Gophers, Squirrels and Insects. Oh my.

Those are the three things we're dealing with right now here at the homestead.  Some of my crops, namely my eggplant and basil, are under siege from a mystery bug that is chewing holes in their leaves.  Later in the growing season, a bit of munching won't hurt much, as the plants are bigger, but while they are small, being significantly defoliated will kill them.  So tonight I will head outside with a sprayer full of Bt (a natural insecticide) and see if I can bring things on that end to a halt.

I am also dealing with a significant gopher explosion, which is making holes everywhere, which are dangerous should you accidentally step in one and break an ankle.  And while they have not yet found the juicy potato crop I have planted, if I leave them be, they surely will. So Big Ag is bringing home some aluminum phosphide, an extremely lethal gas which you put down and gopher hole and which does the trick, quickly.  It has the advantage of killing the pest while NOT making its carcass poisonous, so if any gophers do make it above ground before dying and are eaten by something, the chemical will NOT harm the second animal.  That's important here, because we not only have dogs and cats, but also see turkey vultures, coyotes, crows and eagles regularly, which feed on carrion.

The squirrels are another story.  They don't hurt much, but will be a nuisance once our trees are fruiting, possibly ruining a fair portion of our crop by tasting a bite here and another there...on every single piece of fruit as it ripens! At least that's what happened last year. They will be humanely trapped using a Havahart trap and relocated in a wilderness section of Big Ag's ranch.  

Different pests, different solutions.  I hate the killing solutions, but sometimes that's all that's available and all that works.  This is one aspect of farming where growing in a suburban back yard is much easier than on acreage...it is always possible to discourage and redirect pests from a small area. I've used ultrasonic devices with great success, and of course trapping and relocating as well.

But down the hill, it's a different story.  A country story, which seems, by nature to be tougher and harder all the way around.  But these are the issues you deal with when you choose acreage I guess.