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Cologne / Germany

Well, exciting end of the season today. Our Cologne zoo has a new elephant park (big enough for 20 of them) and after taking out the seeds from my 680 (1236 Eaton x 1260 Weir) we left it to the elephants. 4 TV teams, 2 radio stations, newspapapers - amazing press coverage. Not much more you can do to promote your hobby.

The biggest elephant smashed the fruit with just a footstep. Then they started to eat the pieces but it looked the shell was too hard so they just scraped some "pumpkin meat" from inside. It was much fun for all the school classes and other visitors being there around that time. I had the idea when I remembered seeing a pic here on BP.com with elephants and AG´s some time ago.

My second 610 pumpkin (1260 Weir x 1236 Eaton) will be carved for the Halloween festival at the zoo. We opened the bottom with an chainsaw, that was a pretty good scenery for the TV guys :)
Seeds are drying now, pics will follow in my diary.

It´s just a great experience to do something that brings a smile on children´s and adult faces at the same time. Nuff seen to do it again next year! Or would anyone prefer playing golf? :-)
Thanks BP.com and all the nice people on this site!

Ingo

10/27/2004 6:54:04 PM

Rockford,il

There is nothing worse than when an elephant gets loose in the patch and steps on your pumpkins.I have tried using the industrial sized rat traps to catch them but they always seem to get out of them.Although peanut butter on the trap does seem to attract them.I would be interested to hear what others are doing to prevent this problem.

10/27/2004 8:04:33 PM

Cologne / Germany

Oversized iron gates, some rocks and a moat around the patch. That´s how they do it in the zoo, it might help you next season :)

10/27/2004 8:18:03 PM

Long Island,New York

Patch elephants have been a problem here since day one....G

10/27/2004 8:30:57 PM

[email protected]

In keeping with my profession I make it a point to spray Elephant Repellent with my weekly fungicides.

It's tough when I forget & the Patch Pachyderms come stomping all over the vines. If they used the boards it wouldn't be so bad but.............

10/27/2004 9:09:20 PM

Indiana

Elephant manure should be wonderfull for the patch. hehe

10/27/2004 10:06:45 PM

Key West, FL

I shoot em

10/27/2004 11:01:35 PM

ENGLAND

We have a terrible problem with Wooly Mamoths, (spell chek needed), here in the UK. They tend to appear when the Wooly Aphids are about and go stomping around everywhere. Liverpool has the worst epidemic every year !!

10/28/2004 10:17:16 AM

Western NY

i have a magical stone that keeps the elephants away. worked so far.

10/28/2004 10:26:52 AM

[email protected]

So we'd better quarantine Alun Jones if he visits again. That or get him a phyto-cert. We don't need any Mammoths sneaking across the border in his luggage.

Call it "Patchland Security".

10/28/2004 11:22:24 AM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

I believe Joe took care of the one and only elephant problem we had in Wisconsin. Now those pesky Flamingoes are a different story.

10/28/2004 12:12:48 PM

Oz

Was that a organic pumkin? ;)

10/28/2004 2:34:28 PM

ENGLAND

Steve
LMAO

10/28/2004 3:33:36 PM

Missoula, Montana

Are the elephants pink? If so, a blue elephant gun has been known to rid the patch of pink elelphants......If they are blue...well,...you know what to do!

10/28/2004 4:14:24 PM

Itzetown City

People, if you have trouble with elephants, train them, use them, they are good as fertilizer supplier, good for watering and misting the patch and to use them as pumpkin lifters at next harvest. OK, it works with flying elephants only, caus they don´t stomping on the vines.

10/28/2004 4:29:43 PM

In the shade - PDX, OR

Gotta ask Chuck how well that elephant manure does in the patch - or at least how good it smells during the car ride home!


Floh - must have been fun to see that at the zoo. Did you get some free Zoo Doo?

10/28/2004 8:13:00 PM

Cologne / Germany

Check my diary when the pic is up - something from yesterday´s newspapers. No, I didn´t take Zoo Doo for my backyard...I have to keep the neighbours at good humor for next season :)
Maybe patch elephants are something to discuss at "Fertilizing and watering" - they might be pretty good misters too...

10/29/2004 7:45:45 AM

Itzetown City

Did I read it right in the newspaper? The pumpkin in the zoo were grown by Bauer (farmer) Neisse?

10/29/2004 3:35:59 PM

Cologne / Germany

You read right Werner but it´s just another example what you get from a "Bild" (yellow press) journalist after telling 10 times that Mr. Neisse organized the weigh-off and I was the grower :)

10/29/2004 5:42:32 PM