Prime Suspect

California Ground Squirrel

Here's the prime suspect in the stripping of the citrus tree last week:  the California Ground Squirrel, Spermophilus beecheyi.  

They're actually rather handsome animals, with their long bushy tails, white spotted fur on their backs and shawls of white fur on their shoulders.
Like tree squirrels, they can climb trees and bushes; Sunday we saw one perched in one of the Lemonadeberry trees, trying to figure out a way to get from the Lemonadeberry tree to all the seed in the bird feeder.  Unlike tree squirrels, they don't seem to be able to jump from branch to branch, or else they would be in that feeder in a New York minute.  As it is, they have to be content with seed that the birds kick out of the feeder onto the ground.  

Also, unlike tree squirrels, they don't live in the trees but in burrows in the ground, where they raise their young and take refuge from predators.

That's the part that worries us, because they can undermine hillsides and contribute to erosion.  Our yard drops off steeply beyond the hedge and we're always concerned about erosion that could cause the hillside to collapse and our yard, and possibly our house, to slide down into the canyon.

So we want to discourage them, but just can't bring ourselves to poison them.  Unfortunately, because they can spread diseases (did I mention that they're susceptible to Bubonic Plague?), it's illegal to just trap them and deport them.  So we'll have to try using something to discourage them from stuffing themselves on our plants and birdseed and encourage them to move on to eating the native plants in the canyon instead.

Next on the menu for the squirrels:  some form of capsiacin, the spicy hot chemical found in chilli peppers, mixed in with the seed--it's supposed to discourage the squirrels but not affect the birds.

We'll see if that works, but the way things are going, they'll probably just consider it a condiment.

Last Call

Still A Few 2011 Tomatoes

Since it's almost February, and time to be starting the new tomato seedlings under the grow lights in the garage, Cindy decided it was finally time to take out last year's tomato vines so she can prepare that raised bed for something else.

The vines were still producing both tomatoes and blossoms, and even a few new leaves, but the tomatoes were mostly green and the vines were getting very leggy and ratty looking, so it was time for them to go.

Cindy At Work

So we started chopping.  And chopping, and chopping, and finally, after filling up two green waste bins, got it done.

So now Cindy will have to haul out her many recipes for Green Tomato Pasta, Fried Green Tomatoes, and whatever else you do with green tomatoes.

Lots and lots of green tomatoes.

Last of the (Mostly Green) Tomatoes

Potatoes Up!

Potatoes!

The seed potatoes Cindy planted in the two Potato Grow Bags have come up and are starting to leaf out.  As they continue to grow, she'll add more soil to the bags and raise the sides until the whole bag is filled with soil and growing potatoes.

Right now she's busily constructing protective cages out of hardware cloth to keep the voracious varmints from nibbling off the tender young leaves.  She builds these cages out of quarter inch hardware cloth and holds the sides together with electrical ties.  She also covers the bags at night.

Anti-Varmint Cage

It's a pretty clever system and so far has thwarted the larger varmints and the birds, although sow bugs can still get through the openings in the hardware cloth.

It will take the potatoes a while to grow, but with this protection, at least we have a chance of getting some of them eventually.

Leaf Count--33 Leaves

I counted the remaining leaves on the ravaged citrus tree yesterday and found 33 remaining leaves, including a few that hadn't quite unfurled yet.

This morning there are still 33 leaves, so moving the plant from outside the fence to the driveway in front of the garage seems to have worked, at least for now.   However, I did see one of the ground squirrels scamper away from the steps leading up to the driveway the other day.

Cindy's Master Gardner pest control sources indicate that the likely suspects for this type of damage are usually deer, ground squirrels or rats.  We haven't seen any other signs of deer, but we definitely have squirrels and various types of rats.  By keeping track of how many leaves are left, we hope to be able to tell whether any further damage is caused during the day (squirrels) or at night (rats), so we can devise a plan to thwart the critter.

Whatever the varmint is, it has very sharp teeth.

"Three Fat Squirrels, Three Fat Squirrels, See How They Eat, See How They Eat..."

Two of the Three Fat Squirrels

We thought the squirrels were hibernating, but no, they're back and stuffing themselves on the birdseed that falls from the feeders.

Cindy tried using a squirrel repelling additive in the seed, containing rosemary oil, mint oil, cinnamon oil and putrescent egg white because it's is supposed to discourage the squirrels without harming the birds, but you wouldn't know it from these guys.  They're wolfing it down like there's no tomorrow.

With the theft of the False Sea Onion, the damage to the leaves of the citrus tree and consumption of the rosemary, mint and cinnamon-laced seed, these varmints are living large, and getting fatter by the minute.

Worse yet they, or some other varmints, are apparently developing a serious taste for exotic dinner fare.

If they keep this up, Cindy may be tempted to haul out the old shooting iron and make them into an ingredient in some real Brunswick stew.

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.

Cyclamen

I love Cyclamen and was thrilled when Cindy noticed the bright red petals of this beautiful flower peeping out from under one of the Bromeliads in the planter by the garage the other day.

I used to have several Cyclamen plants in a planter when I lived in northern California, and it was always a delight to find them popping up through the mulch in the early spring.

The Cyclacem Society has more information about these lovely plants.