Critters!!!!

[Andy M.]

With the snow rapidly receding and uncovering last year's garden, SO and I took a tour of the yard.

Some critter(s) have been hard at work. Three of five Euonymus bushes have been completely eaten! Leaves, stems and roots!

An ivy plant that we had climbing up the trunk of a tree and along the ground is gone! Even the stems on the tree trunk are gone. Some loose leaves are strewn about on the ground like the critter ate the stems and left the leaves unattached and undisturbed.

We've had ground hogs and moles in the past but not this much devastation.

Any ideas what it might be? Keep in mind we live in a condo complex, not a rural farm area.

 

[pacanis]

Wascal Wabbits. They don't hibernate like ground hogs and will eat bark through the winter if they get hungry enough. And with the snow we had last winter, they were hungry enough. I saw more signs of them this winter than I ever have. I've got quite a few scrub saplings out back the same way. The bark on the trunk and lower limbs, within a foot of the ground, gone. The ground hogs have not yet ventured out of their dens here yet, but the rabbits are digging nests already for the youngins that will be arriving shortly.

 

[Alix]

Ditto on the rabbit thing. I had two blueberry bushes that were completely demolished one year. Squirrels are nasty little buggers when it comes to bulbs too.

 

[bethzaring]

 

[PrincessFiona60]

and another.

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

Rabbit Stiffado!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[taxlady]

 

[jennyema]

My plants seem ok, but once the snow melted I noticed a bunch of big holes in my front yard, almost like a post-hole digger made them, except that they are smaller and irregularly shaped.

Single family house but right in the city.

 

[Andy M.]

Jen, I think you have/had a ground hog. They'll be happy to help you with the produce from your garden.

All you guys that suggested rabbits or posted cutsy pictures of rodents, thanks.

I just had an extended discussion with the owner of the landscaping company that cares for our condo property. As soon as he saw the damage he knew we had been feeding deer.

With the snow's receding and warmer weather approaching, the deer will be able to find alternative foods and will hopefully leave SO's precious garden alone. If not, I may wake up some morning to find her locked in mortal hand to hoof combat with Bambi. I'd expect her to win. If that happens. I'll be looking for venison recipes.

 

[Alix]

Mmmmm venison. Sounds yummy. Let us know whether it comes to blows. I heard there is a cougar pee spray on the market that keeps the deer away.

 

[Somebunny]

The deer here have eaten my tulips to the point that I don't think I will get blooms on some of them. They tend to like my roses too! We spray a natural deterrent made from eggs on our hedge, that seems to help if we keep at it every few weeks. I guess we need to spray the tulips too.

Sent from my iPhone using Cooking

 

[Saphellae]

Mmm. I loves some cougar pee on my veggies.

LOL

 

[taxlady]

Mmm. I loves some cougar pee on my veggies.

LOL

People pee works pretty well too.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

People pee works pretty well too.

SSSHHH!!!!! I almost had Shrek convinced I had to get my own cougar.

 

[taxlady]

SSSHHH!!!!! I almost had Shrek convinced I had to get my own cougar.

I thought he liked cats.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I thought he liked cats.

He draws the line at cats that weigh over 30 pounds.
And that want to eat him. Go figure!

 

[Sprout]

He draws the line at cats that weigh over 30 pounds.
And that want to eat him. Go figure!

Nah, a cougar wouldn't eat him, just play with him a little. Something tells me it wouldn't be very pleasant either way, though...


Good luck with the deer, Andy. Some friends of ours back in WA built raised beds for their garden to keep the smaller critters away. The deer thought they'd made a buffet for them, perfect height! I can't recall what they did to remedy that problem. I hope yours move on with the nicer weather.

 

[Andy M.]

...I hope yours move on with the nicer weather.

That's the expectation. With all kinds of vegetation beginning to sprout, food shouldn't be a problem any longer.

Funny this is, all kinds of critters have been spotted in our neighborhood - coyote, rabbits, ducks, fox, groundhogs, but no one has seen a deer.

 

[Sprout]

Has anyone seen deer tracks? I'm not sure about there, but it seems that where I grew up (Upper Peninsula of Michigan) the more timid ones preferred the very early morning to venture into yards and gardens.
Of course, iI had friends that lived out in the sticks who would find them in their back yard in broad daylight, especially if they had apple trees.

 

[Andy M.]

The ground is such a mess because of squirrels digging little holes all over the place looking for the nuts they buried last Fall that it's really hard to spot tracks.