Little garden happy dance * Ginger

[Guest guest]

Ginger,

I don't know what kind of " wildlife " you have in your area (re: critters

that like your garden greens), and this suggestion is, as far as I know, a

" non-cruelty " tactic. I have never tried it, as I haven't had a place for a

garden in a long time. I saw it at a friends' place where they had a lot of

wild deer and rabbits. Someone tied up small " packets " of cut-off (human) hair

using, I think it was just sections of old panty-hosiery. The " wads " of hair

were about fist-size, and she suspended them on poles around the edges of her

garden, about waist-high from the ground. (You'd put it lower, perhaps for

rabbits than for deer.)

 

The idea is that the animals smell the " human " scent on the hair and it

deters them from sneaking bites off the lettuce, beans, whatever is growing!

If you have a furry pet, perhaps the " hair of the dog " might be equally

persuasive.

 

We have 4 cats, and as they go thru the seasonal shedding, and as I

vacuum my house several times a week--with LOTS of hair to dispose of in the

vacuum container--I leave the " hair " out in the bushes around our house and

sometimes see birds diving in to get nice " fluffy stuff " to put in their nests.

I don't think the fur of our cats would scare even a small rabbit from a garden,

but my sister says her very short-haired large dog sheds a TON, and I thought

that perhaps for gardeners, the idea might be useful as a " critter deterrent " in

the garden.

 

--Laura B.