Mayan Home & Garden Club – May 2019

Animal and Bird Deterrents for Your Garden

 

Do you have some pesky animals (or even your own pets) that you need to keep out of your gardens? Deter cats, dogs, and other animals from doing their business in your vegetable or flower garden by spreading a mixture of coffee grounds and orange peels around the area of which they have become most fond. The scent tends to repel pets, thus encouraging them to do their business elsewhere. If all else fails, and you can get a hold of some, mothballs mixed in with the soil can keep the dogs from digging and other animals away.

What about BIRDS? One of the joys of the Yucatan is the great diversity of animals and birds we have. It also means that there are hundreds of types of birds that have your papayas and other fruits squarely in their sights, and they love to eat them all the day before you plan to pick them.

foil strips in papaya tree

You might have heard of hanging CDs to help deter birds, but now that CDs are on their way out, try aluminum foil. Strips of aluminum foil work very well and foil is readily available. Just cut a strip, twist it, and put it on the limbs near the fruit as soon as the fruit starts growing. You will go from having a flock of destructors to a few timid birds hanging out at a distance. Of course the most important part is that the birds won’t take our fruit!

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