Garden Pests and Diseases: Mystery Troublemaker, 1 by IrisLover79

IrisLover79 wrote:
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=&allSpec...

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=&allSpec...

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