Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Squirrels----Eat them
Racoons----You could eat them
Possums----I wouldn't eat them but some will
Coyotes----Live trap the possums, stake them out for Coyote bait and then Bang Bang

After you retire you'll be able to get your pest management program going!

Maybe when Terry comes over we can all get together.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Squirrels----Eat them
That is doable, can also use snare poles to catch them
Racoons----You could eat them
Raccoons carry rabies, do not touch them and sanitize the trap afterwards with bleach and sunlight
Possums----I wouldn't eat them but some will
I have never tried to eat a possum but it is an old southern dish
Coyotes----Live trap the possums, stake them out for Coyote bait and then Bang Bang
Electron recordings of animal calls to bring them in if you want to shoot them. Probably need to use a shotgun with smaller shot like bbs instead of buckshot because of the neighbors.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Around here I leave the opossums alone. As I learned from my father, they are very territorial with respect to rats and keep them at bay. They also eat few if any fruits but do a great job of reducing the number of beetle larvae in the soil. If they want to hang out in one of my citrus trees during the day its fine with me.

I also don't shoot the coyotes because we have way to many rabbits and rats in the brush that come down from the nearby open space. On the otherhand, a crackbarrel air rifle with a laser sight will nail any of these critters.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Most interesting observations.
A question about citrus, are there any common animals in northamerica that eat citrus fruit? I have only limited experience so far with citrus, but have noted no bird pecks or squirrel bites on them. What ever is on the trees says on till picked, even for months.
There are some small rodents in my region that are mainly nocturnal. In the winter we have owls that show up and year round there are foxes and hawks along with cats that are about along with snakes. I try not to kill the black snakes since their removal can leave a niche for the more dangerous water moccasin and various rattlesnakes. Possums are slow and probably destroy the nests of rats and perhaps rabbits getting the young. I have on occasion observed them on wild growing plum trees eating fruit. The local armadillos burrow a lot around here for insects. I am sure that the raccoons will take fruit also.
In a study of Chicago-Cook County coyotes fruit was a significant part of their diet. Guard dogs are the best alternative, especially if I want to have chickens since we also have foxes. I suspect that the coyotes will just stay away most of the time. The eastern coyotes are often larger than the western variety. I have seen two dead ones on the road that were certainly at least 40 lbs. There may be some dog and wolf (red wolf and eastern canadian wolf) genes involved. So they present more of a threat to dogs.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Many varieties of Citrus have a long "hold factor" on the tree: that is, after ripening they can hang there for a few months and not loose quality. So we pick our Citrus incrementally instead of all at once as a commercial grower would. Towards the end harvest on my oranges, I'll notice one or two fruits down low that have been munched and by the looks of it I'd say by rats. My father's side of the family were involved in the development of the Citrus industry in southern CA. Most of the control of animal pests were targeted at gophers and squirrels digging up the root systems. My uncle would say that an opossum might eat one orange a month in the dry season but it seemed reasonable "payment" for the benefits of having them around. Curiously, the farm cats and the opossums seemed to co-exist.

Oh yes, I'd forgotten you are in the land of poisonous snakes. We only have rattlesnakes and they are rare in my area.

I have seen opossums in southern CA on the run out pace a medium size dog in pursuit. They are typically slow and docile -- but wow can they move when the time comes.

40-lbs is large by comparison. The coyotes I see here are in the 20-30 lb range. The environment is drier than yours so that is also probably a factor.

It turns out that foxes play a huge role in controlling small rodent populations in southern CA -- more so than the coyotes. Any place the foxes have been displaced experiences an explosion in the rat population.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

If your looking for the ultimate protector that's also a great family pet check out the Great Pyrenees. These dogs are used as border patrol on ranches.

Great Pyrenees - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

I am familiar with the Great Pyrenees and it would be a second choice after the Giant Schnauzer.
The Carr White English is not a great pet and while they dislike being petted will tolerate it. They are extremely serious and want to guard your property including livestock and your family. The major breeder of them did use the Great Pyrenees at one time and prefers the Carr White English. People locally in my area have been the using the Great Pyrenees to guard new born lambs against bald eagles with success so they certainly are a viable choice. One major concern of mine is now that the G Py breed is becoming popular one must take care with the QC exercised by the breeder in maintaining their line. Many good breeds get ruined as they become popular as unethical breeders breed as many as they can sell. It gets worse when they get bred for show.

Another choice for the south are the various cur breeds that are about.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Did you see Russell's post about his ornata? He's in Mobile and has some that he's giving away and he's gonna drop some off for Darkman in Pensacola. If you're interested get in touch.

Terry

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Thanks for the information. I will pass this year until I findout a lot more about bananas. I have had one failure already and prior to trying again I will need time to research it thoroughly.

thanks again.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Chance I think he is sticking strickly with edibles.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

But, don't the ornata produce?

On another subject. I noticed today that my grapefruit is budding up and it brought to mind those worms that burrow into the leaf. Is there any solution to that? I have a big problem with them, like they cover the entire tree and disfigure it . I usually get a few of those big fat ugly worms that eat the leaf but they're not too much of a problem and besides they're the larva stage of one of the swallow tail butterfly's so I leave them alone. The worm I'm talking about burrows into the back side of the leaf and sometimes there's 6-8 worms on one leaf.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Definately CLM. Not a big problem for mature trees but a serious issue with young trees. With the warm Winter we had they may show up early this year. The link Sunfish gave is a good one.

from Musa ornata - Flowering Banana, Ornamental Banana - Hawaiian Plants and Tropical Flowers

Ornata Special Characteristics

Edible – The flesh of the ripe fruits is edible, but these bananas are very seedy and not worth the trouble to eat.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Different subject but this reminds me that two of my neighbors have catawba shrubs for the respective moths to lay their eggs on. They get stripped several times a year by the catawba larva, but apparently these larva make good fish bait. One passerby tried to steal some and one neighbor chased him off with a pistol. Do not know how a judge would decide about someone shooting a thief over stealing insect larvae for fishing. Maybe next year I will get some cuttings and start one myself.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Just a little protective of their fish bait! Are you into fishing?

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Well, I can tell you from experience that they do make good fish bait. When I was a boy my brothers and I would climb the neighbor's big tree and get those worms and head off to the creek. I liked the smell of the bloom, too. Fortunately for us our neighbor wasn't protective of their worms. Is it "catawba" or "catalpa"? I think we called it catawba, but seems like I've seen it spelled catalpa. We use to hide in the sagebrush and smoke the seed pod from that tree. I'll bet you could start it from seed and it's probably a fast grower.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

It is:
Catalpa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalpa
Catalpa, commonly called catalpa or catawba

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

When I was younger I was. I may try out fishing with a seagoing kayak. I found out that right off front seawall of the new pensacola baseball stadium that there is a ton of rubble from a former wharf that includes railroad cars. Divers found lots of redfish in the boxcars. Can not be fished from motor boat; a shallow draft kayak should be fine.
That neighbor now has an old shotgun that I traded him for an outboard motor that he had. So worm thieves beware.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

:eek:

Well let us know how it goes if you get a yak and go out.

Re: From Northwest Florida
 

Lots of Stone Crabs there too!

Best I recall after you grow your Catalpa tree you should hijack some of your neighbors worms and infect or is it infest your tree. Reason being if I remember correctly they overwinter in the ground under the tree and then come out lay eggs and die. Then the cycle starts over.