If your trying to repel these critters with the many home remedies alleged to work; forget it! Mothballs, coyote urine, marigolds, and other repellents just don't work. For every gardener who has success with a given remedy, there are three that don't.

Physical barriers are the surest way to exclude unwanted wildlife. Chicken wire fencing works great for rabbits, but fencing for javelina must be heavier. Hardware cloth supported by strong posts will keep even the most determined javelina out. For rabbits, fencing should be two feet high. For javelina, fencing should be up three feet or more. 

A gardener recently told me of knawing damage in her citrus tree. She was certain that hungry rabbits had propelled themselves by jumping up into her tree to feed. It is more likely that pack rats were the culprits, and had crawled up the trunk. Such trees can be protected from climbing rodents by placing an 18 inch wide band of sheet metal around the trunk. The slick metal provides nothing for the rats to grasp for climbing.

When using chicken wire or hardware cloth fencing around the garden it's a good idea to bury the wire a few inches deep in the ground. This will prevent rabbits from pushing under and through the fencing. If burrowing rodents such as pocket gophers are a problem, hardware cloth can be placed vertically in the ground around the garden perimeter. The woven wire cloth should extend from the soil surface down 18 inches into the ground. As pocket gophers dig their main burrows 4 to 18 inches below the soil surface, this should prevent them from digging through to the garden. Of course fencing just also be extended above ground to exclude them.

Raised beds for gardening are ideal for excluding unwanted wildlife. The sides of the bed can be made high enough to discourage rabbits. Hardware cloth placed in the bottom of the bed, before filling with soil will prevent pocket gophers from digging up into the bed. Wire cages can also be placed over the bed to keep out rabbits, packrats, and birds. 

Here at the Extension Center Demonstration Gardens we have devised a very effective cage for our raised beds. The frame is constructed with concrete reinforcing bars and wire, coverd with an outer skin of chicken wire. The bars are bent into large half-circles and anchored into a base frame made with wood 2x4s. Reinforcing wire placed over and wired to the arching bars holds the bars and the framework in place. Finally, a covering of 1 inch mesh chicken wire is added as the exclusion material. For a detailed look at this type of cage enclosure, visit the Extension Center Demonstration Gardens. The Gardens can be viewed from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Extension Center is located at 4210 N. Campbell Avenue.

Trapping is another method of controlling unwanted critters, but is best used in combination with fencing. Several excellent styles of live traps, also known as Ahave-a heart@, are available from garden centers, hardware stores, and seed catalogs.

Traps should be placed around the garden. Check traps daily to replenish bait or remove any trapped animals. Forgetting to check the trap, even for one day, could result in the inhumane death of the captured animal.

Apples, carrots, cabbage, and other fresh green vegetables are good baits. A good bait for garden traps is a cabbage leaf rolled tightly and held together by a toothpick. For best results, use baits that are similar the type of food attractive to the animal targeted for capture. Release trapped animals well away from other homes to avoid creating a problem for someone else.

A final suggestion; if all else fails, plant some extra garden plants for the animals. If your lucky you'll end up with enough for you, your family, and the hungry critters. 

Written by John Begeman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Arizona 626-5161.
Material originally appeared in Arizona Daily Star gardening column, on April 11, 1999
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