Hmm, another happy herbivore

I'm quite familiar with squirrels having unusual interests in radicchio. Peculiar, given how bitter it is in hot weather.

But late this afternoon, I spotted this fellow (or gal) yumming up radicchio leaves around the old pepper plant cage. And, there was evidence that the red-stemmed chicory was next; the cut leaf remnants were clear. The picture is blurry, but the evidence obvious.


Uh, I thought squirrels focused on acorns and hickory nuts in fall, with an occasional mushroom or two. Clearly not.

A fat and happy herbivore

I'd noticed the tromboncino squash leaves disappearing, but because the vines were so robust and sprawling (and we could hardly eat all the squash, anyway), I assumed that deer had jumped the fence beneath the powerline corridor.

But, my gardening companion reports that it's actually a rather large woodchuck (aargh!) that scuttled back into a burrow beneath the brush pile.

Hmm, it's back to Chuckster bait, woodchuck lure, and a large Havahart trap after I get home.

A hoofed herbivore?

We saw evidence of deer last summer for the first time (AKA the summer of the woodchuck), but this summer, there's been munching on the Rudbeckias in the meadow, a phlox here and there, and the disappearance of these leaves is telling.

When I checked the squash yesterday morning, this is what I saw. They must be especially hungry to eat squash leaves, since they're so rough and hairy. Maybe their juiciness makes up for it?