New Garden Mystery

Stripped Citrus

Cindy went out into the garden this morning to see how the new Avocado is getting along (there will be more about this in a future post), and discovered that some critter had stripped almost all the leaves off one of the citrus trees out behind the fence.

When she put the Avocado out there a couple of days ago, this citrus tree was fully leafed out and appeared to be doing very well, although it didn't have any blossoms on it.  Today, almost all the leaves are gone, and the tips of each branch appear to have been sliced off.  The cuts are clean; they don't look chewed off.  It looks like some Mad Pruner went through and pruned the plant severely.

We have no idea what kind of critter did this.  The damage looks too extensive to suspect the ground squirrels of having done it, although lately they've been camped out in force under the bird feeders eating every bit of bird seed they can.

Because the cuts are so clean and go up to the top of the plant, it  looks like deer have been at it, but we live in the city of San Diego, surrounded by freeways where native San Diegans drive like maniacs day and night.  I don't think deer would survive for long here and we haven't seen any other evidence of them  in the area.

O.K., It's Really a Nasturtium

Another argument against deer is the damage to a marigold* plant inside the fence.  It's clearly been chewed up, too, but although not as cleanly as the citrus.  I think if deer had been inside the fence there would be other evidence of their presence and probably a lot more damage, as well.

So I guess the logical suspects are the ground squirrels after all.  Maybe they're in the mood for some salad after all that birdseed.

*It's a Nasturtium.  I knew that.