And you can NOT plant enough for them all. They will call up their friends for the midnight picnic.

Lol- yeah, we’ll coexist when I see those critters weeding the garden lol.

Cucumbers might be more enticing - at least woodchucks can't resist! "Coexist" is a bumper sticker, not a garden strategy!

HOLY SHEET! I just realized this is a new vid. HEEEEE"S BAAAAAaaaaack!

looks like you've been having a tough year here and there. I have myself, rats crawling up my tomato branches and taking bites out of at least half of my tomatoes, and for the first time in 3 years, japanese beetles are attacking my moscato grape bunches... and I agree with you, we don't put hours and days of work into all of this to feed the local animals, we deserve the fruit of our labor

Can gardeners, gardens, and critters co-exist ? Yes, you eat my garden - I eat you !!! Otherwise, I eat my garden, and you come by - and I eat you too !!! Otherwise, I'll bait/lure/trap you, then you can co-exist in a rabbit hutch, get fed - and I eat you !!! And if there are any 2-legged critters (wandering around) with beards and long hair - then I won't eat you - butt-guaranteed (!) those scorpion peppers I grow will be a pasty Klingon around Uranus - and you won't ever come around again !

Maybe an electric fence wire or cages for your watermelons?

Ongoing battle, for sure. Trouble is, it's not just a nibble here and there.....usually, the garden is lost. Who would think you need an impenetrable compound to grow your food?

Critters will find a way in, no doubt.

Exactly Bobby, you gotta eat to

As the saying goes "Plant 3 of everything 2 for them and one for you". The problem is "they" take it all.

the squirrels already ate half the apples off the tree this year already. the return of the caddyshacker.

You are my hero! Do what you have to do to get ride of pest and don't worry about the naysayers. I'm behind you 100%. I run a market garden here in Virginia as well, so I have the same problems with night robbers also. keep up the good work.

It's almost as if the garden is a microcosm and the raccoons are a metaphor. That's why I love this channel.

Once the critters start eating my crops, my heart hardens against them! Klaus

open can of sardines in the trap will be unresistable

Heck yes. Anyone who tells you different, just say, oh well gotta keep the species "under control". Love you guys. Bev

I'm with you. When they start 'encroaching' into your garden, you gotta do what you gotta do; especially when your depending on that garden for your family's livelihood.

I know what you mean Bobby! Rats is after my matters, I had to set traps in the garden! Get em Bobby!

Compost them critters the best way they can help I've found..

I agree with you. Good to see you, I still miss your friend The Cajon Gardner.

Our Newfoundland did his best to chase all the varmints out of our garden. Unfortunately, at 160 lbs, his turning radius and girth are too large and he destroyed everything in the process. He did catch the rabbits and squirrels, but the garden was a total loss. Back to the drawing board.

Man that sucks ! I been there several times . Your own animals can do number on things as well .

Deer ate all of my corn and rabbits ate my cabbage. Boy that would’ve been a nice stew if I could’ve caught them

It's great to see you back! Thanks!

Forget that live trap and use a kill trap.

Welcome back, love your videos man!

All that hard work and in a matter of minutes its destroyed.

I Agree, until they help plant and care for the garden it is off limits to them.

A day in the life of a Grower. 🌱 Thanks for sharing.

critters can make good meals too.

Hey so glad to see you back, I agree there is a time and place for everything, and critters in the garden is not the right time or place.

young man we have not seen you in years, where have you been

I totally feel your pain. Up North here, it's a constant battle with woodchucks, squirrels and chipmunks. I'm sick of catching the stupid things. Thought woodchuck number 3 was going to be it, until I surprised one munching away at the beans this morning. The thing that gets me is why cant they just fill up and finish what they start. Why the hell do they insist on taking a bite out of every fruit they see and ruin the whole lot. I quickly went from coexisting to efficient at taking them out! Thankfully the 3 hawks that moved into the area are helping! I'm glad to see you posting again. You were a huge asset when setting up the hydroponic greenhouse. I know you have helped many others along the way as well. Much appreciated!

great to see your back. love the new ending. i see you caught the fig bug :)

Nice...found ur channel while surfing u tube..decided ta give the hydro a try...theyre just now popping...thanks for ur time n effort...God bless

I know this feeling - I had planted 300 ft of one of our fields with four rows each of peas & green beans. They were growing beautifully - went out with my husband after a weekend trip and found the damned deer had themselves a smorgasbord! Their hoof prints went right up the rows on one side and back down the other, they chomped off the tops of my crops! I bought tulle/mosquito netting and covered all my lower crops that year

Sure am glad you are back! I face the same problems.. Caught two raccoons already... Looking forward to seeing some hydronic videos.

Great to see new videos from you

Always good to hear from you, depending on your area a little 22 cal pressure should be enough to put them back in the woods and out of the garden.

Mice are eating my tomatoes. Grr

22. My favorite number for those varmits

Amen! They are building four new subdivisions around me and the field mice and rats have taken to my tomatoes. They struggle is real my friend. Ain’t no critter helped me amend the soil or weed the garden!

I live in the middle of a city. I had a opossum who really enjoyed Dahlias, the whole plant. He would eat flowers and, when there were no flowers, he would go for the tubers. I gave him a light spanking with a bamboo stake and scolded him a little bit. He hasn't been back since.

I have seen racoons get caught in those traps and another racoon will help them get out of the trap. No lie I have seen it on a game camera not every time but it does happen...

I would "relocate" the vandals into a compost pile.

Amen to that!!!!

Glad you’re back. I consider you one the most honest and realistic gardeners around. The loss of Donald is great.

Those people who talk about coexisting with animals have probably never raised a garden. They don’t know the hard work it takes to raise those fruits and vegetables . 🥵 We quit planting corn due to the raccoons. They have been a real problem the last couple of years. My husband had to put an electric fence around our chicken coop. Good luck with your trap.

Friend had melons like that before,but it was coyotes. They would open one up and drink what they could, then go to another. Alot of damage. Glad your back bro,sorry for the loss.

Idea: instead of trying to put the critters into the cage, put the melons in the cage. Pin the basket cage down with tent hooks and hopefully that’ll do the trick.

Your logic is why I watch! 😎

Lost 1700 squash transplants to deer just the other night. I went from coexist to all out war !

Around here, The Trap Plan is every bit as real and important as The Fertility Plan and The Seeding Plan and the Harvest Schedule and The Watering Schedule. Forget the live traps. Conibear 110 and 220 are WONDERFUL inventions. Snap traps and poison bait for the Mice, Chipmunks, Moles, Voles and other tiny vermin.

I have all kind of varmints also! ..trying to protect as much as I can ! I put bird netting draped over and around melons and winter squash. Doesn't stop them , but they don't like getting tangled up in it either !

How about giving them some mineral like copper with lead.

good luck with your critter problem

WELCOME BACK!!!!!!

Know a man had the same problem, set up a game camera and it was coyotes biting hole in his melons.

Brother you said a mouthful. I have almost half an acre of watermelon, cantaloupe, peas turnips, cucumber and even okra destroyed by critters.

WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!!! Are You Back??????? I Sure Hope So!

Amen brother. Chip in or get out!

I'm with you on that one. If they are not helping with the work they are not eating the goods.

Your comments cracked me up an excellent reply.

Co-exist with a Remington 870 and I have a great Raccoon Recipe for ya Pal.

My dog likes our tomatoes as much as me!

Good point!

Yeah! I am with you on that one.

Time to break out the big guns Bobby.

some years we just eat our veggies on the hoof... the struggle IS real

Yep, they'll take all your melons, sweet corn, and fruit RIGHT before you were going to get them. They literally ate only part of every cob of corn...every cob...a couple years ago. Whole crop ruined. Melons too. Every time right before harvest. Oh, and if you relocate them in less than 10 miles, they will find their way back! It's devastating and I feel for you. I've had to make some adjustments myself. :O)

Well said! Kind of goes with the political debate now. Tell you what, when we lived in up north, the Boss had a garden. We tended it, babied it, was doing well. We both had to travel for work, Monday - Thursday. Come home, and every tomato had a bite out of it - what to see a woman go into orbit? She was so jacked that she said, "I am closing the salad bar."

I’ve had a terrible time this year with rabbits and birds I had no trouble last year so they must be making up for it haha

Felt like they were plenty ripe? Guess we know who has the best melons in town....🤷🏾‍♂️ IDK, trying to find a silver lining here. Best wishes for the rest of the season brother....

Couldn't agree more 👍

Awesome!

I have chipmunk problems by the hundreds. They walk the plank into a bucket of floating sunflower seeds. About 4 a day.

You right we all face some setbacks, my has been few in the past 12 years just crop production has slowed in volume each year planting the same amount of feet in rows, well this year the deer found me I had 1,200' of peas that we ready to pick and some just putting on fresh blooms well Mr. Deer took care of all of that day after day he don't miss peas or blooms so I fixed him up I can't seat so he can't eat I plowed them all under will try a fall garden and maybe if he comes back I will become a deer hunter, sad to see all that gone, Joe

It's not PC now-days' to begrudge freeloaders. But, I can't argue with your logic. Blessings!

I agree 100%! If they help with the work then they can eat.

Set a couple of DP's baited with a marshmallow

I agree friend. We can coexist as long as they aint taking all the food off my table. I. Have this issue with sweet corn. I set electric fence and a live trap. Contrary to tree huger belief, animals will often multiply and over populate when man is in the neighborhood. Thinning out is a humane excersise.

Amen Bobby!

I herd that pioneers used to use the critters they were feeding to season potatoes, carrots, and onions: that way they could contribute to the indever.

I hear you .... I work too hard on the garden to share with critters. My biggest problem are feral cats using my containers and raised bed as a litter box ..... half of my melon plants were either dug up or busted off where the main stem meets the soil ..... to say the least, I'm not a happy camper. What even makes me more furious is that these vermin have some kind of ridiculous protected status in the state of Pennsylvania ... you basically have to put up with them because you can't kill them and no shelter will take them if you do trap them .... total BS in my opinion.

I agree 100%

I'd be out there at night with a red spot light mounted on my .22 Works for me. They get wise to the live traps fairly quickly

Trapped and relocated 13 squirrel's last year. I guess you could say I've learned to coexist!

Electric fence set at 4 inches hot wire and if you are on very dry soil/sand place a grounded wire one inch beside it ( or above it). Worked for me............as far as catching raccoons and possum the best bait is dry fish scented cat food. cover the cage with a burlap sack except the front 6 inches. For the deer I use the automatic movement sensing water sprayers, SOLVED that problem nicely. Cats keep the rats squirrels and voles under control. No cure for the crows yet however.

Thank you

I have a small yard so I don’t have room to share. If you have acres it’s ok to grow more for them. I only had an area of 10x20 for my corn. One morning I came out and the raccoons ate two bites out of half of my ears of corn. The next night they did the same thing. Critters can’t be reasoned with so they much go.

They love cheap hotdogs

Amen to when the deer start planting and tiling. Maybe the groundhog starts watering then we will try coexisting. Until then I will treat them like the thieves that they are!

Squirrels are my biggest problems. I've tried to coexist, no longer. Got to try and get them under control.

Canned cat food works great because it is very aromatic. Get a little can of it, and leave a tiny bit in the can. They can’t resist the smell and putting the can in the trap assures they can’t dig under to get it. Fifty four cents (38 cents if u get the cheap stuff) and it will bait the live trap for five days. Then you can happily relocate the little critters. But not near me, pls.

Listen you have to do what you jave to do. Actually your doing more than the average American family to provide and lessen your environmental impact on the world. Keep up the good fight sir.

Dinner time !!!!

All I’ve got to say is trap and relocate! Chuck

Also raccoons and possums can be VICIOUS and dangerous to you and your house pets.

Rabbits are bad around my garden, time to trsp!