On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 18:24:27 -0500, JustMe wrote:

On Fri, 19 Aug 2005 22:29:47 -0400, George
wrote:

Something is eating our cabbage, starting at the top. (As opposed to
from the side.) Zuchinis also have been bitten, but apparently are
unworthy.

There are woodchucks and rabbits around, but I don't see any places
where the fence has been breached. And there are squirrels, who can
get over the fence. But, I have a trap right near the cabbage, and
it's usually hard to keep the squirrels out of it.

Which leaves (maybe?) deer. There's fresh 'sign' around, some near
(but outside) the garden. Would Bambi eat a cabbage?

Thanks,
George

Hi George!, First let me say deer will eat cabbage and just about
anything you grow in the garden.

Might I ask you a couple questions, and maybe we can solve this
riddle.

First are they messy eaters, by that I mean do they leave small pieces
of cabbage all around the plant, or do they eat every thing they bit
off?

Basically, no. There was one scrap near one cabbage, but otherwise it
was very clean.

Secondly, are there no tracks of any kind?

Unclear. The ground between the rows is pretty compacted by now, so I
doubt anything would show up there. Early on, there were some strange
indentations in the row, near where the first cabbage was eaten. As
best I recall, they were maybe 1/2" (?), and about that far across.
They were pretty close together, maybe 3-4" apart. But, it wasn't
clear that they were even tracks - they had no toe pattern, at least
that I could see.

Short answer: they didn't look like deer tracks. And, I haven't found
any 'sign' inside the garden.


Also, have you had a dry spell, followed by rain, just before this
happened.

No rain at all. But, it has been very dry. And we do irrigate, with
a soaker hose.

G