To keep out critters, learn their habits

There are ways to live
harmoniously with moles, deer and rabbits.

By KATHY VAN MULLEKOM

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — What’s worse than voles eating all the roots on your best holly bush?

Try rabbits munching pansies to the ground or deer eating all the petals off roses and azaleas.

Yum, yum, what a feast we plant for critters in the wild.

Voles, rabbits and deer are the most destructive pests in the garden. Even though a mole tunneling through your yard creates spongy ground you dislike, the critter is easier to accept and tolerate because no permanent damage is done.

Unfortunately, wildlife that used to roam endless acres of woods is now forced to contend with small tracts of trees left around sprawling neighborhoods. Learning a little about their habits and some controls that will keep them out of your prized plants goes a long way in helping everyone living harmoniously.

RABBITS

HABITS: Rabbits like to live and breed under sheltered places like sheds and decks raised above the ground. In spring, you’ll often find litters nesting in mulch under low-growing shrubs and thickets.

PLANT DAMAGE: The upper and lower teeth on rabbits make a distinctive cut on vegetation. If there are sharp cuts at 45-degree angles on plants, you have rabbits in your garden.

CONTROLS: Use a small-mesh fence — or one made with burlap like some Colonial Williamsburg gardens use — at a height of 18 inches. Stake it close to the ground or even into the soil because rabbits can crawl under it to get to plants.

You can also spray plants with a smelly deterrent called Liquid Fence.

Rabbits often chew only tender new foliage in spring. If you can protect a young plant until it gets larger, rabbits may leave it alone. A simple protection method is placing a 1-gallon container with the bottom cut out over the emerging plant until it reaches some maturity and toughness.

Kathy’s tip: Smelly compost used around pansies often deters rabbits and the compost nourishes the plant at the same time.

MOLES

HABITS: A mole is a powerful critter. One mole can dig up to 150 feet of new tunnels daily, driving you crazy because you think you have an army underground. They are most active in early mornings and late evenings and on cloudy days in fall and spring. They breed in February.

PLANT DAMAGE: Moles tunneling through your yard push up plant roots, including areas of your lawn. This can desiccate, or dry out plants, but will not directly kill them. When you see mole tunnels near or around plants, tuck any dislodged roots back in the soil and water the area thoroughly. Moles are often blamed for eating plant roots, but it’s actually voles that do that damage.

CONTOLS: Castor oil-based sprays sometimes work, especially in frequent, heavy doses — best when there’s no rainfall to dilute the applications.

There are some worm-shaped poisons on the market, but beware of using them around pets and children.

One Cooperative Extension’s only recommendation is a spring-loaded trap that spears the mole when it runs through an active tunnel.

Moles feed on worms and insects, including beneficial earthworms, so putting down an insecticide that kills worms is not recommended. Research on Milky Spore, a natural bacterial that interrupts the grub worm’s life cycle, also gets mixed reviews.

Kathy’s tip: Learn to live with them — they aerate soil. If the tunnels bother the looks of your lawn, walk around the yard, stomping down the raised tunnels. You’ll quickly get the 10,000 steps daily that health experts recommend.

DEER

HABITS: Hungry deer eat anything, even plants rated deer resistant. Prime times for deer foraging on plants in your yard include winter when woodland vegetation is sparse and early spring when plants produce tender new growth.

PLANT DAMAGE: Deer have no upper front teeth, so cuts on plants are frayed and jagged.

CONTROLS: Deer jump so any fencing needs to be 6- to 8-feet tall, preferably with a slanted top that deters their ability to leap. Some gardeners say they are successful with the black-mesh fencing that sublimely prevents deer from wandering into their yard; sometimes, rows of neighbors agree to put the fencing up so there is a blockade effect.

Smelly rotten egg-based deterrents such as Liquid Fence also work.

Kathy’s tip: Plant as many deer-resistant plants as possible, putting them on the fringes of your yard with more susceptible plants closer to your house. Deer generally avoid strong smelling plants in the mint, geranium and marigold families. Deer dislike daffodils, too. They also stay away from foxglove and plants with prickly, fuzzy or sharp leaves, as well as most ornamental grasses and ferns. Mondo grass is an excellent ground cover in a deer-trodden yard.