I live in a residential neighborhood. Last year squirrels ate or damaged every tomato I had. They were running amok everywhere. This year I haven't seen one squirrel in my yard or even in the entire neighborhood. Anyone care to speculate the reason? (No, the tomatoes weren't poisonous).
Sounds like you DIED and went to garden heaven to me. Where do you live? They all must have come over to my neighborhood.
Dan
someone in the neighborhood got a good cat. Or an owl moved in. I see those shifts in animal pupulation all the time.
brsher ( snipped-for-privacy@charter.net) wrote: with editing... : I live in a residential neighborhood. Last year squirrels ate or damaged : every tomato I had. They were running amok everywhere. : This year I haven't seen one squirrel in my yard or even in the entire : neighborhood. Anyone care to speculate the reason? (No, the tomatoes : weren't poisonous).
They also bothered someone else in your neighbourhood. That someone fed them a diet of potato chips (squirrel nip according to some) to protect their crop and the squirrels didn't form enough brown fat to survive the winter?
Or someone trapped them and moved them to another neighbourhood, maybe Dan's? etc.
Regards. RAF
Oh boy, we're going to have a speculatathon!!!
Maybe they ran off with all the nuts last year?
Maybe they found a neighborhood with tomatoes better than yours?
----------------------------------- Since our new neighbors have several large outdoor cats, both the squirrels and rabbits have vanished. We love it!
Kitty
Coyotes, too. Last year the coyotes were pretty out in the open and even being spotted in Indy 'burbs.
But I've found that animals cycle. (
Yes, I have a theory. At least if fits for Central Maryland and Northern Virginia. I am an amateur wine maker and grow 112 vines in my backyard vineyard.
Last year the crop yield was miserable low even though it was a decent growing season. The yield was low because the previous year (2002) growing year was a bust. It rained almost every day in the spring and early summer of 2002. We had a realtively early frost and the canes that grew in 2002 did not produce very many fruiting buds for the 2003 season. Also - the oak trees produced very few acorns. The critters that depended on nuts and other fruits were hurting and eating everything they could just to survive.
Last year we had a decent growing year and had a relatively late killing frost. The buds that developed last year and are producing this year matured very well and this year looks to be a prolific year not only for grapes but for almost all fruit (at least in this part of the US)
I think that it might be possible that this year the squirrels are finding sufficient natural foods and therefor leaving OUR stuff alone more than usual. Just a thought but maybe a possible theory.
Just in case you have allergy problems - last year around here was NOT a very bad allergy year. THIS year is terrible because EVERYTHING is pollinating and filling the air with more pollen than usual.
Sooooo - Paul's theory is that if your allergies are worst than usual, you will have a prolific garden and fruit production and squirrels will not be as much a problem - on the other hand if your allergies are moderate or low level - watch out - your garden and fruit production will probably be below par.
Comments from others appreciated.
Ohhh... so that is where all the squirrels came from :-) Thanks a lots Neighbor
Dan
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