FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

So I just moved these racks to the eastern side of my yard last week. This weekend I woke up to 2 brand new VFTs completely gone. The new Drosera I got were lifted out of their soil but still intact. All were on the top row. I made these cages of light diffuser but rather not use them. What can I do to keep birds/squirrels from stealing my plants?

ChefDean wrote:Build screened in enclosure, make a barrier so the critters can't get them. There's not much else you can do.

Yeah. That's what I was thinking. Thanks for the reply

oof, i hope it aint the neighbors

You can try sticking long bamboo skewers around the top of the pot.

schmeg wrote:You can try sticking long bamboo skewers around the top of the pot.

Interesting idea. How do you mean? Points pointing up to deter critters from dropping down onto the pots?

I do think it's weird that the plants are completely carried off without a trace, that doesn't seem very squirrel like unless some animal likes eating the leaves. Has anyone else had a non-human critter problem where the plants are completely removed overnight?

Well, the plants are just baby VFTs that could easily be plucked up out of the sphagnum moss by the slightest upward pull. They're gone completely. The drosera had longer roots that actually had some resistance to being pulled. They were uprooted but stayed attached to their small roots. Yeah. I just looked up bird spikes and think that should be pretty easy to replicate with bamboo skewers in the pots. I might even look to get a scare-owl that's supposed to frighten squirrels and rodents away from the yard. Hoo knows?

I can't get the image of a squirrel sprinting down the street with a vft in his arms out of my head lol it sucks though and is one of the reasons I can't face growing outdoors.

I got a picture of the culprit right before running off again.

francisfaustino wrote:

20200611_172641.jpg

Ha ha! Yeah, it definitely crossed my mind.

You need a cat or two to prowl the yard. After my lawn tigers discovered the pet door and started roaming the backyard, my tree rat problem dropped off sharply (especially after the day that I found the hind legs and tail of a squirrel in the yard, and nothing else).

MikeB wrote:You need a cat or two to prowl the yard. After my lawn tigers discovered the pet door and started roaming the backyard, my tree rat problem dropped off sharply (especially after the day that I found the hind legs and tail of a squirrel in the yard, and nothing else).

The yard already has 5 cats and a kitten in it. They do less than nothing for me and have in fact contributed to the problem by knocking my pots over and crapping by my plant racks. Thanks though.

Do_Gon wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 2:52 pm

schmeg wrote:You can try sticking long bamboo skewers around the top of the pot.

Interesting idea. How do you mean? Points pointing up to deter critters from dropping down onto the pots?

BEFORE bamboo skewers: https://youtu.be/mYa2xzoXbuk

AFTER bamboo skewers: https://youtu.be/59i1S48Ym4I

Place them pointy-side up, trimmed so the sharp end is right above the surface of the soil. Squirrels HATE that!