. . . . . . to a wild creature who visits the garden?
I have no idea, however, here and now, I am apologizing profusely to 'Ms. Jane DOE'
(as we've named our pretty young lady deer - see previous post) for putting
the entire blame on her for the destruction of the sunflowers!
Yesterday afternoon: sunny, humid, late day storms all around us but fortunately
we escaped high winds and quarter-sized hail. Not a deer in sight but more sunflowers
were literally struck down, when we weren't looking, by some animal chewing
through the thick stalks - about 12" up from the ground.
The flower heads/seeds that hit the ground had been chewed up, gobbled down,
spit out. . . . . and only defoliated stems and piles of yellow petals remained.
We began to rethink the culprit.
Here he is, maybe one of several who hang about our garden. . . . . . . . and this
is where I saw him early this morning when I first looked out the window.
(By now, you must think I spend my entire day looking out the window with a
camera in hand - I admit I sometimes do).
More smaller flower stems were on the ground, however the thickest stalks
were still standing and there he (or perhaps she) was, clambering about on
the leafy stems, reaching for the seed-filled heads and having a
healthy/hearty breakfast.
I know the deer come through at night - I see their hoof prints - they may
even have a nibble on the sunflowers on their way, but I now really don't think
they've eaten all the sunflowers this summer, squirrels have definitely had more
than their share!
Will I plant sunflowers next year?
Of course I will - but I'll have to buy seeds as I've not been
able to rescue any from this summer's crop.
Of course I will - but I'll have to buy seeds as I've not been
able to rescue any from this summer's crop.
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Oh, those rascally squirrels. Too bad about your sunflowers.
ReplyDeleteSquirrels are clever, aren't they! It is by no means an easy conclusion for a small animal's brain to understand that, if you chew through a stalk, something big and tasty will fall down.
ReplyDeleteNaughty thing! I'll keep a watch on my sunflowers, as we have a squirrel who comes to the bird table quite often.
ReplyDeleteDear Mary, You might find sunflowers in the most unexpected places next year. Those pesky little squirrels will distribute them for you.
ReplyDeleteOh, that naughty squirrel! We had to take down our bird feeders because the squirrels ate all the food. Our neighbor-friends down the road showed us their feeders and how they put baffles on the poles, so now we're in search of those. No hope for the sunflowers though, I guess. You might have sunflowers growing all over your yard next year! ;-)
ReplyDeleteBad squirrel lol.
ReplyDeleteOh the Ms. Jane Doe! or Ms. Naughty Squirrel! I haven't seen a squirrel do that, but must not breathe a word or he or she will be up there soon too.
ReplyDeleteYou should have asked me, I could have told you it was squirrels! We cannot have sunflowers with them. In fact, we have tried to grow cherry tomatoes. They don't eat them, they just pick them off and look at them and throw them across the yard because...because they are simply evil, I guess! Can you guess I am NOT a fan of squirrels? LOL!
ReplyDelete