The New Green

Last night we were having dinner with friends in our garden. It was about 7pm and our chickens had gone inside their coop for the night. All of a sudden there was a commotion and the hens clamored out of their coop and into the run. I have a larger run attached to their secure run that isn’t 100% predator proof. I lock the door between that run and the secure run every night. I hadn’t done it yet and I have to admit that I have forgotten entirely some nights. I had heard that there have been raccoon sightings in our Brooklyn, NY neighborhood, but never saw one myself. Until now.

I walked over to the chickens to see what was going on and standing about 5 feet away from me behind the wire run was a raccoon. It saw me and promptly flipped me the bird. It wasn’t scared of me in the slightest. The chickens ran into the larger run and were totally freaked out. Since I wasn’t scary enough to make the raccoon leave, we pulled out our garden hose and sprayed the raccoon with jets of water. It didn’t like that and climbed over the fence. About 30 seconds passed and it climbed back into the yard. We sprayed it again and it eventually went away. But it climbed on top of the secure run and tried to reach through the wire of the larger run. I’ve heard of raccoons grabbing and killing chickens by reaching into a run. Gah!

Neil threw rocks in it’s direction. He doesn’t think he hit it, but it again casually went away. Actually it scaled the 2-story building that adjoins our yard by climbing up the ivy. It kept peeking over the roof at us. Not only were the chickens freaked out, but our daughter was really upset as well. I was upset because I know that this critter is going to come back. It wasn’t afraid of us *at all*. We also live right along a very popular restaurant row, so there’s really no end to the tasty trash cans filled with food nearby.

I’ve spent the morning reading various chicken sites and doing google searches on raccoon control. I’ve come up with the following possible solutions:

1. Get a hav-a-hart trap and bait it with cat food. There are several unsavory outcomes to this solution involving relocating, drowning and shooting. Relocating wild animals is not a very successful endeavor. You are dropping your problems on someone else and the animal doesn’t know the natural resources, so can just starve to death.

2. Pee around the perimeter of your yard. I’m guessing that the raccoon, who wasn’t at all scared of me, will not be scared of our pee. And besides, I’m already the crazy chicken lady, I don’t need to add another layer to that!

3. Put down coyote urine. Yes, you can buy predator urine to discourage animals. My in-laws ordered synthesized fox urine online for a groundhog that was digging in their foundation. There’s a website called predatorpee.com. Love the internet! I’m not sure any of these raccoons have seen or smelled a coyote for the past several generations, so I’m not sure if the smell of coyote urine would register fear with them.

4. Hot sauce bombs. The mad-scientist/cook in me loves this one. You take jumbo marshmallows, poke a hole in one end and fill them with the hottest hot sauce you can find. (Wear gloves) Then scatter them around the yard. The raccoons eat them and then won’t come back. This option appeals to me for a few reasons. I like DIY aspect. I like that I’m not actually physically harming/killing the animal. And I kind of love the immature 15 year-old revenge fantasy part of it.

In any event, I’ve set an alarm to remind me that dusk is approaching and I need to lock up my hens. Raccoons generally only like to eat the chicken’s crop (filled with yummy grains), so it’s a gruesome death. Plus you get the added bonus of finding a decapitated chicken left behind.

Wish me luck! Maybe I’ll make Rice Krispy treats with the leftover marshmallows.

I just stumbled upon a nice site that gives information about planting gardens to specifically attract bees (native bees as well as honey bees) and offer them a habitat in which they can live. It is fairly specific to California, but a lot of the plants (with an emphasis on natives) grow well in other parts of the country.

The site is called Urban Bee Gardens and is out of Berkeley. And the photo has absolutely nothing to do with their site, but everything to do with my warped sense of humor.

Check out this great article in the Daily News by writer Amy Sacks. There are wonderful suggestions for nature walks, ranger tours, etc. all available in New York City.

A lot of trees have been planted in my neighborhood lately. It is a part of MillionTreesNYC, which is an initiative with NYC Parks and New York Restoration Project. They aim to plant 220,00 street trees, 380,000 trees in parks and 400,000 will come from private organizations and homeowners.

We have a little tree outside our apartment building and I was inspired by seeing all of these new trees to take better care of it. I started by dumping several buckets of worm-filled compost in the pit around the tree. When I watered it, the water just ran off the compacted soil. So I figured I needed a better idea of how to care for my urban street tree. I found some great information on the NY Parks and Rec site as well as the Brooklyn Botanical Garden’s Greenbridge site. Below is a summary of what I learned.

1) Loosen up the soil- With a hand cultivator (the hand tool that looks like a 3-pronged claw, loosen up the top 2-3″ of soil. Most city tree soil gets compacted, which prevents water and air from reaching the roots. Dig up any weeds that will compete with the tree for nutrients.

2) Flush the soil- In the spring, water the tree well to remove road/sidewalk salt that might have accumulated. Also try and keep animals out as much as possible. Dog urine can throw off the soil nutrients and burn the tree trunk. 

3) Amend the soil- Add a 2-3″ layer of mulch around (but not touching) the tree. The mulch is great at preventing weeds, keeping the soil below it moist and slowly breaking down into nutrient-rich compost. The mulch looks nice and lets neighbors know that you are taking care of your tree. In other words, it might deter people from tossing their trash in your tree pit.

4) Water your tree- The area around a tree that allows water in is quite small for the amount of water a tree needs to flourish. Water newly planted trees about 10-15 gallons a week. Mature trees need about 8-10 gallons a week during periods when it hasn’t rained. 

5) Plant flowers- You need to be careful not to harm the tree when you plant around it. Digging in the pit can damage roots. Raising the soil level against the tree’s trunk can cause it to rot or prevent air from reaching the roots. However, you can plant flowers or plants with shallow roots that won’t disturb the tree. Brooklyn GreenBridge recommends: small annuals like impatiens, or perennial groundcovers like bugleweed (Ajuga reptans) or periwinkle (Vinca minor)—avoid ivy. Small bulbs are good too: try crocus, miniature daffodils, or glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa species). 

An urban tree has a lot stacked up against its survival – air pollution, car doors, dog pee, bicycles chained up to them as well as limited space for them to grow and get their water. Any help we can give them will help them to thrive.