Somebody ate my rhizomes! Help!

Have you named it? If you give it a name we can all send it dibilitating thoughts so it goes into the trap.

How about:

Ziggy the terrible
Billy bismuth (after Billy Carter of cast iron stomach fame)
Pepto Pete
Castro (in honor of having survived so many assasination attempts)
Napoleon ( who was slowly poisoned to death)
Robbie the destroyer.

You can vote. I want a squirrel zapper that I can rig to my iris beds!

Rubia16,

I have had squirrels eat newly planted hyacinth bulbs so I know they will do that. It left a mess much like your photo. Fortunately I have not had them eat iris(that I know of) but it could account for some I have never seen bloom after years of waiting. There are things that happen in the garden that are a mystery and will stay that way.

K

I like Ziggy the Terrible.

Rubia- Your photo looks exactly like what I found after the little bugger got into my iris!

Hope you catch him! I anchored my rhizomes with rocks to keep them upright. My culprit doesn't uproot them on purpose, he just runs through the field with no thought to newly planted irises and tips them over occasionally. The rocks are making a huge difference. Harley is the younger of my German Shepherds. The older one, Maddie, I taught to walk around the iris rows. I didn't work as diligently with Harley, so most of the time he plods right through them.

My rbother has a shepherd-- they are such nice dogs (but a lot of work and very head strong). I'm afraid a dog is out of the question here, and my mom has cat allergies.

I can report that trapping is very inexact. I caught 2 chipmunks (one of whom got slightly injured trying to dig through the bottom of the haveahart trap. This made me feel very bad.) It is also hard to release the door without getting bitten.

I have tried bricks (but had fewer bricks than plants) and big rocks. The squirrel will actually chew bits off of exposed rhizome tops in the ground and he has, in one case, dug under the rock, which tipped to expose some rhizome to eat. He is determined. Or he is playing with my mind.

He is doing it on purpose. He seems to have developed a taste for the rhizomes. I think the idea that iris rhizomes are poisonous must be an urban myth. He has eaten somewhere in the range of 20 plants. Or maybe he is immune.

In desperation, I got out thisold bottle of liquid fence (very stinky stuff that I hate because I always get it on me) that is supposed to keep rabbits and deer away. I sprayed every plant in the three beds he was getting. I do not see any plants up this morning. But I also repositioned the rocks.

I think that before my big order arrives (oh when oh when?) I will buy some fine guage chicken wire and try to do that to protect the expensive new plants. I will report on how that works.

Sigh.

After reading all you have been through, and considering all the longterm issues with trying to maintain and enjoy your garden in spite of chicken wire which may not work, it appears to me you must get rid of the pest rather than try to work around it. Is there a place to put the trap where chipmunks do not normally roam but your pest does? Like on a tree limb? It could be attached. Where there is a will there is a way. You might call a pest control company. You could start with your local animal control or a vet's office and see if they could recommend a private firm. A few phone calls could go a long way to an enduring solution. You need a solution. Perhaps the chipmunks have learned to stay away from the trap and you are giving up just before you would succeed. Think outside the box to get that pesky critter into one. You will be glad you did.

K

I won't guarantee it will work for you, but this works for me with gophers and voles -- I take a jar of jalapeno slices, drain the juice into a spray bottle, add 3 teaspoons alum and spray the plants. Anything trying to munch will NOT do it again! The jalopeno juice burns their mouths and the alum does a "super pucker-up", actually taking their breath away for a few moments. This was recommended as a "humane" way to get pests to stop by my vet. It is bad, but won't kill them. They will associate the smell of the jalapenos with the pucker-up, and they will avoid the plants. The downside of this is, of course, you have to reapply it every couple of days or after each rain until the pest finally gives up for good. Good luck! I heard someone say they trapped a squirrel, took it 10 miles away, and it showed up again a week later, the same squirrel! I think I would just shoot him -- sorry!

Sue

O I'm luving the jalapeno cocktail for Damien. That should work great for my seedlings. Thanks MissIrisbert.

OMG. 10 miles? I do not have a gun. I bet I couldn't bring myself to shoot him even if I could hit him.

If the stinky stuff gets washed off in today's rain (natch!) I am going to get some alum and jalapenos. I like that. I will give him 5 tbls!

I bet a pest company will laugh at me, but it is a good idea. Now, which one is zippy the terrible?

Honestly, I feel like I am in that movie Mousehunt (or was it mousetrap?), when they even send the mouse to Cuba (to Castro actually) to get rid of him and he still comes back. They end up destroying their house trying to get rid of him.

Blood meal works to keep rabbits away since they think there is a predator around that will eat them. Not sure if it works with squirrels, but it might be worth a try.

It works for Damien cathysplants but only when I first apply it.