Rabbits ate off nearly all the azalea buds I had (nearly 200 flowers by estimate). No other animal is likely as a possibiity in our area---nor birds, except, possibly a pair of cardinals.No woodchucks any more, and the buds were too high. No deer close by. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jane McGary" <janemcgary@earthlink.net> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 11:20 AM Subject: [pbs] Catching the frit eater > For the past two years my bulb collection has been ravaged by an > animal that crops off the flowering stems of Fritillaria, > Ornithogalum, Calochortus, and a few other genera, resulting in a > loss of seed crops, not to mention extreme anger and frustration on > the part of the gardener. I didn't know what was doing it. I > suspected rabbits, which have invaded the frames and eaten the > foliage of Crocus; but it seemed to me that rabbits would also eat > the frit foliage, and this animal was ignoring nonflowering plants. I > knew it wasn't mice, because the stems were bitten off higher than a > mouse could reach when the stems extended above the netting with > which I was trying to protect them. It wasn't deer, because it was > happening when the frame lights were lowered. Gophers are rare here, > and there was no sign of their excavations, nor were bulbs being dug > up. I considered the mountain beaver (Oplodonta), a genus and indeed > family endemic to the Pacific Northwest and present in my woods, but > it's a big animal (about the size of a groundhog) that would have > trampled plants as well as eating them. > > Finally, yesterday evening, I spotted it: a chipmunk. I immediately > baited and placed a live trap near where I had seen it exit the > frame, and this morning it was there in the cage. Today it's going on > a very long ride, and it won't have fun doing it, because I'm > combining the chipmunk relocation with my collie's vet appointment, > and Winnie the collie gets to stare at the little devil for a few miles. > > I had begin to suspect chipmunks after noticing one biting the > emerging foliage off a potted Japanese maple near the house. Possibly > they are attracted to plant material that's unusually sweet in > spring, and the nectar-rich liliaceous flowers and their succulent > stems would qualify. Interestingly, they did not take some of the > California Fritillaria species (section Liliorrhiza) or species in > the Imperiales section (F. imperialis, F. eduardii, etc.); perhaps > these contain some compound that is offensive to predators. Nor have > they taken many tulips in the frame, though deer bite off the stems > of those in the garden. > > I'm told that chipmunks are not common in urban areas, but if you're > seeing this kind of damage to flowering stems, watch for them. They > are easy to trap in squirrel-size Havahart live traps baited with > sunflower seeds (I stick the seeds to the trigger platform with > honey). Because they're a native mammal I hesitate to kill them; I > will have no such reservations once I move nearer the city and have > to protect my bulbs from the introduced eastern gray squirrel, or > worse yet from rats. > > Jane McGary > Northwestern Oregon, USA > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/