What was it that P. T. Barnum of Barnum and Bailey said?

@drdawg, So many Barnum quotes to choose from...
The quote about a 'sucker born every minute' was most likely spoken by David Hannum (he was probably jealous), in criticism of P. T. Barnum.
Barnum did have a quote regarding and equal number of posteriors for available chairs.

Mr Barnum was a fine man and the mayor or my hometown for a while; there is a museum also: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Att...

I've been checking the reviews online for these sonic mole repellers; it seems 50/50 love/hate relationship with these devices. The prices range from $17 up to over $140; the quality seems to vary without regard to the price paid.

Since the device emits a noise that would bug the heck out of me, I would worry that it would offend 'good' wildlife creatures.

I'll save my money and let my dog take care of the moles in my neck of the woods. He works for peanuts - honey-roasted, that is.

P. T. was sort of the "Colonel Sanders" of the circus world, and you knew him. How great that must have been. You are right, he had a quote for every occasion!

Whoa! Granted I am old, and did live in one of Barnum's houses for a while, and yes, I did once 'rescue' a Paulownia tree or three from another of his properties, but I missed knowing him by about 75 years more or less.

Trying to keep on topic here - If Barnum had moles on his property, you can bet he would have charged the public an admission fee to view them - probably advertising them as 'subterranean earth miners' or some such thing.

I really had no clue when the man lived, just know of the circus and his quips. Sorry about that. I like your bringing the subject back into focus. And you are probably right!

Thanks to all! I appreciate all your information. I have made a concoction of Castor Oil, hot sauce and dishsoap and sprayed. I have also set a trap. I buried hardware cloth around the Columbine bed to keep them out this time. I purchased 2 new Columbines and I am planting some of the seed I saved as well but it will be a couple of years before the bed looks as pretty as it was before. The daylilies I could not replace but I do have some new ones ordered so I am planting Marigolds all around the bed in hopes they will avoid it. Whatever works! I just hate to lose my pretty flowers .

Get rid of your moles, gophers the EZ way.

Buy Daisy Wheels, set them approx. 50' apart. When the wind spins the daisy, it causes a vibration along the wire and that is transferred into the ground. Moles and Gophers have very acute hearing, and one thing they dislike is a constant vibrating vibrations.

Amazon sells them, or any good garden center has them.

They do not work. Any critters living near civilization are very accustomed to all sorts of noise and vibration and can ignore the spinning daisies too.

I don't know anything about gophers of moles, we have neither, but if these creatures are like squirrels, they will not only adapt but prosper with these gadgets.

I want one of those things they have at gas stations that bend and wave and flop back and forth. If I do that long enough the deer run. I am getting to old to be doing to much bending and waving my arms like a crazy woman.

I wonder if I wait until the end of the season if I could get one of those blow up Christmas decoration do that wave thing.

@Cinta...

You need a sling shot. The ammo you use doesn't have to be big enough to harm them, but big enough to get their attention ....

Smiles,
Lyn

RoseBlush1 said:@Cinta...

You need a sling shot. The ammo you use doesn't have to be big enough to harm them, but big enough to get their attention ....

Smiles,
Lyn

I have a bucket of rocks at the back door that I use. If I tried to use a sling I would probably end up putting out my own eyes.

I discovered stomping my foot does not work with the deer. When I stomped my foot the deer acted like it was a new dance I was teaching them because they only stomped their feet back at me.

I consider the front of my house deer territory and have fenced Mrs. J's roses and only planted deer resistant plants out there, but I still want the deer to think of my front yard as hostile territory. At first, I used to make a sound that I think of as the call of a rabid goose. Since they had never heard anything like that before, they took off.

They got used to the rabid goose, so I started slamming my front door. That worked for a while. Then I got my sling shot. I can't throw a rock and hit anything, but I've gotten pretty good with the sling shot.

For the most part, they've left my place alone until this year, which was our third year of extreme drought. They were starving. I could see their ribs. They ate every deer resistant plant I had out there except for the lamb's ear and the santolinas.

We've gotten enough rain in the last few months that they are now gone. I just want them to stay gone. However, even with all the rain we've gotten, the drought is not over. There is no snow pack up on the Alps.

btw ... they now make sling shots with laser sights ...

Smiles,
Lyn

I thought you were in CA, Lyn.

I do, Ken. I live about 5 hours north of San Francisco, which they call "northern California", up in the mountains between Redding and Eureka.

The map on this page kind of gives you an idea of how large the state is and where Weaverville is located in comparison to the rest of the state.

http://www.bestplaces.net/city...

The climate, soil, water and everything is very different from southern California, but the drought has hit the whole state. Trinity County is considered a county-of-origin for water further south. If we don't have a decent snow pack, there's no water to send south.

Smiles,
Lyn

and those mountains up there...'they' call them the Alps for some reason Ken

Ah, ha. That's what thru me - Alps. I thought they had moved the Alps. Last time I saw them they were in Northern Italy.

Yup. That part of the Klamath Mountains is called the Trinity Alps ....

The slingshot is a great idea. I have gravel pathways, so an infinite supply of different sizes of rocks, too! I definitely want the one with the laser sight.

My son got me a great pellet gun. It's spring loaded so pretty quiet, and shoots 6mm biodegradeable (not really) pellets. It fires fast and accurately enough to hit something 40ft away, and get their attention, but does not hurt the squirrels which I have hit from only 10ft away. They sure do jump, though! My proudest shot was the red-tail hawk that sits on top of the power pole and hunts my songbirds. Hit him right in the belly, he flinched, fluffed up and flew off. The desired result.

As far as noise makers, I'm finding the raccoons are pretty scared by my banging on an empty watering can. I have two big plastic ones, and last night I banged them together, which made a great sort of 'native' noise, I thought . . . music to scare critters by??

Btw, in auld English (Or was it Celtic?) I think any mountain can be called an "alp", hence the word "alpine" to describe high places.