My "back porch" is my kitchen, my favorite room in the house. Come on in, the coffee is fresh, and I just made a pitcher of sweet tea. The cookies will be out in a minute. I have over 40 years of recipes to share with you, along with my opinion on everything. Oh my, you are right, it is cocktail time. What can I get you? Of course I can make you a Mint Julep! Stop by anytime, something is always cooking, and the back door is never locked.

Bon Appetit, Y'all





Thursday, March 25, 2010

More Critter Control- Snakes and Skunks

I have never had a problem with snakes. Good thing, because I probably would have moved back to town.

There are only four poisonous snakes in the United States. These are the rattlesnake, copperhead, coral snake and the water moccasin. Snakes are one of the best controllers of rodents and should be tolerated unless you have the poisonous type on your property. In that case call Animal Control. If you don't know what kind you have just call and say it looks like one of the above mentioned poisonous snakes or they will not even bother to come.

Repellants Don't Repel
There are no snake repellants that have been tried that will work to keep snakes away from your property. A number have been tried commercially and they end up killing the snakes. I'm not into killing anything, except maybe a fly or a spider.

If you have a snake in your basement or signs of one, such as a snake skin. They will eventually move on when the food supply runs out. Unless of course the house has been built around the snake and all escape routes have been sealed off. Now we're back to Animal Control or a big brave man who will move that little critter outside.

Out Smelling a Skunk
I have used this since shortly after moving back to the country after having one of my sweet doggies sprayed by a skunk. Everyone has a remedy for getting rid or the smell on your dog, but no one could tell me how to keep it from happening in the first place. Until now.

If you take some old clothes that have been worn and not washed and pour some household ammonia on them then leave them out where you expect the skunk to enter the yard or garden. Right, like they are going to send me a text before they get here. I put this in all four corners of the yard. This will repel them and they will never come back. I have a huge yard and have actually seen skunks go around my yard, but never back in it. Skunks will remember the smell of ammonia and rarely come back to a location where they smelled the order.

I do pour more ammonia on the clothing every few months in case they have friends that haven't been there before.

1 comment:

  1. I'll have to remember this skunk stuff ... what if the dog gets sprayed? That old tomato juice routine DOES NOT work!

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