This week I will cover a headache for many of you, controlling varmints.

So what is considered a varmint?

For most of you that is anything that interferes or destroys you lawn, vegetables garden, flower beds or landscaping. This may include armadillos, raccoons, moles, or for some of you deer.

Let’s take a look at them one at a time.

Armadillos are usually the main culprits that invade vegetable gardens, flower beds and even golf courses across Mississippi. Over 90 percent of their diet consists of insects, earthworms, spiders and other invertebrates. Unfortunately if you have good fertile soils that are good for plant growth chances are you have earthworms and other beneficial insects living there as well, which invite armadillos.

One unique thing about armadillos is they have their litters in March or April and always have quadruplets and they are all the same sex. This is because they are all from a single egg. The best option if you live in the city limits is to trap.

Usually a box trap is the most effective and can be purchased at local feed stores.

Raccoons are considered omnivores because they eat fruits, berries, nuts and other grains, but they also eat other animals such as mice, rabbits, fish, and turtles. They are usually nocturnal and have been known to live up to 12 years. Their habitat structures will vary but they are usually situated around a permanent body of water; stream, drainage ditch or pond and hardwood trees.

Raccoon damage is seen in many areas. In gardening they often invade corn rows climbing the stalks breaking them over and partially eating the ears, in watermelons they puncture a hole and eat out the insides with their claws.

Young raccoons are known for rolling up fresh laid sod in search of earthworms in mid to late summer. For raccoons the best option is also to trap using live box traps or leg snares, but use caution when using around dogs and pets.

Moles can become a headache in the yard and garden. Because a mole is so active in burrowing through the ground it must consume up to 70 percent of its body weight each day in food. This requires it to have to burrow and scavenge a large area to meet these feeding demands. The vast majority of their diet consists of grubs, beetles, earthworms, centipedes and insect fragments. They eat very little plant material but their burrowing often leads people to believe they are eating the roots.

Moles can be controlled through ground harpoon traps, toxicants and some fumigants. All these methods have been found to be successful. Call our office for more details.

Deer take a major toll on some of you living in rural areas with young flower and vegetable gardens. I actually went to one house where deer were coming up the step onto a front porch to eat flowers out of planters.

Unfortunately deer are very difficult to control. Electric fence system have been found to be the most effective but the cost and time to install them combined with the aesthetic look of having an electrical fence around the house makes it not practical for most homeowners. However I would consider this if I were having problems in small garden plots.

Frightening deer through noise and other devices work well but once deer become acclimated they lose their fear.

For flower beds using netting seems to have worked best for several locations in our area but again it does somewhat take away from the aesthetics of the garden.

David Carter is the director of the Adams County Extensions Service. He can be reached at 601-445-8201.