Critters big and small

a couple laying on the terrace's chairs smiling at each other

Critters big and small

 

The critters have gotten to us this week.  We’ve had a vole family for a while now that’s been eating the roots of our vegetables.   I went out this morning and found another dead zucchini plant.

 

 

This is the third zucchini plant the voles have completely killed. I was able to salvage two other ones, but they were wounded and haven’t fully recovered.   By now we should be swimming in zucchini but that isn’t the case.  I never thought I would be wishing for zucchini in August – usually by now I’ve resorted to frying zucchini blossoms just to keep the harvest in check.  But I find myself in the strange position of hoping that the other squash plants recover enough to get a good season in from now on.

We have tried trapping the voles but it hasn’t worked. Instead we inadvertently trapped and killed a bird. I was so upset when I found the bird!  So now those voles not only have zucchini roots but also bird blood on their paws.  It’s amazing how angry you can get at these little critters. They are cute but oh so destructive.

 

 

We have now removed the traps because I don’t want to catch any more birds — but I don’t know what else to do to control the voles.

Then, as I was lamenting my poor dead zucchini plants this morning (and cursing the voles), I noticed a huge pile of scat next to the garden hose.

 

 

It took a minute for it to fully register  – how did something that big get into the garden?  Then I looked up and realized the entire two sides of the fence had been ripped down.  Clearly the bear wasn’t stopped by our plastic deer fence. It appeared that it was trying to get into the compost bin but he/she couldn’t figure it out — the lid was a bit scraped up, but still intact.

I wish there was a way to get the bear to eat the voles.

 

 

#reverieretreat

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