I may chat about my books, what I'm writing or reading, or just general thoughts. You may read posts about my cats or just my crazy life in general. Comments are welcome, if anyone wants to interact with me. Maybe we can share war stories, whether it's writing related or just about life in general.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Garden Robbers



It’s impossible to grow a garden where I live because I’m too close to the desert where all the little critters live.  By that, I mean the whole desert is my backyard.  I have no neighbors behind me and the wildlife know it.

My neighbor has a nice garden, but she has houses around her and has the area fenced in to keep the rabbits out.  This doesn’t stop the gophers or the chipmunks, but they do have other places to go before they reach her house.

I don’t really have the time for a garden, but I do enjoy fresh veggies and I did try to have one for a while when we first moved here.  It became an adventure in futility.  I finally resorted to container gardening and then had to take drastic measures and wrap the containers in chicken wire.  This didn’t stop the chipmunks that wanted to eat my fresh veggies.

Chipmunks in the flower pots

Now they are cute little guys and I certainly would never do them any harm, but they’re determined and love anything green.  It’s a challenge to grow flowers and potted plants here.  With these critters thriving, I’m surprised anything alive survives.  They nibble off the green shots as soon as they appear.



Chipmunk tomato thief 
 
When the adults get too big to go after my tomatoes, they send in the little kids to bring them out where the adults are waiting just beyond the wire.  They must be more intelligent than I give them credit for, but I guess you’d have to have some kind of smarts to survive here.
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14 comments:

  1. A Daft Scots LassApril 8, 2015 at 9:30 AM

    Wee buggers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SunniApril 8, 2015 at 9:40 AM

      Scots Lass,

      The chipmunks are wee little buggers! They get into everything.

      Thanks for reading.

      Sunni

      Delete
  2. S. L. HennessyApril 8, 2015 at 9:42 AM

    The little thieves haha!

    Good luck with the 2015 A to Z Challenge!
    A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
    http://pensuasion.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SunniApril 8, 2015 at 4:18 PM

      Hi S.L.

      They are thieves. Nothing is safe around here.

      Thanks for reading.

      Sunni

      Delete
  3. Vashtiqvega43April 8, 2015 at 3:23 PM

    They certainly are cute but I could imagine how frustrating it must be for you. Maybe you should try hydroponics. Ha, ha!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SunniApril 8, 2015 at 4:21 PM

      Vashti,

      Hydroponics is a thought, but they'd probably find a way to climb the pipes and still get to the plants. They climb up the legs of the birdbath and get in there and jump from the trees to land in the bird feeders.

      Thanks for visiting.

      Sunni

      Delete
  4. CuteAsAButtonApril 8, 2015 at 10:03 PM

    I, too, live in a place infested with critters--deer, mostly. It makes gardening difficult. But I love the deer!

    http://shrinkrapped.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SunniApril 8, 2015 at 10:08 PM

      Cute,

      Thanks for commenting. These little critters are adorable, but destructive. I gave up on gardening and just hit the farmer's markets.

      Sunni

      Delete
  5. Annalisa CrawfordApril 9, 2015 at 2:21 AM

    They seem very determined creatures. It's a shame, if you enjoy gardening, though. Thanks for visiting my blog today.

    Annalisa, writing A-Z vignettes, at Wake Up, Eat, Write, Sleep

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SunniApril 9, 2015 at 9:18 AM

      Annalisa,

      I especially like my home grown tomatoes, but my neighbor has a garden so I get some things from her. She lives a few houses away from the desert, so her garden is safer.

      Thanks for reading.

      Sunni

      Delete
  6. ErraticElleApril 10, 2015 at 12:23 AM

    It's hard to balance human life with living with nature. Around here we deal with deer in the mountain areas and gophers in the low desert areas. Gardens are never safe. Elle @ Erratic Project Junkie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SunniApril 10, 2015 at 10:36 PM

      Elle,

      That's very true. I have a friend who lives at a higher elevation than me and deer get into her garden. My other neighbor had problems with gophers before. The chipmunks get to everything in my yard first.

      Sunni

      Delete
  7. Rhonda AlbomApril 10, 2015 at 12:40 AM

    We live near a regional park. We used to have bunnies in our garden but the city went and killed them all. Seriously. Now we have the birds eating the fruit from our trees.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SunniApril 10, 2015 at 10:40 PM

      Rhonda,

      That's awful for the city to kill all the rabbits. We have a lot them here too, but they run free. I hate for wildlife to bother my plants, but I'd never harm them for it. They're only trying to survive.

      Thanks for reading and leaving me a comment.

      Delete

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