It's a sad day for my young squash seedlings. My garden is enclosed by almost a 6' tall fence, and the largest animals I've seen in my yard are a cat and an armadillo (there was a small gap under the fence that he can crawl through, but I blocked that hole with bricks a few weeks ago). My cats and I have had some beef with a neighborhood cat who has sprayed my windows (from the outside), so I figure this may have been the cat. But why???
I didn't find cat poop in the planter box. My cat did pee in the box a day ago- yes I was pissed and stopped her mid-action- so maybe the scent caused the neighborhood cat to want to dig up the box?
by pearllypie3
9 Comments
Squirrels, most likely.
This happens to all of us, nearly every year.
They are a nuisance, but they’re also easy to counteract.
You’ll want to put some sort of physical barrier down to protect seedlings as the squirrels love to dig and that soil is perfect for them.
Chicken wire can be cut into all shapes and sizes to go around your seedlings and protect things.
You can also try things like pepper spray or other rodent repellent sprays but they tend to be more temporary.
Squirrels.
Using Pine straw as mulch keeps the squirrels out for me. If I don’t have it down I’ll get pecan sprouting in my beds.
Try laying some chicken wire down above the soil. The plants can grow up through it and critters won’t bother trying to dig anymore.
Squirrels!
Friendly aerators. Squirrels or skunks.
I dont know if they like young squash plants, but fences are not a problem for raccoons.
Squirrels. Watch out for string lights too. Squirrels chewed right through a new thick string like they didn’t have a handful of other stuff to steal 🤣
This was my approach this year, hastily putting some stuff in the ground before the rain. I’ll see if it works.
[<image>](https://i.imgur.com/z7NM11E.jpeg)
[<image>](https://i.imgur.com/7y277dE.jpeg)