Let's play "Name that track"......need your help!

Hey guys,

I've been posting elsewhere about something that has eaten my tomato plants...just the stalks close to the ground, not the leaves and not the fruit.......it's been crazy! What would shred the stalk (and it is a shredding action, shredded stalk everywhere) and not eat the fruit?? And this is on my third floor deck with no ground access, so had to be something that climbs trees.

So someone had a GREAT idea to put flour down on the deck around the container to see what foot prints show up. I got a couple of interesting tracks....the first one is the one that is around the plants and the one doing the damage.

What do you think it is?

(ps...I have been accusing the roof rats that live in the trees as the damage seems to happen overnight)

Now, the fun part, another large track showed up - just a couple of them.

What is this, do you think?

also - that is a quarter in both of these shots for size reference....

And just so you can see the damage this little snotty critter has done.....before and after photo of my container tomatoes....

Another shot of the little tracks (about dime sized)....

I would suspect raccoons. Their feet are similar to cats but with longer toes. Those little rascals can climb *anything*! The second pic may not be a foot print, but could be a "butt" print left when the varmint sat down to survey the damage done!
ginni

Do you think they are too small for raccoon prints? I would've thought the raccoon would have been bigger....but maybe they are little guys....

Definitely too small to be a raccoon's...

They come in all sizes, but I would guess that one would be fairly young and/or a female. I can't help you with what to do about them though. Once they find something they like they just keep coming back! Maybe some sort of feeder on the ground that would distract them from your patio plants? Of course that really just encourges them to stay in the area, so may not be a good thing to try. So, short of screening the entire area you may have to be very innovative to solve the problem.

One thing for sure - do NOT keep a water source *anywhere* near the patio. Raccons have to wet most of their food as they do not produce much saliva - hence the "washing" that people refer to.

good luck!
ginni

I've been surfing rat and rodent tracks....Do the tracks have three toes forward and one on each side? If so, it is probably a rodent. Rats are excellent climbers and jumpers, and they gnaw on things, whether they eat them or not

Try a live trap and transport to a better location? Just remember if you do trap one and get it to a safer spot - there will probably be more so keep the trap for awhile. They LOVE cat food! At the very least you should be able to get a posivitive ID.
ginni

Claypa - sort of ....I've outlined the toes on one of the photos here.....I am inclined to think rat also.....I have seen these rats in trees, hear them in the ceiling/roof and even eating out of my bird/squirrel feeder....I bring them in at night now to discourage them from hanging around.....can't quite sort out what inspired them suddenly to attack my maters!

Am also really interested in what the bigger print could be....there are two of them...

This message was edited Sep 16, 2006 1:13 PM

I outlined the other print also...

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74106.html#IDENTIFICATION

I bet they're roof rats, California's loaded with them. I don't think the other picture is a track, really, it's probably where one spent some time sitting, like tgif said.

Rotten critters....I am wondering what they will move to now that the tomatoes are gone.....perhaps I should bring my herbs inside...

I've been thinking....I'm going to try the flour experiment again tonight....so will let you know what shows up again!

Try using a sifter so you get a thin dusting. Bear in mind, the more flour you put out there, the more critters you'll attract!

hi you-all! well i took a look in my husbands tracking book and i agree with the rat suggestion. bleck. every now and then one will nest in our outdoor wood pile for our woodstove.....and they stink. and i think too that the "big track" is a sitz spot - as my dad would call it when we fell down skiing when i was a kid.

Thanks Betsy! I tried again last night with a sifter this time to be a bit more uniform and there were just the same track and a lot of "sitz spots". Or licking, perhaps now they are eating the flour. GREAT!! Now I am just feeding them flour.

LOL

Thought you might get a chuckle out of my father's response....I sent him an email with the photos and asked him his opinion....

"After careful examination and prolonged meditation I have concluded that the tracks were made by an animal which could profit from a nail clipper. I suspect that the larger track is made by a raccoon. If it turns out to be a rat you should move. Let me know if this is helpful as I always try to be even though your mother says I am a pain in the...."

(needless post)

This message was edited Sep 18, 2006 7:58 PM

This reminds me of a friend who had a neighbor's dog knocking over his trash cans on a nightly basis. The neighbor denied that it was his dog. Well, the guy whose trash was being spilled set up one of those motion sensor cameras that hunters use to determine what deer are using what trails, and got a whole series of pictures of the dog in action, flash and all. I wonder what they cost, probably not worth it for this, but it might be fun.

I thought about it, believe me! Would really love to see the 'traffic'.

I HAVE HEARD OF PUTTING OUT COYOTE SCENT NEAR THE AREA NEEDING PROTECTING.IT SHOULD BE AVAILABLE AT SPORT STORES.

I USE MY FINGER TO SMEAR A BIT OF CONCENTRATED "CITRA-SOLV" (A CLEANER & DEGREASER) ON PLANT CONTAINERS AND DRIP HEADS. IT HAS A SERIOUS ORANGE SCENT AND DOES A GREAT JOB KEEPING THE DOG AWAY FROM PLANTS AND DRIP SYSTEMS.

GOOD LUCK

your father's response is HYSTERICAL I love him already!!!!!!!

Thanks, HLH. I will look into that. Once I replant my maters I want to make sure this doesn't happen again!

Hey Anne! He cracks me up too!