Coal Tar soap is a traditional/old fashioned soap we were all washed with as children .... well, those of us who've reached the ripe old age of 27+ anyway ;
Posh in your house then Dove😀. My mum used to buy our soap from the hardware shop, he would cut it off a big block.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
This is most likely the reason why so many trees has been cut down around my local parks. Most trees are being subjected to fungal infection and therefore local government has to cut them down. I am assuming after reading this article that maybe the perpetrator are the squirrels? There’s a nearby park about 5-10mins walk from my house. It used to be covered in trees and now it’s almost bare. People used to tell me when you walk past it all youd see are trees 🌲 and wouldn’t see any enpty land. Today is a different story, too many trees being cut down not enough being planted. All due to tree diseases
Look deep into
nature, and then you will understand everything better. -A. Einstein
May I ask what are cold tar soap? And how exactly do you place them on tree if you don’t mind me asking as I may have to do this method to stop the squirrels from getting at my tree in future refences. Thank you so much in advance XD
The others are right about the soap .....I’m not yet 27 so didn’t know it was “coal” not “cold” 😳.....so I’ve learned something new today.
I collect the bags you get garlic bulbs in at the SM, and use those to hold the soap tied up with string. Enough to let the smell out, but not for the soap to disintegrate in the rain.
I hang it when the fruits get to cherry size and remove it at the beginning of August - by then they have got big enough for them not to bother thieving. One bag per tree.
Thank you for this will definitely try this and hopefully it’ll work
Look deep into
nature, and then you will understand everything better. -A. Einstein
I never realized that hedgehogs would eat the ground nesting bird eggs - I am sure that whoever introduced them didn't think this through either. I know Brownsea Island and perhaps IOW have red squirrels, and Guernsey is not big enough to sustain them - it was just a romantic notion, although there is little romance in that sqeaking squawk noise that they make! We have buzzards flying overhead that sound like cats mewing. Coal tar soap - a distinctive smell if ever there was one.
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raisingirlEast Devon, on the Edge of Exmoor.Posts: 3,814
Greys here. They eat my baby walnuts, plague the dogs and dig up all my bulbs. I share my garden with lots of wildlife, and I don't resent them particularly. But I wouldn't miss them, if they were gone. If I could swap them for hedgepigs, I certainly would.
“This isn't life in the fast lane, it's life in the oncoming traffic.”
―
Terry Pratchett
Well behaved French red squirrels - in fact I remember seeing them in France too, they were very unobtrusive and kept their distance from us (camping). Perhaps there isn't enough food in British forests - hence they plaque your bird feeders?
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There’s a nearby park about 5-10mins walk from my house. It used to be covered in trees and now it’s almost bare. People used to tell me when you walk past it all youd see are trees 🌲 and wouldn’t see any enpty land. Today is a different story, too many trees being cut down not enough being planted. All due to tree diseases
I like watching the squirrels and put up feeders for them to use they enjoy using them, they make cute sounds, I call one cyril
― Terry Pratchett