Sunday, March 15, 2009

Bulb Thief



It finally seems like spring is creeping in. I almost hate to say that and jinx it! It's been a rough winter here in New England this year...a lot of snow, very cold, and I think everyone is ready for some warmth. This has been a beautiful weekend! The temperatures climbed up close to sixty and the sun was shining. Pussy willows are popping, and everyone was outside working in their yards, starting the spring clean-up.
Walking around the yard with Rigby, I noticed that some critter had been digging up bulbs. The garden on the side of the garage was all torn up and a few half-eaten bulbs lay on top of the dirt. We have so many daffodils that we wouldn't miss a few of those, but they seem to have been left untouched. I guess they don't taste good. Whatever was out there snacking mostly focused on the gladiola bulbs, and possibly some tulips. I had a couple of crocuses last year and those apparently got eaten as well. We always have more than our share of skunks around, and they are very fond of digging up the lawn as well as all the gardens, so they are the likely suspects.
Whatever it was, it also dug up spots on the opposite side of the garage where nothing is planted. The little critter probably figured that if one side of the garage was planted with bulbs, the opposite side must be too. Every few inches all along the entire side of the garage, there are holes, even though I've never put in any bulbs on that side. I found that surprising and I think it's pretty smart, even though he did a lot of work for nothing. It was a good bet, but it didn't pay off this time.
Mac got out the rake and smoothed everything out again. I hope it stays that way for a while!

8 comments:

  1. Skunks--do they really smell as bad as people say? I've never met a skunk in person. And chewing upon daffodils is an unforgivable crime. Humph.

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  2. sneaky sneaky. Hopefully he'll stay away you'll get some nice flowers up

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  3. Sneaky little critters, I have a problem with the squirrels digging mine up..
    Sharon

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  4. Clay - Yeah, they sure do! We had a family move in under our porch two summers ago- I'll do a post on that story sometime.

    Mama - Yes, I'm looking forward to some color out there again. :)

    Sharon - I was wondering if squirrels were my culprits too, but it happened at night so I crossed them off the suspect list!

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  5. I'm looking for signs of spring in my yard too. This past winter we've had a huge hawk thinning out the rabbit population considerably so I hope my hostas can come up without their nibbled leaves.

    Rigby is adorable - reminds me of my little Mondo!

    I joined your blog today - thank you SO much for commenting on mine. I'm doing all I can to put that idea out there and let it go. The internet is a VERY powerful tool, so we'll see. Thanks for moving it along! I wasn't meant to keep this idea "mine" - its meant to get out there.

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  6. Yikes! Attack of the bulb eaters.

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  7. Everyyear it seems as though I have to replace more tulip bulbs. I'm going to have to start disliking tulips because the bulbs are so expensive and I'm tired of feeding all the rodents. Daffodil bulbs are poisonous so thats why they leave those be. I guess the critters have to eat to, huh. It's always great to hear from you.

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  8. Suzen -It is a great idea! Happy to help.

    Hi Jane! Yeah, the little devils :)

    June - So they are poisonous! Good to know, thanks for the info!

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