On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:05:13 -0700, Dan Musicant )
wrote:

:On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:30:07 -0500, phorbin wrote:
:
::In article ,
says...
::
:: Possums are nocturnal, and squirrels are very diligent eaters. My money's on
:: the squirrels - or it could be both.
::
::Piggybacking because the earlier postings are lost to me.
::
::I've seen squirrels so deeply inside pumpkins that you can just see the
::tip of a tail. The tree rats are after the seeds.
::
::
:: My concern is for next year. I don't know if these animals are smart
:: enough to "remember" and come back for next year's harvest. Suggestions?
:: TIA!!
::
::I've diligently practiced my slingshot technique on squirrels. They get
::to the point where they stay away and don't set foot on the property.
::--They have to be reeducated each year.
::
::My guess is that you need to trap and remove, shoot, poison, or
:therwise deter the possum(s).
::
::With most critters, "If you do nothing the problem will recur."
::
::The reason isn't necessarily that they remember what they ate so much as
::that they recognize food when they see it and pumpkins are food.
:
Thanks, good info. What I don't understand is that I've been growing
pumpkins and/or kabochas (I was wrong when I said tetsukabuta, they are
actually kabochas this year) for I'm guessing 7-8 years straight and I
don't recall EVER losing a single squash to critters. Now, I'm once
burned twice shy and will be nervous and watching.

I really like the slingshot idea. I tossed a rock at one and it wound up
hitting the hood of my station wagon! Ouch!

Shooting? I have no kind of gun right now. I guess a pellet gun might be
in order, at least when it's growing season next year, and/or the
slingshot. This is war!

Also, I have to confess I have been thinking about poison, at least if
it's a possum that's at the root of this. The other options seem very
iffy. I'm unlikely to encounter the possum in the act. I have a bottle
of ethylene glycol I've had for believe it or not since about 1963! A
pint bottle. I could maybe figure out a way to poison the critter with
it. Here's what I figu Take a medium size squash, rupture the skin so
that the flesh is smelled by whatever animal is doing this, and inject
ethylene glycol into the interior. The animal would likely ingest it (I
hear they like the sweet taste), and that would be the end of it. If
this year is any indication, a squash whose rind is broken is the most
likely to fall to an attack.

Dan