Question
I have problems with gophers and ground squirrels. The squirrels eat my strawberries and climb the avocado trees and eat the fruit. Your suggestions?
Answer
Cats and dogs are good deterrents to many small animal pests, but this is not always an option. Flooding out the critters’ burrows repeatedly may work. Poison baits are an option, but please don’t use them if cats, dogs, and children are about. Here in New Hampshire our good friend, Peggy, obtained a dead chicken from a local farmer and shoved it in a woodchuck hole. The chuck must have been a vegetarian, because it never came back. Maybe something like that might work. Gopher it! —Gardening experts George and Becky Lohmiller, Hancock, New Hampshire
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