Voodoo I Never Knew I Could Use

** Not exactly a sponsored post, but it is all about some of my wares for sale although TOTALLY in the context of our new life in the mountains of Montana **

Years ago I made my first Varmint Voodoo "doll" for Eric for Christmas; he had The Squirrel Problem at the time.  He'd tried everything but a wrangler and voodoo.

Of course we have squirrels here, but they are so much smaller and so many fewer and above all NOT living in or eating the house.

Then people started adding it to their Wist (like MySpace was to Facebook, Wist was to Pinterest) and I decided to open an etsy shop.  I started with some local-type varmints such as a raccoon for a friend with that problem.

Then, I expanded to a few others and one of the first few I sold was shipped to Poland!  Then I got a request for some for a little gallery in Maine, including Varmint Voodoo: Bear Edition.  And now we and our neighbors could sometimes use the Bear Edition.  Which has got me to thinking on all the various Varmint Voodoo that could apply to me now, that I originally made for people who were elsewhere.

In the spirit of my Oregon Duck and OSU Beaver Editions, I've added University of Montana Grizzly to this listing and am working on making their cross-state rival, the Montana State Bobcat.

If you've been following along, you know we're working on The Mouse Problem now. After a week of no catches, I was about to put away the traps... and caught another, our third, in the mudroom.  BLECH.  Maybe I should raid Bubble Off Plumb's stock.

Varmint Voodoo: Mouse/Rat Edition.

Of course we had wasps/hornets in Portland, but not like we have them here.  We've bought the spray, but haven't yet gone after the 6-10 nests in various spots around the property.  They actually don't bug us that much (see what I did there?), but we should and want to get rid of them.  They have the whole forest to nest in.

Varmint Voodoo: Wasp/Hornet Edition

Now deer really are something we deal with.  We didn't actively garden or even do much yard work this year, but the deer have and will graze our yard so we'll need to figure out some ways of discouraging them next year. Not to mention their cavalier attitude about looking both ways before crossing the street... and then not crossing if there are autos in the road or driveway.

We have both Mule and White-tail Deer around the property.

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The night before I left to do some work in Portland, we were lying in bed and Eric asks, "Do you smell coffee?"  [sniff, sniff] "I smell burning..."  I stood up to make sure the portable air conditioner wasn't overheating and then realized it's not coffee and it's not burning, it's skunk and it's strong which means it's near.  We'd been told it was too dry up here for skunks, even though Eric saw one down at the bottom of the hill last autumn.  Eric & I thought we (and by "we" I mean "the Beastie Grrrlz") were safe from that stench.

Not at all like Pepe.

Speaking of the BGs, they were each due for some boosters shortly after we moved and we got to meet our (AWESOME) vets in town.  We asked if fleas were an issue here (they're not really) and about ticks (they can be).  The ticks are one thing I really dread having to deal with; I've never seen one in person, but I have seen photos and video.  So far, so good, though.

I'd use this to protect the dogs and us; I've known a couple of people who've had Lyme Disease and I want no part of that.

I don't know if we'll have problems requiring extreme measures such as voodoo with the grasshoppers, but the crickets can be REALLY LOUD at night. At least once before going to bed, I've looked for the open door or window that was letting all the cricket racket in and there wasn't one.

Also good for locust invasions.

Other critters that I don't think we'll have trouble with, but that we see frequently are ravens.  They are so big that we've mistaken their flying silhouette for some kind of raptor more than once.

Helpful with crows, too.

Eventually, I added some "human varmints" to the collection, because let's face it we all have people in our lives at times who we must tolerate, but who we'd really rather jab with a pin.

Varmint Voodoo: Loud-mouth Jerk & Shrieking Harpy Editions; we all know at least one of each

And since Bubble Off Plumb has moved its production facility to Florence, Montana we've added a few new, not-necessarily-locally-useful editions:

Varmint Voodoo: Aphid Edition (AKA Greenfly, Whitefly, Blackfly, or Plant Lice) for gardeners all over.

Varmint Voodoo: Cicada Edition for everyone who's been deafened by their song and waded thought their shells on the sidewalk.

A custom order that's now in the collection; Varmint Voodoo: Coot Edition for golf course personnel and park departments maintaining water traps and features.

Another custom order that's now in the collection: Varmint Voodoo: Sharktopus Edition. This customer swears that since his friends have kept this on their boat there has been not one single Sharktopus attack!