This is getting unbelievable! Since the last article about groundhogs a few days ago I have trapped and relocated the following critters:

• 1 Groundhog (diseased — disposed of see below)
• 3 Raccoons!

Trapping 5 animals seems like a lot of activity so early in the year. I’m wondering if it is a sign of things to come…

Usually the animals appear to be in very good health, but the groundhog I caught yesterday definitely had some issues. About half of her hair was missing due to some sort of mange or something on her rear and tail. It looked she had undergone a groundhog bikini wax that went a little too far. (Brings up a disturbing visual doesn’t it?)

EDIT: Because I wasn’t sure what was wrong with this particular animal I made the decision to dispose of it rather than potentially spread disease or have the animal suffer from whatever was wrong with it. I want to thank the reader who pointed out that I had not made this clear in the original article.

Seeing a diseased animal so close to the house concerns me. As mentioned in the comments I’m redoubling my efforts in that particular area to assess the health of the rest of the groundhogs. I’m also going to ask my local Veterinarian about what sort of diseases, if any, could potentially be transferred to myself or to Zoe my German Shepherd.

The Havehart traps are getting a bit beat up. One has ceased to function. Another is almost not working. Both are in the workshop awaiting a quick adjustment.

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

Varmint Season is in Full Swing — Update

My theory that the early gardener gets the groundhog has paid off — look what was in the live trap this morning! Hello Mr. Groundhog! This healthy specimen was released where he won’t bother anyone.

Groundhog Problems

For the past couple years there has been somewhat of a groundhog problem at Meadowwood (Meadowwood is the entire property, Meadowwood Garden is just the vegetable garden…). One or more families have taken up residence in the woods next to the house. There are several holes under the shed there, and just last week I found a large colony of holes further down the treeline.

Two years ago one enterprising fellow even dug a hole under the back deck directly at the back door! And late last year another hole appeared under the front porch. Basically these little furry creatures are getting a little too close for comfort!

I’ve been asked why I don’t just let the little critters live wherever they want. A couple reasons come to mind: property damage and disease. A good example of the former is the hole I found under the front porch. As rain enters this hole it will erode the den and eventually could lead to a collapse of my entire front porch! Same with the holes under the shed.

As for disease, I’m mostly concerned about rabies or diseases Zoe can contract from feces, such as heartworms. Last year a groundhog ran straight at me! A couple that I’ve trapped were mangy and looked very unhealthy, so one never knows what they could be a carrier for.

The Plan this Year

One of the problems with groundhogs is where there are one, there are many! They are very fertile and have large litters. Once the babies grow up they tend to move to an area close by and dig their own burrows. This leads to more damage, etc.

Over the past two years I have trapped about 15 groundhogs total (and about as many raccoons — which are another story!). In spite of my efforts they keep getting closer and closer to the house — and that is simply not an acceptable place for them to be. So this year I decided to trap early, and trap often. My idea is to trap as many as possible just as they wake up from winter hibernation and before they have a chance to breed.

How to Trap Groundhogs

This has turned out to be the easy part. I purchased a live trap a couple years ago — they are made of wire and are easy to set up (you can see it in the photo above). Turns out groundhogs like apples, so for bait I buy old apples from the grocery store. Cut the apple in half, place it in the trap, put the trap next to a hole and usually the next morning you will have something in it.

As the season wears on they seem to become wary of the traps. When that happens I stop placing them for a week or so and often as soon as I start up again I will get one or two.

At some point I want to write-up a more extensive post about how to control these furry fellows. Until then I will keep everyone updated as to my eradication efforts!

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

First Groundhog of the Season

Bad news on the Pest front.  Apparently Meadowwood Garden is now hosting some very healthy populations of Striped Cucumber Beetle and Squash Bug.  These bugs cause major devistation in a very short period to the plants they infect. You can see the resulting damage in the photo below.

Wilted Zucchini Plant

That Zucchini plant appeared to be perfectly healthy 3 days ago.  Literally within 48 hours the leaves turned yellowish and wilted to the ground.  The same thing has happened to 6 other Zucchini plants and 1 Honeydew Melon vine so far.

Striped Cucumber Beetle

The Striped Cucumber Beetles are small with yellow and black stripes on their back.  They have definitely been seen crawling on various vines in the garden over the past week or so.  The insidious thing about these beetles is that they are the host for a Bacterial Wilt that causes the plants to die — in addition to the other damage they cause.  There is no cure for the bacterial Wilt — once plants are infected they need to be destroyed.  According to my research it seems like the only reliable control is applications of Sevin.  In order to get a jump on these for next year it looks like further research is necessary.

Mating Squash Bugs

Squash Bugs are BIG and UGLY!  They are almost an inch long!  They seem to target adult plants and a secretion in their saliva causes the plants to wilt and die over time.  I have seen many of the egg clusters on the undersides of leaves throughout the garden, so my guess is that Squash bugs are responsible for the majority of the damage.

Egg Cluster

Unfortunately there is little one can do organically to control them.  Apparently if you place a board on the ground next to the plants the adults will cluster under it and can be squashed (pun intended) in the mornings.  Removal of the eggs will probably help, but there are so may plant leaves to check it seems like an impossible task.

Even pesticides don’t work on these suckers!  I read that Sevin will kill the nymphs but the adults are difficult to kill this way.

With both pests early detection is a key to control.  Unfortunately this is my first year gardening so I didn’t know what to look for and the result is lost plants, with more likely to be lost in the coming days.

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

Zucchini Wilt

The best way I have found to control Japanese Beetles non-chemically is: Half-fill a cup or small jar with water and add a few squirts of dishwashing liquid (I use Dawn). At the beginning and end of each day walk slowly through the garden and brush the Japanese Beetles off the plants and into the water (or pick them off and throw them in — they don’t bite). As I’m doing this I inspect the plants for any insect damage, new fruits, etc.

For alternative Japanese Beetle control solutions please see the box to the right.

Japanese Beetle on Brandywine Tomato Plant

That is it! There is no magic trick and this isn’t rocket science. It just takes a little effort on your part and you can probably keep damage to a minimum. So if you came here looking for a solution to the Japanese Beetles that are mating and feasting on your vegetables there it is — now scoot and get to drowning them!

If you are interested in learning more Japanese Beetle Information please continue reading:

In my Zone 5b area of Ohio Japanese Beetles begin their invasion in June and it lasts until about August or so. Every year is a little different. What isn’t different no matter where you live is that Japanese Beetles are very destructive and are difficult to control. Oh, and they LOVE vegetable plants…

A nice summary of information about Japanese Beetles can be found in this Wikipedia entry. The rest of this page will contain some of my own observations, and hopefully over time those of others who stumble here.

Detection: There are 2 easy ways to detect when the Japanese Beetles begin invading your garden. The easiest way is just to look around and see them sunning themselves on leaves. Fortunately they are quite large and their coloration stands out very well against the green backdrop of the plants. They are usually at or very near the top of the plant. After a while you can even spot them as they clumsily fly around from plant to plant — or more often than not you can hear their distinct low-pitched buzzing as they fly.

Japanese Beetles Mating and Eating Leaf

The second way to tell if you are being invaded is by looking for their distinct damage pattern they leave after eating a plant. They eat the “meaty” part of the leaf, but leave the stem and veins intact. It kinda reminds me of what a plant’s skeleton might look like. And they begin eating at the top of a plant and work down, so the damage is usually easy to spot.

The Japanese Beetles in MY garden seem to especially like Green Beans, Eggplant and Yellow Marigolds. However, they must not be too picky because I have found them on literally every type of vegetable plant in the garden!

Control: Because Japanese Beetles can fly long distances it is just about impossible to completely eliminate or control them. What I try to do personally is just minimize my losses. As mentioned at the top of this page the most effective non-chemical means I have found to keep the population in check is to manually pick and drown them.

A few notes about picking them are in order. They DO fly so you have to be a little quick. BUT they fly VERY slowly and clumsily so you don’t need to be a speed freak or anything to effectively capture them. If you put the cup of water in front of them they often fly right into it — which can be quite satisfying! They also kind of cling to your fingers when you pick them up. They don’t bite or hurt you at all, but their legs seem a little sticky or something, so at times you need to literally wipe them off against the edge of the container.

One funny thing you will notice is when you get near a Japanese Beetle is it will raise 2 of it’s hind legs up into the air. It is probably some sort of threat move meant to drive away potential predators. But every time I see it I crack up because it looks like they want to box you with their little legs… Yes, maybe I spend a little too much time in the garden with these Japanese Beetles… At any rate, when they display this “threat” move I often just pick up the beetle by one of the legs it conveniently raised up for me and plop it right into the water!

A little internet research reveals why dishwashing detergent and water is so effective at killing these suckers. Apparently bugs breath through their bodies! The dishwashing detergent coats their skin with a film that prevents them from “breathing,” thus quickly suffocating them. Who knew?

If you just want to chemically control them Sevin will do the trick. I tried it once and it killed every insect in my garden for days, so it is quite effective! Having said that, I won’t be using it or any other pesticides or herbicides in my vegetable garden ever again for 2 reasons: I have to assume that whatever I put on my plants ends up in my body when I eat those plants, and if a chemical is deadly to a bug how can I be 100% sure it is safe for me? Also I wonder how a pesticide that works on over 100 pests can distinguish between a bad bug and a good bug — like a ladybug perhaps? Or a bee? Food for thought isn’t it?

The Bt and Milky Spore options of controlling Japanese Beetles interest me but there really isn’t a ton of information about them out there that I can find. And in the back of my mind there is always this thought that no matter what I do on my property to control them, if my neighbors don’t do the same thing then a Japanese Beetle can just fly over from their property and I am stuck picking them off by hand again. Just like I am doing now.

If anyone would like to add any information please enter it into the comments below. I’m especially interested in posting a photo of a plant skeleton so everyone can see what the damage looks like.

Post from: Meadowwood Garden © 2010 All Rights Reserved.

Japanese Beetle Information