On 2 Sep 04 at 8:36, James Waddick wrote: > ...tree rats* > * tree rats are also known as grey squirrels, but this is too kind > and avoids calling a rat a rat! I seem to recall from the halcyon days of my undergraduate studies in Pasadena, California that the palms lining some streets were (so the story goes) infested with "tree rats." Allegedly, these would set up housekeeping in the tangle of dead fronds near the top of each palm. So beware: there may already be a critter out there with a prior claim on the epithet "tree rat." [NB the use of the weasel phrases/words "seem to recall", "so the story goes", and "allegedly" in the above account. I never saw one of these "tree rats" and have no idea what they were or whether they even existed. I don't remember seeing gray squirrels in Pasadena, but it's been a l-o-n-g time since I was there.] I find the gray squirrels here, a recent introduction by a misguided fool, do not go after my bulbs. I presume this is because the large English oaks around me, Quercus robur, shower down an abundance of acorns every fall. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island