I live out in the country, where ground squirrels and mice abound, along with larger creatures such as bears, mountain lions, wild pigs, wild quail, wild turkeys, doves, and deer. Funny enough, my first creature issues were not the ones who live wild out there, but were the donkeys.

People think donkeys are adorable. And it’s true, they’re very cute. But there is a reason their name became a swear word. These three donkeys, which belong to my brother and which are (blissfully) back on his home ranch, were such a menace. The first night I was out there, they kicked open my 50lb tin can filled with a brand new, unopened bag of dog food, dented the lid so well that I’ve never been able to get it to fit right back on my can, and ate the entire bag of dog food- food, plastic, string, all of it. They ate anything I left on my porch, including a cardboard amazon box with another cardboard box inside it containing a small metal firepit (they didn’t eat the metal firepit but it wasn’t for lack of trying). I arrived back home daily to find my belongings strewn about the property, my trash cans, bags of soil for my garden (yes, they ate the plastic bag, and the soil inside it. 2 bags! I was so mad), rugs I’d washed and hung out to dry, anything I’d forgotten to bring inside before I left for work or went to bed.

If ya’ll have been here long, you know that I designed my raised garden bed after my sister in law’s fabulous garden that I’m immensely jealous of. And mine didn’t turn out quite the way I’d planned (and it’s technically not finished, though I’m growing plants in it already) but it does have the benefit of being fenced in to keep the donkeys out.

I’d also made sure to put wire mesh in the bottom of my raised bed, underneath the soil, to keep gophers out of my plants. This was a suggestion from my mother, who has had gardens for years but has terrible gopher problems year round. Much of her gopher problem occurs in her lawn itself, less than the garden.

Mice are a much bigger issue than I was expecting when I moved out there. In order to live on a beautiful ranch in the foothills, I had to make the sacrifice of living in a 5th wheel trailer rather than an actual building. It’s got it’s own set of issues that I could fix if I was willing to fork out the cash (but I’m not) but they don’t bother me so much. The mice, however.

The thing about 5th wheels, or mine at least, is they’ve got dozens of little openings where vermin can gain access to your living space. The pop outs, the compartments underneath, the drains and the kitchen appliance connections all have space around them where they’re not completely sealed.

I have tried everything. Snap traps, electric traps, bait hotels (the largest size available and the pest control guy even doubles up on the bait in them to no avail, he’s always amazed that the hotels are completely empty upon his return and that I’m still having mouse issues), peppermint oil, cut onions, steel wool. Nothing keeps them away.

I deep clean my trailer top to bottom, and then wake up the next morning to mice droppings on my counter. I do have a select few spaces that the mice cannot get into. Two cupboards, the fridge and freezer, and my bathroom cabinets. This doesn’t give me much space for things. I have very few clothes, which is fine because I wear scrubs to work and I rarely go anywhere else, and I do laundry every Saturday (I have to take it into town, I don’t have laundry facilities in my trailer) I have one set of dishes and I wash every item before using it, and I keep all my food either in my fridge, freezer or in my microwave- which is inconvenient but works pretty well.

Mice are my arch nemesis. And when I first planted my garden I blamed the mice for the destruction of my cilantro and two of my heirloom tomatoes. However, as more of my plants were destroyed, I switched my blame to the horses, who had taken the donkey’s place in kicking dents in my trash cans while they played soccer with them in the pasture, and trying to kick my screen door in to get inside (they were not invited in!). But now that the horses have been moved into a locked pasture, I have found a new enemy (the mice are still my enemies, I just have a garden-specific enemy now)- ground squirrels.

My garden is planted next to a big, beautiful oak tree. Underneath this oak tree, right at the root, there is a hole. I fill in the hole, but the next day, it’s there again, and a plant is missing. So I fill in the hole again, and stick a random brick on top of it. And the next day the brick is tossed to the side, the hole is back and my bell pepper that was growing so nicely is torn from the plant with three little chewed holes in it. So I fill in the hole and stick the brick on top, with several large rocks and water the dirt down to make it a little more trouble to dig through. And the next day my squash flowers are all gone and the rocks and brick are unmoved, but there’s a new hole on the other side of the tree.

I am at my wit’s end. This little ground squirrel, and I know it’s a ground squirrel because they are everywhere on the property and the surrounding properties, is destroying my beautiful garden and making me go crazy!

My current plan of action is to talk to my pest control guy next time he comes out to refill my bait hotel and have him gas the ground squirrel under that tree. I won’t have him attempt to get rid of every ground squirrel on the property because it’s too vast. But that one little stinker in that one tree next to my garden has to go!

If you have similar pest problems, or have any helpful tips or tricks, make sure to comment them below! I’d love to hear from you!