Critters in my mulch

[ACP]

Every night some critter is digging in the pine bark mulch around our landscape. Yesterday I spread some moth balls around and last night the activity was the worst I ever had.

Not sure what the animal is, maybe possum or raccoon.

Short of sitting out there after dark with night vision goggles and a 22 rifle and suggestions for keeping the pests away?

Thanks....

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Which of these 3 choices is the real issue?

1) The animal is seriously disrupting the mulch. B) You're just curious who it is. III) You don't want animals around.

[Jangchub]

So, I have a fox and her pups, an oppossum who digs, a skunk who comes in now and again, a resident armadillo in one of the brush piles, snakes, skinks, lizards, birds and rats. What should I do, kill every living thing so my mulch stays smooth?

Troll.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Disturbing the mulch could cause the earth to fly out of its orbit. Everyone knows that.

[Janet Baraclough]

The message from Jangchub contains these words:

An armadillo in the garden..lucky you! How cool is that.

Janet

[ACP]

1.....

[Jangchub]

Is that what is making me so dizzy!

[Jangchub]

Go to Home Depot, rent a cement mixer and buy lots of bags of cement and get rid of any signs of life that way.

[Phisherman]

We have squirrels, skinks, possums, chip monks, birds, shrews, and the most annoying skunks digging in the mulch. They seem to dig in the organic mulch and compost piles, and leave the rock mulch alone. I guess an outdoor dog would keep most of natures critters away, but I'd rather put up with nature's way than a barking dog.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Buy a rake whose tines can be adjusted to a narrow width, allowing you to work in between closely spaced plants:

it to put the mulch back in place. Or, lay chicken wire over the mulch, but be prepared to have your hands poked by the sharp edges.

[ACP]

> Use it to put the mulch back in place. Or, lay chicken wire over the

Thanks for the suggestions.

I have the tools to rake it back into place, I'm just trying to avoid the hassle.

Aesthetically I think the chicken wire would be objectionable.

[ACP]

I have a dog, but like you, I (and my neighbors) would not be able to tolerate the barking.

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

there are motion sensing water sprinklers. There MAY be other deterents but some of the fox urine/mothballs kinda suggestions have mixed reviews.

Carl

[JoeSpareBedroom]

>>> Use it to put the mulch back in place. Or, lay chicken wire over the

You can put some mulch on top of the chicken wire. Voila. Invisible. It'll rust eventually, but oh well.

[Jangchub]

It's very cool. You should see the little babies in the spring. Little miniature armadillos, so cute. They nose around eating grubs and other soil macrobes, but rarely do much damage. Occasionally they dig holes here or there, but nothing so awful I'd shoot or kill or not let them live in my pile. The fun part is when I'm weeding and the thing walks behind me and scares the crap out of me. LOL They move very slow.

[Jangchub]

Ha, speaking of that, I swear every night at ten o'clock the neighbor yellow lab barks. He barks at the oppossum who, for some reason, likes to walk on top of the fence. Talk about slow! Again, very adorable babies. We seem to attract female animals here because it's such a sanctuary with plenty of food and water. We have a huge bull frog who swims in our pool every night. We scoop him out and he jumps back in.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

He's doing laps. Why can't you leave him alone until he's done? :)

[Rick Yerke]

My cat thinks all the cypress mulch i have in my gardens is one big litter box.All i do is spread the mulch again with my foot.Rick

[Jangchub]

Actually, we have a fifty foot lap pool! This is one honking bullfrog. He makes a huge doot in the pool when he swims. I'm more concerned that he'll get trapped in the pool. I don't mind him being there.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

He gets in, swims, and leaves? WTF? He'll be a nice, clean frog if your chlorine's right.