And the melon looks soooo good. Ugh
Fencing is difficult as my trees are spread all over the yard. (Yes, not a best-laid plan, not even close).
Also found out Hosui and 20th Century pears got severely stripped, too.
These are the hardest things to figure out and I doubt you’ll ever know for sure. I’ve never once seen a squirrel mess with my watermelons and I’d be surprised if that was it. Knowing that rabbits did that other plant damage, and I also remember your past rabbit damage photos, I’d be inclined to suspect bunnies. Of course, its hard to imagine a rabbit being able to take bites like that out of a melon, but I bet they could. I’m pretty sure it is not coyote- I’ve seen their damage often and it isn’t like that. I’ve also seen racoon and opossum damage and they both leave a lot of scratch marks where they try to hold the melon and dig into it with their claws. Thats another reason I’m betting rabbits.
There is actually a small chance that this melon will survive. I’ve seem them sort of scab over and continue to grow and develop after damage similar to this, but that is usually when you can’t see pink…I’m afraid this one will start to rot, but I’d leave it just in case since it looks like its not very close to ripe yet.
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I hate bunnies. We have an explosion of them in every neighborhood this year.
I thought if it’s bunnies, I would see teeth marks easily. I am flip flopping between bunnies and squirrels. My squirrels are quite fearless. We also has a drought. They may look for water?
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Andy, We had what they call a ‘Fisher Cat’ around here one year. It stopped in the middle of our driveway and stood up on its haunches and just looked at us. I had never seen or heard of them before that! Don’t think we have mink or ermine in these parts . . . but, maybe? I’d love to see one! Just not in my chicken coop!
What we do have . . . are nutria. And they are nasty things!
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They (Fisher Cats) have a reputation for being very nasty! Fishers are one of the few predators that are known to kill a porcupine (no quills on the belly or front of the neck). They also make a blood curdling scream at night (check YouTube for the sound). They’re a larger version of a Pine Marten and all members of the weasel family. Here in the Adirondacks they were trapped nearly to extinction and have just in the past 10 years repopulated. Too cold for Nutria up here, we have our native muskrats and beaver and of course woodchucks, both the animal kingdom kind and the rural living human kind of which category I fall into…
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we have lots of fisher here. so much so there are few showshoe hare left. they used to be trapped. now very few people trap so nothing controls their numbers. they are cousins to the wolverine and can get the size of a fox. when i use to hunt predators many times i had fishers come to my calls. they would fight off a coyote or fox to keep its meal. like anything it the weasel family, they can be vicious!
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and they look it!
@AndySmith - I listened to a few of those videos . . . Good Grief! Blood-curdling. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that cry . . . (or maybe attributed it to one of the big herons who make some pretty strange sounds at night.)
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my father had one that got in his coop many years ago. killed 13 birds before my father, hearing the commotion, released his beagle. there was a fight in their coop, but the beagle won and the fisher left. scratched and bit her a few times but she healed. it didnt come back.
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Woah.
We had them in Maine and RI as well. When you heard them scream you’d think someone was strangling a baby. The shriek is hideous. Caught one in a hava a heart trap, but thank goodness it was a baby.
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Thank you @AndySmith , @steveb4 , @PomGranny and @mrsg47 for education on wildlife.
Yesterday, I noticed that my Hosui damage tended to be at night. I set a trap. Often, I caught skunks instead of intended targets like opossums or raccoons.
This morning, I got this.
I was quite happy. My happiness was short-lived. After work, I came home to this.
About 20+ of Korean Giant and 20th Century pears on the ground. Judging from the damage, squirrels are the culprits.
Hosui was wiped out by a raccoon and an opossum. My 20th Century went from hundreds to about 60. They are not yet ripe. By the time they are ready, I may not get any. The work mostly of squirrels.
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I’m not sure if 1" welded wire mesh is small enough to keep out squirrels.
So far the squirrel, one baby one, has not gotten into my fruit under the tulle. Only the June bugs got into the tulle. Next year I will cover my figs with large plastic bags from the supermarket. They seem not to retain any water even and nothing got inside.
That is heart breaking! I would have days like that. I would feel like quitting everything including growing fruit. But I always came back, i think now, between black knot and wild animals I would go boo-bats!
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@mrsg47 ,
Yup, seeing fruit being decimated left and right on daily basis is quite depressing. I think a drought has driven those animals to look for water/juice in droves.
@thecityman/Kevin,
I think I found the culprit that ate my watermelon. We were in our home looking out the front door. This was what we saw eating our watermelon vines on our front steps!!!
It is a baby groundhog.
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I absolutely should have guessed that!!! That REALLY makes absolutely perfect sense. N o doubt about it- you’ve got your criminal there. I should have thought of this before, but now I really do remember having groundhog problems and they did look like your photo.
I once had a friend who raised a groundhog from a baby (not sure how he came to have it) and it was the cutest thing ever. But in gardens, no, that is a whole other story!!!
Good luck dealing with him. I’ve not had much look catching or even shooting them (I know shooting isn’t an option for you as much as you might like too).
Good luck. Its amazing how much wildlife is in cities and suburbs these days.
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Yep, they ate all my cucurbits this year, I got zip. Woodchuck was eating them down before they could even grow: pumpkins; winter squash; cucumbers; watermelon; and melons. First time I’ve ever had a woodchuck in the veggie garden. Ate half of my beans too. So very sorry about your Pears Mamuang, that’s heartbreaking!
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What bait did you put in your trap to get that racoon? I know I have racoons but I only ever catch possums using cat food.