Update from Winterberry Farm

Well, as you know if you have read this blog for any time, The PeeMan lives on a farm in Maine. Don’t picture mechanized agriculture or advanced animal husbandry – think more along the lines of a “hobby” farm(at least I think that’s the current lingo.) Nonetheless there are chickens and occasional pigs, a requisite old tractor, garden rows, apple trees and a pond. As for the name, well my wife won’t let me call it the PeeFarm and she loves the bright red berries that decorate the barren late autumn landscape every year so Winterberry Farm it is.

Raspberries – now I am a bit allergic to fresh berries so I don’t quite enjoy them as much as others. My wife and daughter love them and traveled 2 hours north(yes – farther north)and dug up a friend’s excess bushes and transplanted them here. There is a patch of soil that is rather poor and all attempts at gardening this plot have met with pitiful results. So, the perfect spot for the hardy raspberry! Winterberry Raspberry Patch is born.

Chickens – I just don’t understand keeping and feeding critters all winter long and not getting a single lousy egg from them. But, my daughter wants chickens and now at least for a few months we have eggs. Eggs coming out our ears. Interestingly, our chickens tend be late morning layers. They like to take their time and enjoy the morning I guess – prima donas!

Flowers – My wife and daughter have decided to experiment with growing cut flowers. Experiment is the key word. No pressure, no expectations – that’s how my wife likes to operate. So, various beds are being prepared for planting the seedlings that have been growing at my daughter’s house. The cardinal rule in Maine is no planting before Memorial Day and since we had a couple of nights right around freezing even this week, far be it from us to mess with the wisdom of the ages.

Spring Cleaning – perhaps this conjures up pictures of a feather duster and a few boxes filled with odds and ends destined for the thrift store. Well, you can forget that. Spring cleaning at Winterberry Farm is signaled by the arrival of a full size dumpster. And since my middle daughter is getting married what better opportunity for her to sort through all the childhood memorabilia, treasures and keepsakes that have been sitting in my storage spaces for years! Today in fact began the great purge.

Trout – Today also marked the arrival of some very special guests to Winterberry Farm. I was finally able to secure some Rainbow Trout for my pond. I took my grandson with me to pick up the 7″ beauties and most of the family watched the great release of all 50 of them into their new habitat.

Dogs – What farm is complete without dogs? Our two golden retrievers Zeke and Riley fit the bill – at least theoretically. The “stress” of laying around the house and occasional tennis ball chasing has led Riley to age prematurely. The dog is only 7 and his prescriptions cost more than mine! But, the arthritis seems to be affecting him less and he seems to be getting around better these days. Getting around is no problem whatsoever for Zeke! In fact, in the space of 24 hours this week, he managed to get into it with both a porcupine and a skunk. As you can imagine, neither he nor his people came out on the good end of that deal!

That’s all the Winterberry Farm news for now!

Until I find more words . . .The PeeMan

Ask the PeeMan: Will it hurt my dog?

I am starting up our regularly scheduled Wednesday’s Ask The PeeMan once again! This week features a question that I get frequently, so frequently in fact that I decided to include two examples. People are invariably concerned about the effect of PredatorPee on Fido or Fifi or Buster . . .

Q.I am looking for a product to keep deer from eating the flowers out of my pots. Which of your products would be best to use in flower pots? Is the recommended product toxic to dogs? Thanks, Susan

Q. Hi. We have a problem with rat snakes in a camp house that is in disrepair and has yet to be properly sealed up.
I am interested in buying some of the traps but also wondering if you recommend the fox urine for the perimeter of the house, basement or in the house? Is it effective in deterring them?
We do have a dog though. Is the fox urine bad for dogs?
Thank you, Monica

A. No. Your dog might be a bit curious, but that’s all!
KJ The PeeMan

I love it when I can give a simple answer! No need to fear for your beloved dog.

Until I find more words . . .The PeeMan

Ask the PeeMan: Deer Problem

I have read that having an editorial calendar is an important part of blogging. Well, my calendar is a little screwed up this week and Wednesday’s Ask the PeeMan is on Saturday. Deal with it blogosphere.

Q. I am experiencing a deer problem, they are eating my flowers! I have always made a point of only planting flowers that are not their favorite. I spray bitter cherry on the plants & it has deterred them up until this year
Strange, because we had a warm wet winter & there seems to be lots of other choices for them. The flowers are mostly in container pots, so I am thinking that the the granules might work best, as I can sprinkle directly on the soil. I see that you recommend Coyote to keep the deer away. Guessing that Mountain Lion would work as well? Would one work better than the other, and/or are there downsides of one over the other? IE: attracting Mountain Lions?

I have also just ordered some Deer Out. It combines a bad taste with a peppermint smell that apparently the Deer dislike. Do you think the Deer Out with its strong smell might over power the urine granules & negate its benefits?

Suppose another option would be venison stew

Thanks for your time Mr. PeeMan!

Sincerely,
PeeWoman

A. Tracy,
CoyotePee is always my first choice for deer. The idea is to create a “pee-rimeter” a little ways back from the food source. That way the deer will get the scent of the predator before the attraction of the food source is too much to resist. The inherent problem with taste deterrents is that it requires the deer to already be in your garden! The PeeMan likes to prevent them from getting there in the first place. Predator Urine can attract same specie predators if they are already in the area. Here are some links with more info:
http://www.predatorpeestore.com/deer-problems-coyote-urine.html
http://www.predatorpeestore.com/Application-Instructions.html
KJ The PeeMan

Just to clarify there is only one PeeWoman even though she cringes at the title – my beautiful bride of more than forty years.

Until I find more words. . .The PeeMan

Rodents Cause More Than £370m Of Damage Annually To Cars in the UK Alone

Guest Blogger Toby Bateson

Rats are renowned for being highly destructive. They are well known to damage food, clothing and buildings. roof-rat-961499_640 They also target machines and computers, including the wiring in your car engine. Repairs can be expensive, sometimes an entire car may need rewiring as a result. For a high end sports car or SUV this can be in the region of £7000.

car-482683_640 Research by Hammer Technologies has shown that an amazing 9% of car users in the UK have had their car damaged by rodents at some point. Damage found included chewed pipes, bitten plastic cowling and broken wires and pipes.

The reason they tend to do this is thought to be because their teeth grow constantly throughout their lives. They chew on hard materials such as steel wires in order to wear their teeth down. The warm engines of cars are also thought to attract rats looking for a home.

The survey demonstrated that the average cost of repair came to £300. The total cost of rat damage to cars every year was calculated to be an amazing £377,410,90.

The way this figure was found, if you are interested, is as follows.

In 2013 31 million cars were on the road in the UK, according to official Department of Transport figures. The survey showed an average of 1.86 rat damage events for each person who was affected. Eight of the 33 episodes reported occurred in the previous year.

9% of those surveyed had suffered rodent damage to their cars. The following sum calculates the total cost of the damage. 9% * 31 million cars * £300 * 1.86 episodes per person * (8÷33) episodes in the last year = £377,410,909.

If you have a car make sure you do everything you can to protect yourself. The PeeMan has products which will protect your car from rat damage. Visit the store now to get the protection you need.

The PeeMan’s Daughter is getting married!

I wasn’t planning to write this blog, but something big has happened here. Our middle daughter Laura got engaged! Upon hearing the news, a whole bunch of us piled in the truck and headed south to meet up with Laura and fiance Alex to celebrate. Some might think it odd that the PeeMan would announce his daughter’s engagement to the world in his PredatorPee blog….but to Laura, it would be a surprise if he didn’t.

IMG_0367 (1) You see, we have three wonderfully unique daughters. Erica, the oldest, married with four kids and along with husband Nathan is actively involved in the Pee business, Emma our youngest, just venturing into the world of adult-hood and Laura, now planning her wedding. Three daughters is a lot for a father to handle especially since the PeeMan is pretty old-school. I have embraced the idea taught in the Bible that a father is responsible for his daughter until she is married…you can only imagine how that goes over in today’s world. Proactive fatherhood is messy, awkward, uncomfortable, risky, painful, intrusive and exhausting…. yet in the end, it is absolutely perfect. I, of course, messed it up along the way, I am sure. There wasn’t a detailed playbook, but I kept at it. How many times haven’t I said to the girls:

“The last place I want to be is here having this conversation with you, but its my job, God gave it to me and I love you, so we’re stuck right here together until we get though this.”

Now through it all, I look back and can say it was all worth it. As teenagers and adults, I am so thankful that they have let me be a part of their lives while I know of so many fathers who have been locked out.

Two weeks ago, Alex met with my wife and I to ask permission to marry Laura….(old school, we liked that!) and we gave our blessing. Now I look forward to handing my responsibilities over to Alex…. just like it should be. Congratulations, Laura & Alex!

Until I find more words(or another daughter gets engaged) . . .The PeeMan

PredatorPee® – Keeping it simple.

Back in 1999 when we first put PredatorPee.com on line, things were different. You could put up graphics and information, but you couldn’t actually buy anything. You looked it up online, then you called in your order. The connections were all dial-up and slower than mud. It was pretty Mickey Mouse, but you could sense that something big was brewing. I can remember telling someone “If women can ever shop on this thing, it’s going to be huge!”
Pretty prophetic for the PeeMan, wouldn’t you say? But, we’ve always been a bit ahead of our time.

A news story written about us at the time, had the headline: “This E-Business is in the Pee Business” – catchy, wasn’t it? So, here we are 17 years later and this Pee Business is still in the E-Business in a big way.

We now have a whole bunch of websites (a few are listed below) for a variety of “unique and useful products from Maine”. We try to keep them simple and functional – not a lot of flash. Here are some of our basics:

Good, informative content – sometimes clever, sometimes marked by a little juvenile humor
Fast, Free Shipping – if you order today, it goes out tomorrow. Weekend orders go our Monday. Everything shipped free via Priority Mail to USA and Canada
Quick answers to your questions – don’t you hate it when you email a website and never hear back? That won’t happen here. Email ask-the-PeeMan – during the week, he is pretty quick – a little slower on the weekend.
Pay your way. Credit card, PayPal or go right to Amazon and order – your way is the way we like it!
Best Guarantee in the Business: We guarantee PredatorPee® will work or we’ll send you another “flavor” to try. If the critters still don’t cooperate, we’ll send you your money back! We’ll make it work or we’ll make it right.

To sum things up, when it comes to our e-business,

we want to treat you like we like to be treated. Pretty simple.

www.PredatorPee.com

www.MaineCrusherHats.com

www.BootGrease.com

www.HawkStopper.com

www.HotDoe.com

www.MaineOutdoorSolutions.com

Ask The PeeMan: Deer, Deer and MORE Deer

Wednesday means Ask the PeeMan – the weekly feature where The PeeMan shares questions that real customers have asked and provides his pee-rrific answers.

‘Evening-

I live in a lovely Gorham neighborhood, in the last house on a dead-end street, surrounded by woods. For five years, I’ve had only occasional problems with deer but this year — after the lightest winter in history, go figure — it seems the word is out. Deer are coming right up to my family room windows and have stripped a yew, a holly, and two arborvitae. These are… *ahem* were well-established plants that have survived harsh winters and two big, rowdy dogs, so it broke my heart to see them defoliated. I generally have a live-and-let-live attitude about these things but in this instance, there are plenty of other nutrients in the immediate area, so I didn’t see the humor AT ALL.

My question is this: there are quite a few coyotes in the surrounding area and the deer don’t seem to be in the least perturbed by their presence (or mine, or that of my loud German Shepherd). Does this mean that I should consider using, say, wolf urine instead of coyote urine? My personal preference would be a flame-thrower but I’m pretty sure there’s a municipal code that prohibits it… regrettably.

By the way, I came to your website by way of my vet’s recommendation. She has chickens and relies on your products to keep them safe, which I thought was a wonderful endorsement.

Thanks in advance,

Cynthia

Cynthia,
With coyotes in the neighborhood, we do recommend going with WolfPee. It has the added benefit of not only keeping the deer away, but the coyotes too! Here is the direct link. Thanks for finding us…send me the name of your vet, so I can thank her.
http://www.predatorpeestore.com/wolf-urine.html

KJ The PeeMan

Until I find more words . . .The PeeMan

Does PredatorPee® Smell?

gi-nose-smelling

This is one of the most frequent questions the PeeMan gets. Now, I always have operated under the opinion that there is no such thing as a dumb question, but some people might consider this to be one. It isn’t. It is just that I think people who ask this question may be living a quite cultured and sheltered life. The kind of life folks here in Maine are quite unaccustomed to.

The PeeMan’s wife is a true Mainer born and raised and she would never ask this question. She knows a full 1/4 of a mile away when the PeeMan has been working. She knows that PredatorPee® smells and she doesn’t appreciate subtle aromatic overtones in the same way as the PeeMan does.

I have tried to help her distinguish the slightly burnt aroma of Mt. LionPee from the meaty scent of WolfPee, but the conversation does not seem to last very long. So, to make a long, smelly story short, the answer is “Yes, PredatorPee® does smell,” but that is only part of the story. As you know, animals have a very keen sense of smell – much keener that even the PeeMan’s wife.

Just think about it, you’ve been at friend’s house visiting or hanging out. Your friend has a dog, it comes over, you pet it, it lays down at your feet. It’s a nice well-behaved dog. It doesn’t jump on you and you’re not playing or wrestling with it. It’s just laying there.

But when you get home, your dog is all over you, sniffing you and looking at you like you were some kind of two-timing scoundrel. Your dog smells the lingering scent of friend’s dog, but you are clueless and smell nothing.

Well, that’s how it is with PredatorPee®. The scent lingers a level that other animals can easily detect, but way out of our range of smell. You certainly will smell it when you open the bottle, but after applied the scent dissipates quickly beyond the range of the human nose. The PredatorPee® continues to create the illusion that a predator is present long after the subtle aromatic tones have drifted away.

Until I find more words. . .The PeeMa

Ask the PeeMan: Mice in Grill

Well, it must be the busy season around here because Wednesday’s Ask the PeeMan is on Thursday this week! This week’s question is especially relevant since grilling season will soon be upon us(I am sure most of you have been grilling for a while now – don’t rub it in) – one thing is for certain – none of us want mice up in our grill(because of my 22 year old daughter the double meaning is not lost on me). . .

Hi,
Looking for a suggestion to keep mice from entering my outdoor grill. I don’t have them in the house, but know they are outside as I’ve caught a few over the past year. Looks like you recommend the Bobcat Urine. Should I go with the 33 Day Dispenser and put them around the grill area on my patio? These 33 Day Dispensers are reusable, right? Or would you recommend some other application?

Thanks for your help.

Kevin

Kevin,
Look at our BobcatPeeShots – you can place right in grill when not in use and easily remove. here is the link:
http://www.predatorpeestore.com/Predator-PeeShots.html
KJ The PeeMa

Ask the PeeMan – Fisher problem

Update! I was alerted by an observant person that the picture that I put in this post previously was a tasmanian devil not a fisher! My mistake. The PeeMan

It’s Wednesday and drum roll please . . . It’s time to Ask the PeeMan. In case you are wondering, “The fisher is a small carnivorous mammal native to North America. It is a member of the mustelid family and a part of the marten genus. The fisher is closely related to but larger than the American marten.” – Wikipedia

Hello pee man!
I live in Massachusetts and we have a Fisher problem and some coyote. I have Bengal cats keeping them inside is impossible. I’m looking for a urine that will at least repel the Fisher without freaking out my cats. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Andy

Andrew,
WolfPee is what you need for fisher and coyote. If you create at “pee-rimeter” around your yard with WolfPee, it will keep the fisher and coyotes out while also keeping your cats from wandering out of your yard. Here is the link:
http://www.predatorpeestore.com/wolf-urine.html
KJ The PeeMan