What kind of critter eats flowers?
 

Over the course of the last two weeks something has bitten off the stems of the flours on four different plants at about 4 to 8 inches and then bitten off and removed/eaten/dragged off the flowers from the other end, leaving the severed, beheaded stem. One plant was an anemone robustissima. The other were some delphinium that I'd bought this year and which bloomed before they were two feet tall. The stems were very thin, so it suggests a small critter. I've wrestled with woodchuck problems over the years, and would expect much more devestation if it were a woodchuck. Any ideas as to what this might be and what I might do about it? I'm going to set out a have-a-heart trip with a bouquet of the remaining blooming delphinium in it as bait.

What kind of critter eats flowers?
 

On Sat, 20 Jun 2020 11:53:04 -0700 (PDT)
LAS14 LAS14 wrote:

Over the course of the last two weeks something has
bitten off the stems of the flours on four different
plants at about 4 to 8 inches and then bitten off and
removed/eaten/dragged off the flowers from the other end,
leaving the severed, beheaded stem. One plant was an
anemone robustissima. The other were some delphinium that
I'd bought this year and which bloomed before they were two
feet tall. The stems were very thin, so it suggests a small
critter. I've wrestled with woodchuck problems over the
years, and would expect much more devestation if it were a
woodchuck. Any ideas as to what this might be and what I
might do about it? I'm going to set out a have-a-heart trip
with a bouquet of the remaining blooming delphinium in it
as bait.

My culprits were deer and rabbits. Fence was the solution. Deer only
have incisors on the bottom. So they have to tear stuff
off leaving a ragged stem torn on the top side. Rabbits nip stuff off
clean like shears. Deer will try most anything and step on lots of
stuff in the process...

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI

What kind of critter eats flowers?
 

On 20/06/2020 22:22, Leon Fisk wrote:
On Sat, 20 Jun 2020 11:53:04 -0700 (PDT)
LAS14 LAS14 wrote:

Over the course of the last two weeks something has
bitten off the stems of the flours on four different
plants at about 4 to 8 inches and then bitten off and
removed/eaten/dragged off the flowers from the other end,
leaving the severed, beheaded stem. One plant was an
anemone robustissima. The other were some delphinium that
I'd bought this year and which bloomed before they were two
feet tall. The stems were very thin, so it suggests a small
critter. I've wrestled with woodchuck problems over the
years, and would expect much more devestation if it were a
woodchuck. Any ideas as to what this might be and what I
might do about it? I'm going to set out a have-a-heart trip
with a bouquet of the remaining blooming delphinium in it
as bait.

My culprits were deer and rabbits. Fence was the solution. Deer only
have incisors on the bottom. So they have to tear stuff
off leaving a ragged stem torn on the top side. Rabbits nip stuff off
clean like shears. Deer will try most anything and step on lots of
stuff in the process...

Squirels and mice can do that as well

What kind of critter eats flowers?
 

On 6/20/2020 11:53 AM, LAS14 LAS14 wrote:
Over the course of the last two weeks something has bitten off the stems of the flours on four different plants at about 4 to 8 inches and then bitten off and removed/eaten/dragged off the flowers from the other end, leaving the severed, beheaded stem. One plant was an anemone robustissima. The other were some delphinium that I'd bought this year and which bloomed before they were two feet tall. The stems were very thin, so it suggests a small critter. I've wrestled with woodchuck problems over the years, and would expect much more devestation if it were a woodchuck. Any ideas as to what this might be and what I might do about it? I'm going to set out a have-a-heart trip with a bouquet of the remaining blooming delphinium in it as bait.

tia
las


If, as suggested in other replies here, the problem is either deer,
rabbits, or squirrels, I have heard a suggestion. This might even work
for mice but not for raccoons, oppossums, or rats.

Make small cloth bags (old bed linens, underware, or other fabric but
not mesh). At a plant nursery, buy a small amount of blood meal (a
fertilizer). Put some blood meal in each bag. Place a few on the
ground and hang the others from nearby shrubs or low branches of trees.
Squirt them with water just enough to wet the bags but not enough to
make them soggy. Occasionally, wet the bags again.

Deer, rabbits, and squirrels will not go where they smell blood.

By the way, blood meal is a great fertilizer when making potting mix.
It is high-nitrogen but mild. It will not burn roots.

--
David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

Who would you trust to provide accurate information about
COVID-19? Doctors who have studied viruses and treated
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