Re: meanest squirrel on earth
- To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
- Subject: Re: meanest squirrel on earth
- From: "* R* <r*@hotmail.com>
- Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 14:13:41 PDT
Hi Dan,
Are you sure it's a squirrel? I have had some similar problems... A
beautiful 6 lobed female blossom was destroyed the afternoon before it
would have bloomed; I was heartbroken. They seem to make a hole in one
side of the blossom and go into the center of the blossom, but they
don't eat very much of it. Also there's been random munching... leaf
stems and a bite here or there out of a tiny developing pumpkin. The
listers have said deer, groundhogs and rabbits are the main culprits...
We have none of those unless there is a very very stealthy rabbit
sneaking around, but I doubt that.
We have a lot of squirrels - they congregate at the bird feeder and eat
the black oil sunflower seed, which they LOVE. During one phase when
there was a lot of munching on pumpkin leaf stems I was giving them
peanuts, and I wondered if they were scooting into the patch to bury the
peanuts and munching a little along the way. In truth, I haven't seen
the squirrels in the patch at all. They scamper along a fence very
close to the pumpkins and go straight to the feeder. So if you are sure
it's squirrels, one solution might be to give them something they like
better than the pumpkins - the black oil sunflower seeds have a very
high oil content and the squirrels sit there contentedly and munch away.
I really really really don't think they are after the pumpkins.
About a week ago, I also (finally!) got an automated sprinkler system
set up - it's set now to do a one-minute cycle every 20 minutes or so
for cooling. What I've found with that is BIRDS! They love the water -
partly, I think it is just fun and cooling for them, but it also brings
out the worms and other bugs, which the birds then eat. Saturday
morning, there were two cardinals, two robins and assorted others
gathered around watching the sprinkler head expectantly. The robins,
especially, are very energetic and go racing around under the leaf
canopy pecking and hopping all over the place when the water is on and
for a while after. I didn't actually see them pecking any pumpkin
blossoms, but right now my best bet is that it's the robins who are
damaging everything. Dan, do you have sprinklers set up?
I also have lots of fat, well-fed opossums around, and they left some
sloppy possum footprints across the styrofoam I had down for my first
pumpkin. It wouldn't surprise me if they would bite into a blossom to
see if it's sweet enough to eat, but I'm less sure about the leaf stems.
I am not sure if one of these is the culprit or if there is something
else I haven't seen. I'm also wondering if switching to mist heads for
the cooling system would change worm/bug, and consequently, bird
behavior. I have netting wrapped around the developing females, and so
far, nothing has gone through that to get a blossom.
I have a pretty extensive frame up with netting on one side to protect
against flying beach balls and toys from the neighbor on that side - I
really hope I don't have to cover the entire plant with frame and
netting. This project is far enough out of hand already... When does
it become ridiculous? Or did it do that a long time ago?
Beth.
P.S....
>What are my next steps? A chicken wire fence?
You can get this great plastic netting at the hardware store if you
decide to go this route. I think it is made to cover pools or lawns or
something... MUCH easier to work with than chicken wire! We have a PVC
frame with this stuff all along one side - I was concerned about birds
flying into it, so we got some plastic pink ribbon (also at the
hardware store) and tied nice little bows all over it. It's very
festive looking and I haven't seen any strangled birds!
Good luck.
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