Mystery Troublemaker

Hi guys, I have a mystery critter causing trouble in my yard and was wondering if you could help me figure out what it is.

We have a large garden in our backyard, but my mom also has plants on a hill behind the yard, in a wooded area. Here's what the mystery critter has done:

- Pulled up and eaten some plants on the right end of the wooded hill.
- Knocked down half of a corn plant, but didn't steal any corn. (Also on the right end of the wooded hill.)
- Keeps knocking down our 3 ft. tall frog and crane lawn ornaments, in the garden in the back yard.

I'm thinking it's probably deer, but we don't see them very often and when we do, it's an isolated incident. Whatever it is has come back 2 or 3 times already. Also, if it was deer, why didn't they eat any of the yummy plants in the garden, when they would knock over the lawn ornaments? I haven't seen any hoof tracks and the wooded area is all dirt, so they probably would have made some. I did see a red fox the other day, but I don't know if foxes would be strong enough to knock over the lawn ornaments. The frog has 2 big rocks holding his base down and the crane has thick legs that are pushed a few inches into the ground. My dad thinks a hawk may be knocking down the ornaments, but I haven't seen any hawks since last year. Any ideas? And any solutions?

~Kristy

Hi Kristy,

This is just a possible idea, not even really a suggestion! One of my sisters-in-law put a multi-colored pinwheel sort of ornament in her yard a couple of years ago and a raccoon apparently took exception to it! First it dismantled the thing and threw bits of it about. When she put it back together, the animal apparently decided it was time for more desperate measures and totally destroyed the thing. If I remember rightly, it also ate some of her flowers that were in the same general area. (We know that it was a raccoon because she saw it "taking care of business" one of those nights.)

Hi McCool,

Well, I suppose that's a possibilty. We have them here, I just haven't seen any in awhile. Guess the raccoon didn't like that pinwheel, huh? LOL! Whatever it is doesn't like our lawn ornaments. I think it feels threatened by them because they're tall.

The mystery critter was back, since I posted about him. Ripped down the rest of the corn and the frog statue was knocked over again. The weird thing is, though, whatever is doing it doesn't eat the corn. It just rips it down and leaves it close to where it was. Is it stupid? The frog did have a hornet's nest in its mouth and now that's gone. So, maybe whatever it was likes honey. I dunno if wasps even make honey. Maybe it's somthing that eats bees? I dunno. At first I thought it probably was a deer, but this is becoming more bizarre each time. Watch me find out it's some kids playing a joke or something, lol. What confuses me the most is that the corn plant was messed up, but not eaten or taken. Hmmmmm...

~Kristy

This message was edited Aug 23, 2006 11:23 PM

Soak the ground around the corn and look for the footprints in the morning.

Lilypon,

Ooooh, good idea. It's all ripped down, but if it's still lying there and whatever it is gets hungry, it might come back. Okay.

~Kristy

Do you have bears in your area?

GardenMermaid,

No, thank God! LOL! Had nightmares that I did, though, lol. When we went to visit one of my relatives in West Virginia one time, I freaked out. They lived in the middle of the woods and when we almost were there, my aunts are like, "Oh yeah, they've been having some black bear problems so keep an eye out..." and I was like, "WHAT?! No, must leave now. Not getting out of car!" And we got there at night, ack! I knew how Goldilocks must've felt, lol.

~Kristy

We discovered footprints of a Moose (really early in the season......thankfully), deer and skunk in the mud at our garden patch.

Kristy if you plant Pumpkin vines all around your patch (and frog statue ;) and esp. around the top, bottom and sides of your corn (train the vines between the rows) you'll find that they will probably stay away. They don't like to get tangled/tripped up in them any more than we do (and raccoons, if it is them, really don't like the feel of it).
Pam

This message was edited Aug 23, 2006 11:18 PM

The bears were probably keeping an eye out on you too. *grin*

Being a native of the west coast, I've grown up with mountain lion, bobcats, bears, coyotes, racoons, rattlesnakes etc. You learn how to live with them, and most of the time you don't see them. I always make a point of learning about the local wildlife when I travel somewhere so that I don't disturb them and they don't disturb me.
Sometimes I forget that others are not blessed with the same critters and my casual comments about a recent sighting gets anything but a casual response. oops.

Hi guys,

Well thanks for all your advise. I'm going to try watering around where the corn is lying on the ground and see if I get any tracks. It was only 3 stalks of corn. We're in the suburbs. It must've fallen off one of the trains and started growing there, cause we didn't plant it. We had some before and a few wheat stalks, also. Pam, that's funny what you said about the vines, because there is wild pumpkin (inedible) and Virginia Creeper growing everywhere back there. There's actually vines all around where the corn is already. Wow, a moose, huh? I thought deer were big enough, lol. That would probably freak me out.

The likely suspects so far are: deer, red fox, or raccoons. The other, bigger animals we have around here are coyotes (never saw one near the houses, though, just on the streets), possums, or skunks (only saw one once).

GardenMermaid, I'm glad I don't live around big dangerous animals. I always kind of shudder when I think that people leave near mountain lions and bears. I guess the black bears aren't that bad, but grizzlys, no way! We don't even have big snakes here, so I guess I'm lucky. This critter isn't causing too many problems. My parents wanted to eat the corn, but since it was next to a big pokeweed plant, that probably wouldn't have been a good idea anyway. I'm just curious what is doing it.

~Kristy

Here's a pic of when the corn was first knocked over

The vines are pretty solid all around my corn (the seeds were planted right beside them, and all around, and are growing about 8 feet out and between each of the rows as well)........you've got a path that gives them access to your corn.


This message was edited Aug 24, 2006 12:13 AM

I'm guessing deer or racoons or both. It will be interesting to see what footprints you get. Were your garden ornaments that were knocked over recently installed? I'm wondering if they are in a "migratory path" and are getting knocked down because they are in the way.

We're very protective of our wildlife here. The "big dangerous animals" usually mind their own business and are usually only dangerous to those who don't respect them.
The two footed animals are far more dangerous than the four footed ones.

Here's my garden patch......it's out in the country so we had to plant it with garden stealing critters in mind. The pumpkins were also planted beside our main path so as the season progessed and produce ripened the path became pretty unpassable (we can't get near the corn in our section of the community garden without a lot of fancy footwork and that is in the daytime ;).

This message was edited Aug 24, 2006 12:39 AM

Impressive vegie patch.
How wide of a pumpkin border do you need to keep the deer out?

Thanks garden_mermaid :) It's about eight feet wide all around the veggies that they are attracted to. Others there have had problems (but they nice passable paths). The only critter I haven't stopped is a resident *fat on fresh peas* gopher q:. Who everyone has tried poison grain on (he kicks it out), and drowning (he's got too many exit tunnels). Thankfully tho there only seems to be one and he has many pea patches to sample from

Can't figure out who your visitor is, either, lilypon. Raccoons love to eat corn, the fresher the better, so they're not likely. And red foxes are pretty strictly carnivorous, and usually very shy, so they're very unlikely. Hope you'll find some tracks!

If it is deer purchasing Deer-Off was mentioned by my DH as well as hanging bars of Irish Spring soap (you have to rotate every couple of weeks) ........ pumpkin vines are still one of the best deterrents for coons.

We also have a larger dog that visits while we are working there......urine is also a deterrent (both from animals and humans).

This message was edited Aug 24, 2006 12:05 PM

Hi guys,

Well, we had a great thunderstorm last night, so I went out this morning to look for tracks. And didn't find any. ;( And it was really muddy... I had Frankenstein shoes by the time I was done looking, lol! I was disappointed, but I think that now the corn is ripped down, the mystery guest probably won't come back. But, you never know. He didn't eat the corn, after all. (Which I still think is really weird!) The lawn ornaments were still upright, too, so he wasn't back last night.

You're right, Lilypon, there is kinda a path to the corn, lol. The back hill, where the corn was, used to have vines and brambles and all sorts of things back there. My mom cleared it all out and now animals have easy access to yummy plants, lol. I've actually seen the deer and foxes look around when they get to our cleared out section, like, "Hey, this is nice." LOL! The vines are all around the edges of our clearing, but I guess there aren't enough. Well, the corn was just an experiment, anyway. We don't raise crops or anything. It just started growing and my mom left it there. When it started getting tall, my parents were kinda excited to eat the corn, though, lol. BTW, Lilypon, that's a nice veggie plot. You live in Saskatchewan (I know I totally butched the spelling, lol), right? I didn't know it got that green up there. Guess I always pictured it as really snowy all year long. Pretty cool.

GardenMermaid, no, the ornaments aren't new and I don't think they're in a migratory path. We have fences on both sides of our lawn and our house closes off the third side. The only free access animals have it through the back - by the hill. I have a little map of our garden in my garden diary, if you're interested. I think if you click my name you can get to it. I think whatever it is (which may be something different than the corn demolisher) is threatened by them or something. You really didn't scare me too much talking about mountain lions and bears and such. I think it's neat that we have animals like that in the US, I just wouldn't want to meet one face to face, ya know? But I have had nightmares about bears and wolves before, lol. Glad they are't around here. But I bet it would be really cool to see a large, wild animal, in the wild... as long as you were far enough away to feel safe.

Spartacusaby, you're right about the foxes being shy. The one I saw about a week or so ago wouldn't even look at me, even though I whistled to him. I know they eat mainly small animals, but they will eat some plants, too. But, I guess that's just if they can't find enough prey or something. Hmmm... maybe it was the foxes? Maybe they were curious, pulled the corn down, tasted it, didn't like it, and left it there? I dunno. I was pretty surprised some other animals haven't come and gobbled up the corn yet. Cause we just left it laying there. I did find a half-eaten, big mushroom by the corn, the first day some of it was pulled down. So, whatever did it eats mushrooms, too. Weirder and weirder. Maybe it's Sasquatch? LOL!

Lilypon, thanks for the Irish Spring advice. I knew there was a type of soap deer didn't like, but I couldn't remember which one. I thought it was Zest. I guess any one with a strong scent, huh? I don't think we have enough deer problems to buy Deer-off. But, if the mystery critter still comes around and starts eating some of our other plants, then that might be an option.

Thanks for all your help, guys. I really appreciate it. Like I said, the critter isn't causing a lot of damage, I'm just so very curious to know what it is... cause it's doing odd things. I'll let you know if anything else happens. And I'll be on the lookout for tracks, too. Thanks again.

~Kristy

(Here's a pic of the vines by the corn.)

This message was edited Aug 25, 2006 12:48 AM

Argh, I posted the wrong picture. Here are the vines...

They're all over the ground and go up the trees. But, they stop right before the corn. Guess Mom cleared too many of them out.

Looks like a Vitis. Which native grape vine it is would be beyond me because I think your photos are fuzzy but maybe that's just me. Could be Vitis riparia? Most of the Vitis around here are hosts to Sphinx moth caterpillars which I am really trying to attract to my property-
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/savanna/tables/table1.htm

Great bird magnet too-
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/savanna/tables/table2.htm

The fruits are an important source of food to fox, skunks, raccoons, and opossums.

As you've noticed, they are somewhat aggressive. I leave most of them here unless they are choking out a highly desirable plant.

Kristy your soil is pretty similar to what we have here.......I actually kick my sandals off and work in the garden barefoot since it's so much easier to wash the layers off them. Like your vine but I think you are going to have to plant a *little* bit more. ;)

I think many believe we have snow year round ;) but we were 90 F two days ago when the above pic was taken......last year we only had 2 or 3 snowfalls and they didn't amount to much (about 3"). It stayed around the unheard of high of 0 degrees F for 7/8's of the previous winter. We actually had more rain then snow last year?!?!? Crops are ripening up here now so golden hues are now the predominate colour (the veggie patches are an oasis of green however :). You spelt Saskatchewan correctly BTW but would love to hear you pronounce it (when we cross the border we see peeps eyeing our licence plate and getting pretty tongue tied ;).

Pics from Northern Saskatchewan (11 driving hours north of my location): http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/519711/ Even tho it is getting a little closer to the northern tundra summer heat does eventually arrive there as well. Years ago I lived in Inuvik, NWT (above the arctic circle) and very close to Tuktoyaktuk and the arctic ocean and even there it can hit the mid 70's come summer (with mosquitoes that are downright nasty).
Pam

We are even growing watermelon, canteloupe and honey dew melons up here this year......

LOLOL just saw the newer pics you posted......you definitely have a impressive growth going up your tree however.

Kristy, it will be interesting to see what critter or critters is knocking down the ornaments. Since there are no footprints, do you have any large owls or other birds that could perhaps have knocked the corn and/or ornaments down when they tried to land or launch from them? Might be why the corn wasn't eaten. A bird of prey hunting a mouse or squirrel or somthing else that was in the middle of eating the mushroom? Just a thought.

I cruised your diary and your garden is beautiful. One of these days I'll get my garden diary updated.

Adding a link here to help you feel more comfortable around our wildlife....in case you are ever in this neck of the woods. You are more likely to be attacked by a domestic dog than any of our wildlife and that's not highly likely either.
:-)

http://www.openspace.org/preserves/highlight_mountain_lions.asp

Guess what, everyone? We have tracks!

But, since I'm not a track expert, I still don't know what the mystery critter is for sure. I took some pictures, but there's only one really good track. So I'll put it at the end of this post. It looked like there were only 3 toes and what looked like a thumb - the fourth "finger" mark was away from the others. The larger of the two types of tracks (front and back feet, I guess) are 2 to 2 and a half inches long. Maybe an inch wide, but probably not that big. Behind the "fingers" was a big pad mark and behind that was a smaller one.

I've got the critter narrowed down to 2 choices. It's either a woodchuck (we've had them behind our yard several different years, but not that recently) or gray squirrels (they're always everywhere). Now, I'm thinking it's the woodchuck, because the tracks look the most like his - the single track and the group of smudged tracks. If I do the link right, you can see them here - http://enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?cat=4&rgn=&allSpecies=y&source=zipGuides&zipGuide=tracks®ionZip=60154&btnSubmit.x=13&btnSubmit.y=12&trackType=18&filter=18&curGroupID=5&lgfromWhere=&viewType=tracks&curPageNum=1

The website says that they start fattening up in early fall for hibernation. So, he could be gorging right on schedule. And we already know that they'll eat almost anything. But... the corn wasn't eaten, that's what keeps getting me. So, that leads me to think it may be just plain old squirrels. Bummer, I know.

The single tracks are close, but the track pattern doesn't match at all, as seen here - http://enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?cat=4&rgn=&allSpecies=y&source=zipGuides&zipGuide=tracks®ionZip=60154&btnSubmit.x=13&btnSubmit.y=12&trackType=17&filter=17&curGroupID=5&lgfromWhere=&viewType=tracks&curPageNum=2

The website also talks about the squirrels digging little holes (duh, lol) and there was a little hole dug by the corn when I found the tracks. But, the big reason I think the mystery critter may be an Eastern Gray Squirrel is because of this little tidbit, given in another squirrel description: "When squirrels raid cornfields, it may be possible to tell which species is the culprit: The Eastern Fox Squirrel usually cuts and hauls an entire cob to a feeding perch, which is strewn with husks and bits of cob, while the Eastern Gray Squirrel bites the kernels from the cob, then eats only the germ, dropping the remainder."

Ta-da... most of the corn was just left there. I don't know what the germ of the corn is, but is sounds like the Gray squirrels just like the tasty bits on the end and leave the rest. So, here's my theory. We have a fence that runs along the back of one side of the garden and ends right by the corn. So... the squirrels may have been playing and jumping on the lawn ornaments, causing them to fall over. Or, they may live in the big, blue spruce (at the end of the fence and next to the corn) and the hornet's nest in the frog's mouth was a threat to them, so they knocked the frog down to mess with the bees. Same could go for the corn. Maybe they were just playing (cause they're crazy, I know where the term "squirrelly" came from now, lol) and jumped on the corn like a bungee cord. Bounced around on it for fun. Then realized it was food and just ate that little bit and left the rest.

Or, the other scenario, our woodchuck (which we call "HiThereKids," don't ask) or one of his relatives is back. So... he undulates into the garden looking for some tasty flowers and encounters Farmer Frog, which is about as big as he is. So he gets scared and knocks him down. Then he waddles further into the garden and sees Mr. Stork, who is probably bigger than he is, and he does the same thing. But... if it was a woodchuck, I'm pretty sure all the corn and stalks and everything would have been gone. They're gluttons. At least all of the corn would have been eaten. So... we've got either some goofy squirrels or a dumb woodchuck or both, lol. Not that I think woodchucks are dumb, I think they're cute and fat. But if he didn't eat the corn, then he would have to be a stupid woodchuck, right? So, if he did this stuff, that's cool. I don't begrudge him. I guess if the squirrels did it, that's fine, too. I just wanted to make sure we didn't have any skunks or really bold foxes or something else I might have to watch out for. Not really be worried about, just keep an eye out for. Cause I scared a skunk back there one time and he did a handstand on me and I just freaked, LOL! And foxes are small and I don't think they'd try to hurt a person, but I still wouldn't want them getting too close to me. Might mean they were rabid or something.

OKay... so here's the only good track I found. If you guys think it might be something else, let me know. Man, I thought it might be something cool and it might just have been stupid squirrels, argh. LOL!

~Kristy

Okay, now that I've let y'all down (the mystery critter may only be squirrels, I can't believe it!), let me answer your other posts.

Well, I've learned a lot from everyone! Equilibrium, I think you nailed the species of vine! How did you do that from my fuzzy pix? (By the way, yes, it is you, my pix are crystal clear, LOL!) I'm quite impressed. I thought it was a type of grape and my mom told me I was crazy; she'd never seen any fruit on them. Well, I haven't either, but it sure looks exactly like Frost Grape, or Vitis riparia, in my Reader's Digest North American Wildlife book. That thing is like my plant and animal Bible, lol. It's much better for plants, but the animal info is pretty good, too. It also looks like the California Grape, but that's not in my area, so that's not it. There is Virginia Creeper back there, too... but I think the vine that's taken over 2 trees is the grape. I feel vindicated now, aha, I was right! Hehehe, thanks, Equilibrium! Interesting that it provides food for so many creatures. Pretty cool.

Lilypon, yep, there's a good bit o' vine back there, but it stops right before the corn, so that little path was like, "Welcome to the Critter Restaurant. What would you like to sample today? Corn on the cob? Frost grape? Wild pumpkin? Oh, I'm sorry, that last one is inedible. But how about some tasty truffles?" Okay, sorry, lol. But we didn't plant any of it; it's wild. Hey... if it is grape, which I'm pretty sure it is, I'll finally get to see drunk animals if I'm lucky, lol. Bird and animal watch in (the winter? Noooo... whenever the grapes ferment) and maybe I'll see birds falling off the wire or a chubby groundhog wobbling around, LOL! Hey, maybe that's why the garden ornaments were knocked over?? The groundhog wasn't scared, he was drunk! LOL! Okay, maybe not, but it could happen, right? (Someone's just recently figured out how to change the type, can you tell? LOL!)

So you hit 90 degrees a few days ago? Wow! I never woulda thought. I looked at your pix on the thread you hyperlinked. What a beautiful country. I'm glad it was relatively warm for you last winter. Is it just me, or has it been getting much warmer over the past few years? GardenMermaid? Equilibrium? Think it's global warming or just a coincidence? Cause like you said, Lilypon, we didn't get much snow last winter, either. Not that that's a complaint, mind you. It's just unusual. I thought Chicago had some of the worst winters in the US, until I saw the movie Fargo, lol. Okay, they win. I think Wisconsin and Michigan get nailed pretty bad, too. Must have something to do with the Great Lakes. But Canada, hey, you guys got us beat. Hey, I might have spelled Saskatchewan right (which is *utterly* amazing), but... I thought it was in Alaska for a few seconds, lol. Was going to say the only thing I know about Alaska is from the tv show Northern Exposure, then I realized you're in Canada, doh! LOL! ;P And, yes, I think I can say Saskatchewan correctly. Sass, as in sassy, "catch", a, wan - as in "pale and wan." LOL! Man, I was an English major, I should've done it phonetically, but I forgot how, lol. But, forget about me saying those other town names correctly, lol. I may be a teeny tiny bit Native American, but I don't think that'd help me pronounce those names, lol. So... how'd you come to live above the arctic circle? Were you born pretty far north? Just curious. Anyway, that's a nice cateloupe you've got growing there. That's what it is, right? I thought it was a watermelon at first, cause it was more oval shaped than round, but then I noticed the skin. Your pumpkin vines must be working if critters haven't ran away with that already!

GardenMermaid, that was a good idea about the large birds. I never thought of that. Could've tried to perch on the corn or ornaments and knocked them over. At first, when I read your post, I thought you meant the bird was eating the mushroom and I was like, "Um, some birds eat mushrooms?" Then I realized what you meant, lol. Pictured a hawk perched on Farmer Frog with one foot and eating a mushroom with the other and my brain was like, "Um, does not compute, lol." Thanks for the compliments on our garden. I can't take credit for all of it, cause it's mostly my mom's. But I'm expanding from my two beds, hehehe. I checked out that link you posted and do feel a bit better. You hear about mountain lion and bear attacks on the news and it gets you all freaked out. But if it was real bad, you'd hear about it all the time. Knowing that I'm more likely to get hit by lightning than attacked by a mountain lion makes me feel safer. Guess I'm just kinda a wuss when it comes to wildlife. I love it and am probably more likely to be one of those people that gets bitten by being too friendly. As in, trying to feed or pet something that is wild, lol. But the big ones do inspire respect and some fear. Healthy fear. As in, do not mess with this animal or you'll be sorry, lol. But, then again, I'm afraid of deer now after a buck almost gored me when it was in rut. LOL! (I can laugh about it now, I'm still alive, LOL!) ;P

Okay, y'all. Guess that's it for now. I'll be on the lookout for "HiThereKids" or crazy squirrels. And if I see anything else, I'll let ya know. Thanks a bunch!

~Kristy (I'm going for the "Longest Post" record, heh.)

This message was edited Aug 25, 2006 6:28 PM

IrisLover79 - Before you say, "just squirrels" get ready for a battle! Everyone thought it was funny that I was having trouble that they were eating all the birdseed. Got squirrel proof feeders. They ate through the plastic garbage can to get the seed. I bought a metal one and they pried the lid of. I chained the lid to it and the got that off. I chained the lid and set a concrete cat on top of that. They knocked off the cat and were working on the chain by the time I got to the door. They destroyed my cedar siding and two screen doors climbing up to leap to feeders or cans or heaven knows what. Last week I had a pest and termite inspections. They have eaten through the ductwork in the air conditioning in my crawl space, torn off the insulation and left a ton of droppings! The cost of this repair is unbelievable. And I might add that I own 3.6 acres. About half an acre is my yard. The rest is natural woods with 6 different types of oak trees and 2 types of hickory and I put corn out for them at the edge of the woods. They never touch the corn. Laws or not, I am going to find a way to get them off my property! I had nothing in my crawl space so they had no reason to be in there for food!

Mollie - sounds like you need to recruit some owls and hawks. I only have an acre, but like you, a good portion of that has mature trees, mostly oaks and hickories - and the adjoining neighbors yards have woods too. But like you, the squirrels would chew through anything plastic if they thought they could get to the seed. They even somehow managed to chew the bottom of my squirrel-proof feeder - one where the bottom is on springs and covers the seed when their weight is on it.

However, our owl population has increased in the past couple of years (at least 4 within hooting distance of our home), and the hawks are staying steady - the result being much less furry-tailed rats. Maybe you could see if any wildlife rehabilitaion places in your area would be willing to do a release or two in your neighborhood. I don't know if they do that kind of thing, but our hawks and owls seem quite happy despite us being in "city limits", and you sound like you have plenty for them to eat at your house.

Night_Bloom, Boy, you just hit on something that I had not really thought about. But when I moved here I used to watch the hawks circle over daily and I would hear the owls at night. As I think I mentioned there has been a big decline in the number of birds in my backyard but not until you mentioned it did it hit me that I have not seen the hawks the last couple of years and I don't hear the owls at night. Does anyone know who you could call about a study or something. Frankly it would just be me. I live way out on a road that is about a mile long and has only 5 houses on it. And, believe me, none of my neighbors worry about this kind of thing. I worked so hard and used to have literally dozens and dozens of birds at my feeders many times a day. Although I have four feeder the birds would have to circle waiting for a chance to land! I had my regulars and usually during migration time would see at least one or two that were passing through. This no longer happens. Boy, you really jogged my mind. All this began happening at the same time - decrease in birds, the hawks and owls gone, and the great influx of squirrels. Any suggestions about whom I could contact would be greatly appreciated.

Our PBS station periodically shows a video called "Squirrel Wars". If it comes on your local station or if the video/dvd is available at your library, I highly recommend it.
It's hilarious to see how well the squirrels have trained their humans. We were rolling on the floor laughing through the whole program. They do offer some useful tips though.

Here's a link to a site that sells the video in case you can't wait for PBS to bring you the tales of furrage:



http://www.thebackyardbirdwatcher.com/books/SW_V/SW_V.htm

Sorry Mollie, I hit send before I answered your question.
Your local department of wildlife or fish & game may be place to start with the question on bird population decline. I would also check for a local audubon society or sierra club chapter.

My sister lives in an area of Oregon where grass seed is a major crop. The grass farms have put out so much poison that the woods in that area are devoid of life.
We climbed a peak and looked out over the fields and were struck by the total absence of hawks, vultures or any flying bird for that matter. It was eerie. Most of the areas with similar, woods with open grassland terrain that I have visited have some type of bird of prey riding the air currents.

Mermaid - thanks so much for the info. While I enjoy the antics of the squirrels and even rescued and hand raised a baby one once, there is a big difference between a few and literally dozens who are destroying your home and, I thought driving off the birds. I thought it was the squirrels because it took me so long to figure out how to protect my feeders and birdseed, but they obviously have nothing to do with the decline of the hawks and owls! If anything, it should have increased their population. There is even a group that does an annual spring count of birds but I was never able to participate because I was working. I know that when I least expect it, that group name will hit me. In the meantime I will certainly follow-up on your suggestions! I am retired now but will soon be returning to work, at least part time. In the meantime I want to squeeze in all my loves while I can! Thanks again!

Hi Mollie,

I'm sorry about your squirrel problems. Whoever my mystery critter was, they haven't been back since I posted last. We have a bunch of squirrels, but not dozens. They did chew into our attic a few years ago. We kept hearing running and scratching noises from the ceiling. I thought I was the only one who heard it (and thought I was going insane, LOL!) until my parents started hearing it, too. My dad went into the attic and there were squirrels in there. Dunno why, cause there's nothing up there. My dad caught one with a Haveaheart trap and then let it go in the backyard, LOL! Hey, it was early and he hadn't had his coffee yet, lol. (I still make fun of him for that one, lol.) After we patched up the attic, they didn't come back. I hope the squirrels that are around now aren't crazy ones, lol.

My dad had problems with the squirrels and the birdfeeders, too. Probably the same year as the attic squirrels. He rigged up all kinds of hilarious devices to try and keep them off the feeders. You should've seen these contraptions, they were hysterical, lol. (Think of Wiley Coyote inventions from Looney Tunes!) The buggers are smart, though. After weeks of trying to outsmart them, my dad finally won. But... then he missed his crazy squirrel buddy and took his contraption down, LOL! Guess we kinda got used to looking forward to seeing squirrel acrobatics. We don't have regular bird feeders anymore. Now we just have thistle feeders. I think that's what they are. The goldfinches, purple finches, sparrows, and mourning doves come for the seeds but the squirrels don't bother the feeders. Guess they don't like those seeds.

Hmmm, I would think that the squirrels would be causing the decline in the hawk and owl population. If they scare the little birds away, then the hawks and owls don't have as many little birds to eat, so they probably would go elsewhere. I know the owls eat other things like mice and such. Hmmm, I dunno. I'm no wildlife expert, obviously, lol.

GardenMermaid, thanks for the link to the Squirrel Wars video. I might just have to get that, LOL!

~Kristy

edited for spelling and clarity, lol. I need more coffee.

This message was edited Aug 29, 2006 6:56 AM

This message was edited Aug 29, 2006 6:58 AM

i think you have gnomes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ohwoisme,

You may be right! It did look a lot like an actual "foot" track, lol. Well, now I'm going to have to look for them. Great member name, by the way!

~Kristy

Send an owl to Harry Potter. Perhaps he and Ron will come de-gnome your garden for you.

LOL!

Hi guys,

Don't know if anyone is still reading this thread, but I've changed my idea on what I think the mystery critter was. I haven't seen the squirrels messing around in the areas I noticed damage and I haven't spotted any groundhogs, either. BUT... the red-tailed hawks ARE back! AND, they've been perching close to where the corn was. So, maybe GardenMermaid was right after all... they tried to perch on the corn plant and it broke. Ditto for Farmer Frog and Mr Crane. Hmmm. Have to keep an eye on them and see if they come closer. (Or, maybe it is gnomes and the hawks are swooping down and catching them, lol.)

~Kristy

If the hawks are back, something else is there to attract them. Could be a team effort.

Ah, true. Dunno what though. Still on the lookout for gnomes, though, heh.

~Kristy