Nuisance aminals

[bacarver]

We've had a small orchard for years and we've had assorted dogs through the years. None of our dogs had ever shown an interest in fruit till my monster-appetite golden joined our family 2 years ago. Whitney will stand on her hind legs in a full, perfectly balanced stretch in an attempt to bite apples off the branches. Since she lives to eat, we don't get far with trying to stop her. Good thing she doesn't know where we keep the ladder!

[Tuckervill]

There's a tree on our fence line, too. It's huge, and probably does belong to the neighbors, but it hangs all it's heavy limbs over our shop building. Two autumns ago I picked up all the green baseballs and threw them in the portable cement mixer with some water and rocks, and beat all the husks off the nuts. I did this for two days, there were so many. Then I commenced to trying to crack the nuts open. No luck. Finally I went and bought a bench vice. Tried to use it without attaching the vice to the table. Still no cracked nut. I became so frustrated with the whole process, I just left the nuts in the bucket and never got a single one open!

The next spring the tree died. This spring hubby got a lift and cut all the limbs he could reach. He dropped one on the roof of the shop--didn't damage the brand new metal roof, but when he tried to get it off, it slammed into the side of the buildling and put a hole in the wall. Now we have birds nesting in the shop.

That black walnut tree has put me through the ringer!

Karen

[IFjane]

There's a tree on our fence line, too. It's huge, and probably does belong to the neighbors, but it hangs all it's heavy limbs over our shop building. Two autumns ago I picked up all the green baseballs and threw them in the portable cement mixer with some water and rocks, and beat all the husks off the nuts. I did this for two days, there were so many. Then I commenced to trying to crack the nuts open. No luck. Finally I went and bought a bench vice. Tried to use it without attaching the vice to the table. Still no cracked nut. I became so frustrated with the whole process, I just left the nuts in the bucket and never got a single one open!

The next spring the tree died. This spring hubby got a lift and cut all the limbs he could reach. He dropped one on the roof of the shop--didn't damage the brand new metal roof, but when he tried to get it off, it slammed into the side of the buildling and put a hole in the wall. Now we have birds nesting in the shop.

That black walnut tree has put me through the ringer!

Karen

Good idea, Karen, but you have to wait until the husks turn black before you remove them. The nuts aren't ready until then. Still almost impossible to crack, but it can be done, and mmmmmmmmmmmm.......that meat is good! In a former life, my ex and I had a line of walnut trees along our back fence. Ditto on the twisted ankles and baseballs hitting us on the head. Still, I loved those trees.

We, too, have a raccoon that likes to raid my lawn. He was coming for the birdseed in the feeders until we started taking them in after dark. Then he started stealing blueberries off the bushes. I don't mind that - there are plenty for everyone. The cardinals love them as well. In spite of sharing with the wildlife, I have a huge bucket of blueberries in the fridge right now.

We have birds that sing at night (no mocking birds, though), including the neighbor's roosters that crow at 2 a.m. The biggest nuisance for us is the neighbor's cats. They do not spay or neuter; they do not get shots or wormed; and they try and park under my bird feeders! I love to feed birds, but I hate to feed the neighbor's cats the birds!

[Tuckervill]

What I read said they didn't have to be black, just softened up, which they were! The husks were still hard to get off, though. I still have all the nuts in a bucket in the smokehouse. Wonder how good they'd be now! lol.

Karen