Yeah, I was thinking about this post and wanting to update all you fans of ground cayenne pepper to deter squirrels from digging into hosta in pots. Or in the ground as well I suppose.

And I was trying to get the cayenne into a big ground cheese or pepper shaker. Uh! very hard to do, and then so is it hard to keep it shaking, baby. It clogs up. I then realized that ground up cayenne peppers are not the same as powdered cayenne when it comes to shaking on flower pots which tend to be WET.

It is a powdered form that I have. Powdered things cake up, etc. Ground things do not, they are like corn meal ground up and coarse. Easier to shake out of a shaker. I had a DUHHH moment.

I had left from my brief but happy relationship with 5 little Black Star poulets who required a dusting of the feathers with a hand cranked dust dispenser, and by jove, I had one of those. I might even concede to taking a bow with this idea, because there are so many ways to sustain injury one way or another when handling 90,000 unit heat cayenne pepper. I think it singed my lashes, and stray nose hairs....Well, that was okay but really watch the eyes.

With the chicken duster crank model, I never got their dust in my lungs or nose, so I figure this is, if anything, a heavier powder than the chicken dust, and will not be a problem. Accidentally touching my eyes? That is the problem. :).

But the moment I realized this would really work? That was the priceless moment. If anyone has this sort of dust spreader, I know it will be a boon to the pepper duster folks...like myself.