I'm thinking seriously about creating a garden RR in the "back 40". The front 40 is for goats and dogs. Where I live I have to worry about groundhogs, rabbits and especially deer.
I have some ideas but I'd like to hear ya'lls thoughts on the matter.
Thanks!
Put it in a rock garden without plants? ...with luck, and nothing to eat and too hard to burrow they will leave it alone????......
Another option is electric fence...one strand 6" one a 12" and one at about 3'...and doors on all your tunnels (EBT had roll down doors on several of their, so it IS prototypical) I keep reading that bunnies don't like Marigolds, but then I've heard of them eating them too.
We have plenty of ponds on our mountain here so I think I might be able to get away with some water features. Keeping a minimum of real plants is a good idea. An 8' high fence is probably a good idea too.
We get a lot of lighting strikes here too would the RR attract lightning more than the surrounding area?
dbt1949 wrote: We get a lot of lighting strikes here too would the RR attract lightning more than the surrounding area?
Read the article in GR about that I believe.....TREES ???....an Grounding rods...
Rene, can you help point'em into the right page/issue ???
Byron
PS: I live in a MH park named Sherwood Forest, in the capital of lightning, central Flow-ree-dah. Got permission to cut ones all down around me.....
I live in Hogeye Arkansas. Not downtown tho, out in the suburbs. On top of a mountain.
Yes, it's a real place southwest of Fayetteville.
Have fun with your trains
vsmith wrote:
Wimp.
Now that is the ticket!
Toadster
Depending on the types of critters this mite help:
http://www.rodenator.com/videos.htm
I would love to get one !
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ROFLMAO! That was great.....need one for ants.
I think that the Rodenator would do too much damage to a layout. For me, John Browning is the only way.
Paul
If I were building an outdoor layout open to deer, moose, bears, mountain lions and so on, I would use the natural existing vegetation already there. The animals would naturally keep it nice and trim. I may be in the minority on this one.
BTW, like many, I live in the middle of fenced suburbs where deer would have to jump many 6 foot tall fences to get to my yard. They never do. I also have a beagle who will greet and eat any small critters in her territory.
ALSO, here kitty-kitty-kitty....
Byron C.
That Rodenator film is good for the soul of all who have fought the mole.
Now how do I get the railroad track out of the eavestrough of the house?
In warm weather, the fire ants here love to use the track as their freeway. They don't respond to warning bells or whistles, but #1 rounding the curve with the "Severely Limited" is much faster than they are! More sand for traction; seems to be something on the track! Don't stay in one place too long laughing, though, or their little cousins will be on your ankles.
Bill
I've seen deer jump a 6' fence from a standstill and groundhog can dig 6-8' deep. I can put up another layer of cattle panel to make the fence 8' high. The Rodenator would be good for groundhogs but our mountain is full of natural gas. My wife's previous husband was a driller and they tried drilling a water well and found out about the natural gas. I think it would amount to a Mt Vesuvius if I used a Rodenator.
Looks like my best best is to go with artificial plants or plants that the critters don't like.
Simular situation here. The MM&G has been up for 4 years now and until this winter I have had no damage from critters. I say this winter because I see a dear steped on one of my sections of track and bent it a little. Not enough to change it out though.
I have planted a lot of cactus around and that seems to keep dogs, cats and rabbits away.
M. Gilger - President and Chief Engineer MM&G web
Web Site: http://mmg-garden-rr.webs.com/
Howdy,
My 2 foot tall bug eyed owl keeps away the squirrels...
zak
you can kinda see him lurking in the background there...I have to move him once in a while to keep the vermin on their toes.....
Keep On Railroad'n..............
We have a low 2 to 3 foot tall fence around most of the yard that has kept the deer and most of the small animals away for the past 2 years. I think their side of the fence has more tasty treats than the railroad. Did have a moose but he came up the driveway and in the open gate. I have kept aminals out of my tunnel with a little dose of mothballs or moth "ball" flakes. I also keep cats, mice, and so forth out of my car's engine compartment with the mothball smell (mostly a problem in the colder weather). The chipmonks love the railroad. When there are no trains they can be seen using it like a little super highway. I figure they were there before me and they will be there after I am gone...
Heres another option:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9vqLomvFjRg
dougdagrump wrote: Depending on the types of critters this mite help:http://www.rodenator.com/videos.htmI would love to get one !
Apparently these guys are in deeeeeeep dodo!
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=4cc788d9-52c4-48f3-a385-a7c2167862e6&k=5613
Vic, I seen it and thought it was fun and games untill I looked abit closer and found one hit a tree. I think if you look at the video there just wanting to have fun and games but hit a tree??
Toad
vsmith wrote: dougdagrump wrote: Depending on the types of critters this mite help:http://www.rodenator.com/videos.htmI would love to get one ! Apparently these guys are in deeeeeeep dodo!http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=4cc788d9-52c4-48f3-a385-a7c2167862e6&k=5613
"Pendergast estimates $215,000 worth of damage was done to barns, sheds and vehicles, while another $40,000 was spent to fight the fire, which began after 4 p.m."
Yeah, DEEP POOP!!!
Human activity. Keeps away most animals very nicely. Use automatic lights, it scares them at night, maybe a scarecrow (they do serve a real world purpose after all) and just keep the yard busy with people and doing things. Other than that, nothing is 100% effective for all types of animals. If you have bunnies, then owls and hawks work well, but then you need foxes for the owls and hawks, wild cats for the fox, and wolves for the wildcats, and hunters for the wolves, again full circle back to human activity. We are, at the end of any debate, an active part of the ecosystem.
The Dixie D Short Line "Lux Lucet In Tenebris Nihil Igitur Mors Est Ad Nos 2001"
I live 17 miles out in the country at the end of a mile of dirt road. .. We've had Turkeys drink out of the pool and deer eat the Indian Hawthorne potted plants off the patio!! but I built the railway in a raised bed and nothing seems to have bothered any of the plants we've put in it.....I don't know how long this will continue but between my 95 lb. Black Mouth Cur "Harley Ray" and the noise of the TV and the activity around the house all the critters seem to have pulled back.... Now when it gets real dry in the pasture, and the only green is in the yard I expect they'll be back.....
Good Luck
Mark
Not only have I seen turkeys in my back yard I've to to run off black bears from eating the roses.
One thing that I have brought on myself is feeding the deer during the winter. I'm not a hunter. Usually I get a herd of 12-15 but have seen multiple herds amounting to 40-50.
I figure I'd have to mount another cattle panels over the one I have to make a fence about 8' tall. The problem would be the smaller beasties. I guess I could put up some smaller wire. say 2"X4"X3' high to keep the other critters out (except for the moles) and then put up some kind of artifical backgound plants.
Of course I have one asset in the guise of a couple of peregrin falcons that keep the smaller critter population down.
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