Garden Marauders

After tending my patch of June-bearing strawberry plants for weeks, carefully weeding, mulching, and watering, I could hardly wait for the berries to ripen. The plants were loaded with pink berries – they only needed a few more days till they’d be ripe, juicy, and ready to meet their destiny swimming in a bowl of shortcake, sugar, and milk.

But my dreams of fresh strawberries were dashed when I came home from a weekend away and found my strawberry patch stripped clean of berries. Every last one had vanished! Confusion … disbelief … then a dawning realization that I’d seen it all before…

The masked moochers had struck again!

Despite the fact that we have a 6-foot high electric fence around our garden, the raccoons walk through like there’s nothing there. We’ve caught four in our Havahart trap in the past two weeks. Two years ago, I caught eight in one month! They can’t resist the lure of my gourmet raccoon bait concoction: peanut butter topped with ripe banana slices and mini marshmallows. They always lick the can clean!

When I catch one of the little fellas, he gets a free ride in a comfy mini van to an idyllic country setting complete with woods, fields, and a meandering creek – and no strawberries!

3 Comments

  • They try to get our corn too – but so far our electric fence has kept them out. Two years in a row we lost all our corn to them, so I know how you feel. I love your sketch!

    Reply
  • Cheryl, can you tell me how you have your fence configured? How many strands of wire, and how far apart? Somehow they're getting through ours. They must be smarter than we are!

    Reply
  • I enjoy your accounts of country living…they are cute, those little guys…

    Reply

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I’m Leslie. A painter, teacher, and lover of all things creative. A sketchbook artist who captures everyday life on the pages of my illustrated journals. I love sharing, connecting, and encouraging people to find their creative voice through sketchbook journaling. Read more about me, my art, and my life HERE.

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