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chere_gw

Wild Turkeys digging up my iris

chere
15 years ago

Ok I just planted some new iris and will be planting more but the wild turkeys keep scratching them up. We have a flock of about 15 that come by every day. They roast in our cedars out back. I didn't have this problem before but we lost our dog two years ago in a snow storm. We had a cat that use to eat the baby turkeys but I thing something got her. My husband thinks the turkeys took revenge on her for eating their babies. I don't want to hurt them (because they do eat bugs) but I also want my iris to be happy. I am going to get some REPELS-ALL. Will this work on turkeys? I just hope the wild pigs don't migrate up here. Any one want a free turkey for Thanksgiving?

Thank you,

Chere

Comments (10)

  • gmason
    15 years ago

    And you don't want to get another dog?

  • thurston
    15 years ago

    Could you dig them a spot between their roosting area and your flower beds? I assume they are scratching for food and you provided a nice freshly dug area for them to dig in. Maybe seed it with corn for a while until your iris bed isn't new anymore.

  • blissfulgarden
    15 years ago

    Thanks, I would LOVE a free Thanksgiving turkey (insert evil grin here... LOL!!!!). This is probably off the beaten path as an idea, but I was thinking about what might discourage them from habiting the area without causing too much harm. What about liberally seeding your iris bed with set mousetraps? They are inexpensive and after the turkeys step on a few and set them off, they might be shocked enough to stay away from the garden, at least for a bit. Crazy?

  • carlos42180
    15 years ago

    That's not crazy! I was actually considering littering my iris rows with mouse traps and having visions of nice, busy squirrel tails setting off the traps, followed by a nice and long domino-effect until I see the squirrel skimping away with traps as japanese sandals. However, I bought something similiar to that repels-all that seems to be doing the trick. My evil vision will have to wait until next time.

    Carlos

  • blissfulgarden
    15 years ago

    LOL, love the visual I just got of squirrels in little Japanese sandals! Okay, so Chere, tell us if we should send kimonos for the turkeys... ;-)

    Carlos, what product did you use for the squirrels. Cayenne was working very well to keep our squirrels away, but I would love to find something that was a little more hardy. With the rain we've been having (and now with Gustav dropping in to say hello), I'm out there daily with the spice containers!

  • chere
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I got some Repels All and put around them and I also got some garden staples to hold them down so the deer won't knock them over when they walk through the bed. I will take these off when their roots grow. I hope the Repels All keep the other things away too. I have squirrels and gophers. The squirrels haven't bothered them yet (too many pine nuts for them to eat I guess)but the gopher ate two of my older iris. Came right through the wire my husband laid down. I'll let you know how it goes. I will be getting more iris later. I am planning on lining the outside of my fenced garden area with them. I am going to lay down smaller sized chicken wire and then put the garden mix I order by the truck load right on top of it. I will lay soaker hoses out because you have to water iris here in California to get them to bloom. Especial now when we are in a drought. I love el nino years here because I get the best Iris blooms then and they stay around longer.

  • irisqueen217
    15 years ago

    I've been using the repels all.. I love it!!! :)

  • blissfulgarden
    15 years ago

    After all these recommendations, I'll have to give repels all a try too... but after two hurricanes in two weeks down here, I can't say I'm a big fan of el nino years! =P

  • chere
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    This wasn't an el nino year for us. It was a drought year. El nino year is when we get a lot of rain and we got below average.this year. During el nino years we get rain in June.which is not typical for California. We only get about three to four months of rain and then no rain for the rest of the year.

  • blissfulgarden
    15 years ago

    Ah... I wondered after I posted that comment if this was one. We've just adopted the Farmer's Almanac phrase of "Crazy 8's" for the weather down here this year. According to the Almanac, all the years ending in 8 historically to have extreme weather all over the place! Ev

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