Saturday, December 13, 2014

Of Squirrels, Lithops and Agaves

Innocent enough looking isn't it? Don't let it deceive you, because all kinds of mischief is going on inside that little brain. This winter they have been especially good at trying to chew their way into our attic. That battle continues.

But, worse than that, they have discovered one of our greenhouses. Our first evidence was the Lithops. They got into the greenhouse at night and ate 90% of the Lithops, leaving just empty shells scattered about the bench.

We patched the holes and thought we had won the battle of wits. No such luck. Two new holes dug in under the outside edge of the greenhouse. This time they decided the agaves were haute cuisine. And their tastes run to the more expensive, rarer varieties. This is war!

2 comments:

  1. This is sounding like the squirrel version of the Zombie Apocalypse! How horrible- I am not surprised they find Lithops and other succulents tasty, but what an unhappy discovery. I don't think squirrels live in the Karoo. I hope you banish them quickly!

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    1. We're working on it. Years ago we were camping in the high desert at McKay Crossing, below Paulina Lake and the Obsidian mountain. We decided to go for a hike along the Paulina Creek toward the lake and left a couple of flats of Lithops in the shade of the pine trees. When we returned, the chipmunks had eaten the Lithops. But they were selective and only ate the L. optica rubras. Related to squirrels, the Chipmunks are just cuter! Just as destructive of Lithops.

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