Gardening and Animals: They Don't Always Mix

Author: Keith Muraoka
Published on: Sep 16, 1999

Hell hath no fury as a gardener whose newly planted seedlings have been ravaged by a neighbor's dog.

I must admit that some of the most heated discussions I've ever witnessed on the Internet have come from garden-related newsgroups And, more than once, the biggest arguement ensued after a newcomer posted that burning question: "What do I do to keep dogs/cats/deer (whatever) from digging/crapping/destroying/eating my garden?

Yeah, I know it's an innocent question. But gardeners and animals don't always mix in the garden. For instance, the precise things that make a garden most successful are the very things that attract Mugsy's attention. namely, soft dirt is wonderful for digging; organic fertilizer is smelly and wonderful for rolling in; and compost heaps are full of lovely, disgusting, rotting treats.

While perusing a newsgroup recently, I ran across a guy who was on the other side of the dog/cat/deer-in-the-garden argument. It seems his dog had entered a nieghbors' rose garden during planting time and uprooted every one of the bare-root roses. Then it happened again. But this time, he caught his dog in the act. In fact, they guy ran all over his yard, chasing his dog and trying to wrestle what he thought was bare-root stock from his dog's mouth. He finally caught the malodorus offender and pried open its mouth. It was then that his fingers slipped through rotten fish flesh and maggots mixed with dog spit. It seems that his neighbors had left out the important fact that they placed a large dead fish underneath each new planting hole! The guy blamed his neighbors for enticing his dog with the smelly fish.

The moral of this story? There is none, but I thought it was funny (and true). The fact of the matter is, there isn't much you can do if a neighbor's dog or cat begins to use your garden for their bathroom. Of course, your first inclination may be to get in the neighbor's face. But if you have a Mom like mine, you can already hear her voice: "There're few things in life more valuable than good neighbors."

So what to do? The obvious answer is to build a fence. But that's not only expensive, but everyone doesn't want a fence in their front yard. It tends to wreck some of the aesthetics. How about bringing on coyotes? Believe it or not, there's a business that sells coyote and wolf urine. They say dogs, cats, deer and other animals won't go near the stuff because they think coyotes and wolves are nearby. Hey, at least it sounds reasonable.

Predator, Co., in Maine sells coyote and wolf urine for $10.99 in 8-ounce bottles. Don't ask me how they collect the stuff! That has to be one of the toughest jobs in the world. Also available are something called "scent darts." These are foam darts that you apparently dip into the urine and space around 12 feet apart in the garden. Predator maintains they'll be effective for 30 days. The scent darts run $2.99 for a 6-pack. For information, call 1-800-218-1749.

Desperate times call for desperate measures -- at least when it comes to deterring animals from your garden!

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