bulb predators
ConroeJoe@aol.com (Mon, 06 Sep 2004 09:32:08 PDT)

Hi,

I don't think our major damage is caused by actual predators of bulbs, but we
have some animals that cause major damage to plantings and anything in their
way.

In this area feral pigs and armadillos are the "great destroyers." When pigs
are done with a lawn or flower bed it can look as though bulldozers have gone
through. They do eat tubers and roots, but I don't know if they have a
tasted for garden species--maybe it is the roots of the ornamental grasses they
prefer.

Armadillos are more limited in the damage they cause and they don't eat
bulbs. But they are inexhaustible diggers when on the trail of insects, beetles,
worms, etc. A single armadillo can uproot many dozens of bulbs and perennials
in a night of earthworm feasting.

Luckily, neither of these animals have hit my neighborhood hard yet--the pigs
did minor damage a mile up the road. They both abound in the adjacent forest
but seem happy to avoid my ferocious Chihuahuas.

Joe