Critters under the shed

[wproct]

The electric fence was my thought all along as reading this thread. The bonus is you might also actually get a chance to view the entertainment and get a laugh or two.

 

[contender]

Electric fencing is also an option. But it requires more maintenance and can also fail if the strands are close to the ground. He was asking about low cost options.

Ruger Accumulator,, seeing those rattlers under that shed didn't surprise me. It was Texas ya know. When those things find a good place to escape the sun & such,, they do enjoy "community living" !!!!!

Looks like a good cooking is to happen soon there.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

How could you live without you dog. My advice go to an animal shelter and find another pitty!

Would love to, miss having a dog every day. Especially coming home after a long day and being greeted by overly lovable Pit....and that is exactly where my next Pit will come from, same as my other Pits.

My Wife is a retired Animal Control Officer/Cruelty Investigator. Buster Roo was a survivor of one of her investigations. He and his brothers/sisters were abandoned on the side of a country road in dead of winter at only a few weeks old. Pups were found cuddled up to their mothers body trying to stay warm. She didn't make it. My Wife saved the others. Investigated. Found the disgusting people who were responsible. They were charged with Animal cruelty, organized dog fighting, illegal gaming, drugs, and possession of illegal firearms among many other charges. All the pups were brought to a clean bill of health at the shelter, and adopted out.

Unfortunately we have been empty nesters since my youngest left for the Navy last year. I still work 65-70 hrs/week and the Wife has another job. We just don't have the time to raise a pup or acclimate even a senior dog to our home the proper way that would be fair to the dog.

I'm counting down the days to retirement, and having another loyal American Pit Bull Terrier at my side.

 

[Jack Ryan]

We live in a rural area and the few houses on our street are surrounded by a dairy farm. We moved in earlier this year.
There is a shed at the back of the property and a barbed wire fence right behind it with a huge cow pasture. I assumed the damage was caused by groundhogs, but the other day a cow gave birth along the fence and it somehow got under the fence. The momma was making a ton of noise about it and I got the farmer over to help the calf back under the fence.
I told him I thought the damage was from groundhogs and he said it might be his dog chasing rabbits under there and trying to dig them out. So we placed a camera back there and sure enough it was his dogs digging.
We would like to put up a fence along the sides of the yard since his 2 dogs run through all the time and hunt squirrels in our yard but we just can't afford it.
I know some of you guys farm and ranch or are in pest control. Does anyone have a cheap and easy (I'm disabled) suggestion to keep critters from getting under there?

Here are a few pics:

Electric fence around the bottom of the shed. A cheap one should be plenty for that little stretch of wire around the bottom of the shed and probably just a nail in the shed should be insulator enough to wrap it on. If you can't get power out there they have solar and or even an inverter off a car battery should power it enough. You won't need it forever. It usually don't take more than once or twice an they will stay away from that wire no matter where you put it.

If even that expense is a problem then I'd ask the farmer, who's dogs are causing the problem, to borrow one for a few weeks.

May be borrow a couple live traps and get rid of what ever is hiding under there. Lettuce and cabbage is good bait for ground hog.

 

[epags]

I deal with this all the time. (I'm a state certified Animal Damage Control Agent.)

MOTH BALLS DO NOT WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

contender, the moth balls are only to chase out what is under there while he installs the fence mesh....don't want to have a critter die under the shed and stink up the place.

 

[BearBiologist]

Different scenario but we had an apiary in my study area on the edge of the NF. Put up barbed wire and the bears took it down. Same with electric fencing. If they want in, they'll get in.

 

[chui]

I have found that ground red pepper keeps mice out of my small engines, bet it will work rabbits also.

 

[MHtractorguy]

I have a couple of digging coyotes trying to get in my chicken zoo. That solar powered electric fence stopped them for sure. I also found a few snakes coming in for a snack. It's pretty quick when the whole bottom of the critter is grounded on the moist grass. BZZZZ lights out.
2 young copperheads and an unknown.

 

[BearBiologist]

Planting certain plants will keep some critters out. Red and black pepper will keep coyotes, foxes, & dogs out. Zinnias, oregano, marigolds will keep rabbits out. Do a search on the 'net when you know what you are looking at (check tracks).

 

[Joe Chartreuse]

Bearbiologist has the right idea. A chicken wire border like that will protect from just about anything up to a size, and my sheds have dealt with skunk dens, chipmunk, squirrel, groundhog, you name it- even coyote birth-den. This looks like an all purpose fix.

 

[contender]

"contender, the moth balls are only to chase out what is under there while he installs the fence mesh....don't want to have a critter die under the shed and stink up the place."

No matter what's under there,, moth balls do not work. Many are the critters that either ignore them, or just move them away from where they want to go.

I lost count years ago of how many times I've been called in AFTER someone tried using moth balls for whatever critter issue they had.

Electric fencing is very good for most things. But if plants grow into it, and ground it out,, it becomes ineffective. To keep the weeds from doing this,, requires regular maintenance. This is why the wire layer along the ground and attached to the shed is the better option.

 

[Taterman]

"contender, the moth balls are only to chase out what is under there while he installs the fence mesh....don't want to have a critter die under the shed and stink up the place."

No matter what's under there,, moth balls do not work. Many are the critters that either ignore them, or just move them away from where they want to go.

I lost count years ago of how many times I've been called in AFTER someone tried using moth balls for whatever critter issue they had.

Electric fencing is very good for most things. But if plants grow into it, and ground it out,, it becomes ineffective. To keep the weeds from doing this,, requires regular maintenance. This is why the wire layer along the ground and attached to the shed is the better option.

Thank you sir. If not moth balls, what can I use to get any critters out before sealing it up? It's been raining a lot so I have a couple days still before it's dry enough to dig and haul gravel.

 

[MHtractorguy]

A small live trap and a honey bun have been effective for me.

 

[contender]

I normally suggest a person place the wire & gravel etc on 3 sides of a shed most often used first. then, on the 4th side,, the one most exposed & least attractive to the critter,, I say to add the wire & gravel to all but one small area about 6"-12" wide. It gives the critters a way to exit,, and makes it harder for them to re-enter.
To assure all critters are out prior to closing up the one small spot,, you have a few options.
(1) Add a game camera to see if there is any activity of INCOMING critters.
(2) To the entire area except the one small opening,, add temporary vision blocking stuff. Such as black plastic, firewood, rocks etc to where the only "daylight" opening is the one spot where the critter can easily see to get out. This way, they have a safe way out,, AND if it's in a spot they don't feel safe in movement,, they don't want to return there.
(3) You can add an overlapping section of wire on the outside,, using rabbit cage clips to where they have a "door" to push against from the inside. By adding it to the outside & the door being wider & a little taller they can get out,, but if they try to get back in,, it can't be pushed inward. This,, combined with the temporary daylight blocker funnels them to that spot.

Not many chemicals or smells are truly very effective against the many potential critters that roam our homes & woods. Peppermint oils have been somewhat successful on some critters,, but not others. The same goes for citrus types of oils.

One thing a lot of people have used with reasonable success as a repellent against SOME critters is a wood treatment product designed for carpenter bees & wood insects. It's main purpose is to stop carpenter bees & other insects against boring holes into wood. But it has a citrus smell that has a little success in being a rodent deterrent. It's sold locally by a company called; logfinish.com and the name is "NBS-30." It can be mixed with water or stains and applied.

While I was typing this,, MHtractorguy mentioned live trap & honey buns. For skunks, raccoons, opossums, rats, that's effective. But since he's in NC I want to mention;

"In NC,, ANY trapping of wildlife requires either a trapping license or a Depredation permit. Even if on your own property & for animals causing problems. A NC Depredation Permit is free,, but the issuing agent must verify damage prior to issuing one. And all trapping laws must be followed. Traps properly marked with the owners name & address. Traps checked daily and any live captures must be handled according to State law. No relocation of any potential rabies vector species is allowed."

If in another state,, I STRONGLY suggest you contact your local wildlife agency prior to any trapping of any wildlife,, even if the animal(s) are causing you problems. Know the laws before you break them.

 

[nekvermont]

A small live trap and a honey bun have been effective for me.

I find it takes 2 honey buns, 1/2 for the trap bait and 1 1/2 for my own pleasure.

 

[caryc]

Thanks for the idea, I'll pick up some mothballs next time I'm in town. The chicken wire sounds like a possibility but could the rabbits dig under it? Some areas are dug out pretty deep and so the ground level is uneven.

Have you seen the critters that are under your shed? Is it rabbits or squirrels? I have two sheds like yours and rabbits do not dig under them. It's squirrels that dig under them. Trouble is that the critters are never satisfied. They just keep digging and digging resulting in piles of dirt thrown out at least a foot high around the shed.

I have 5 acres for the squirrels to live on but they keep digging under my sheds. I went on a revenge trip against the squirrels on Monday. Between Monday and Tuesday, I killed 18 squirrels. I had no idea there were so many of the critters. I use a "squirrelinator" trap to catch them and then dispatch them right in the trap with .22 cal shot shells. The squirrelinator traps work well and are available at local feed stores. Yesterday, I had three squirrels in the trap at once.

 

[MHtractorguy]

@contender Thank you for that heads up. I never checked into the laws, assuming I could protect my chickens in my yard.
I have never harmed the animals I've caught, only moved them to a happy home in the woods.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

Have you seen the critters that are under your shed? Is it rabbits or squirrels? I have two sheds like yours and rabbits do not dig under them. It's squirrels that dig under them. Trouble is that the critters are never satisfied. They just keep digging and digging resulting in piles of dirt thrown out at least a foot high around the shed.

I'm guessing you have ground squirrels being from CA.....they burrow/dig. I miss hunting them as they provided a ton of fun for long range pokes and a challenge at that since I was an east coast kid stationed in CA and was used to long range groundhog pokes.

Being the OP is from KY there probably isn't any ground squirrels....would be grey squirrels and maybe fox squirrels that are not known to burrow, they nest in trees....so rabbits may be accurate but groundhogs would make sense also.

 

[caryc]

Sorry, I don't kill anything just for the fun of killing. As I said, they have 5 acres to run around on but when they are digging under my sheds, they've go to go. I am not going to trap and release them to be someone else's problem.

 

[BearBiologist]

Sorry, I don't kill anything just for the fun of killing. As I said, they have 5 acres to run around on but when they are digging under my sheds, they've go to go. I am not going to trap and release them to be someone else's problem.

Besides, they likely will just come back. We had black bears travel250milesback toa home area. A animal control friend reported skunks and raccoons returning. One of my fellow biologists would trap the mice in the office and release them. We had several come back.

Whatever attracted them in the first place will bring them (and/or their buddies) back.