in the fence and devoured every morsel. The radish and carrot greens, basil, parsley, lettuce, swiss chard, and yes TOMATOES, even the greens on the plants. He ate at least 10 tomatoes in one night, not including the green tomatoes he took bites from and left on the vine. He has been trapped and moved off our property. The tomatoes and herbs will survive and the chard seeds have been replanted. Lettuce, radishes, etc. will wait for cooler planting weather.

debw says:

July 17th, 2007 at 12:27 pm

Robyn, have you tried the BT powder that is specific to potatoes? I had good luck as if they can’t eat they can’t reproduce and eventually they died out.
On the subject of racoons however, beware as they will eat tomatoes (green or red) will lay waste to corn, and even like cukes. The old farmers say they are thirsty so I keep a bird wash in another location so (maybe) they can tank up there. Good luck, I hope your critters are there for leisure and not lunch.

Connie Nelson says:

July 17th, 2007 at 12:43 pm

Rob, I totally get the gross-out factor. We were visiting my sister at her farm,when the neighbor stopped by. He’d put in a field of potatoes and said he was going out to “deal with” the potato bugs. Thinking it a good chance for a morning chat, I joined him. (In my PJs, of course. Coffee in hand.) I didn’t know that dealing with potato bugs meant grabbing them and their slimy babies by hand and sticking them into a cup of gasoline. After a couple hours of that, I didn’t want any breakfast. Maybe I discovered The Potato Bug Diet.

Rebecca says:

July 17th, 2007 at 4:51 pm

Robyn,
I had cucumber beetles last year that decimated my cukes, melon and yellow squash. I didn’t want to spray and tried to just pick them off by hand, but there were too many and the beetles won. It was pretty traumatic on me. To try to prevent them this year, I rotated, of course, but I have such a small yard, I wonder if moving them to a bed 12 feet away really does anything.
The second protection was to go buy some praying mantis eggs from my local nursery. I don’t think one hatched, but the other right by my cukes and melon plants did hatch- I actually saw it happen, it was so cool. The babies were about a 1/4 of an inch long, but perfect little replicas. Hundreds must have come out of that one egg.
I have yet to see a big praying mantis in my garden, since they hatched two months ago but I’ve also yet to see a cucumber beetle. At this point I’m crossing my fingers that the good bugs are alive and doing their job under the soil where I can’t see them (anyone know anything about praying mantis???) and are keeping the beetles at bay. This is just about when they all came out last year, so I’ll let you know if it worked.

Annie says:

July 17th, 2007 at 6:23 pm

I’ve had pretty good luck this year (with the exception of my potato leaves, though I did get some nice little red ones that were tasty!) I have a small miniature schnauzer who must have been a farm dog in a previous life. She keeps all non-bug related critters out of my garden.

Laura says:

July 19th, 2007 at 9:47 pm

This week the rabbit that hangs out in my yard, formerly known as Penny the cute yard pet, just finished off an entire planter full of flowers. I’m no longer fond of “Penny.”

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