THE CHILDRENS HOUR WITH LEATHERFACE - Knowing the enemy

Hi boys and girls and welcome back to the Children's Hour with your favorite cut-up, Leatherface. Well I finally found out why that durn old chain saw wouldn't run, there was an ear ring jammed in the turning mechanism again! I wonder how the heck that keeps happening, I guess it's just one of life's little mysteries...

Another of life's mysteries is how to get a bumper crop of vegetables out of the gardens we've worked in so hard when so many of mother natures critters are bound and determined to get to them first. Here is the first contender from our rogues gallery of furry - and occasionally feathered - adversaries, and a tip or two on how to deal with their ilk.

Mrs. Bunny

What is cuter than a bunny? Not many things are; they are innocuous creatures for the most

part, a welcome sign of spring,

a pleasant sight on the lawn in the morning and evening. But in the garden, well perhaps not as welcome. The stereotype of Bugs Bunny with a carrot in his paw is not far from the truth, Rabbits love carrot tops and Mrs. Bunny and her adorable brood can saw an entire carrot patch level with the ground in just a few unguarded hours.


They also like the foliage of many other garden plants, cucumber and squash vines and their leaves being right on the top of the list along with all varieties of greens.

Fortunately, and unlike most of the marauders on the list, it is not terribly difficult to deal with

bunnies. A 3' tall 1 inch poultry wire fence will defeat them. They can dig underneath but rarely will, and setting the baseboards at the bottom of the fence even a few inches into the ground will discourage even the most enterprising carrot lover. 

Ignore the various sprays, scents, live traps etc. that are available, you will need a fence anyway, and a well maintained fence will keep a sorrowful Mrs. Bunny on the outside, looking in.

Yes Kids, rabbits are one of the few garden pests that we can happily co-exist with, because they are so easy to deflect. But be sure to stop back for the next edition of The Children's Hour when we encounter a totally different kind of adversary in the form of Chuck the Destructor...

As always, thanks for stopping by!

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Before you go why not visit with Amycita, who gives us some of the soundest gardening advice that I can remember: http://www.firefliesandtunacans.blogspot.com/2011/03/never-impale-your-foot-on-garden-rake.html, or with Mandy at Mandy's Pages, a breath of fresh air for all of us who write or aspire to do so: http://www.mandys-pages.com/