Bugs and Critters

We have all seen damage done by certain bugs and critters. We see it in gardens, homes and vehicles. There are common bugs, like ants, some do not do much damage, others do. On the other end of the spectrum there are small mammals, like mice, rats, and even chipmunks. Then there are large mammals like deer. I tilled my garden and overseeded the soil with annual rye grass, but it appears as a miniature battle ground with craters all though out, likely, I believe, a testament to squirrels and perhaps some others looking for or burying food. 

Collards which have been eaten

Food is the main reason for the damage, either burying it like squirrel, or sourcing it. A few years ago when we were camping in our small RV, my wife said she heard a gnawing sound when we were in bed. I never heard the sound, and thought it much like the mysterious "noise in the chimney" that she says she hears. The following year, when camping we were trying to use the propane to heat water to shower, and we kept getting a red heat warning. It was in the nineties, so I waited for the warmer part of the day to take a shower, as the water warmed to near air temperature. After the trip, a close inspection showed that part of the outer rubber propane line had been eaten. It was not all the way through, but just enough of the outer rubber layer to set off the warning due to change in pressure. The dealer said ground squirrels, chipmunks, like the propane odor. We covered the line with a copper mesh and covered some of the electric wires with plastic conduit. We also take fox urine granules with us, but at another campground, after spreading them around the base of the camper, we noticed chipmunks running around the bottom frame like a race track. A neighbor had mice damage to the wiring in his year old vehicle. 

Deer eaten Hosta

But it is also garden produce that is affected. We had an infestation of cabbage worms on our collards, although they did not affect the kale as much, that I kept under control for part of the year, by use of a natural organic control method, but in the fall, many leaves were just plain stripped and skeletonized. Stink bugs may also have contributed. I have planted gardens and have had ground hogs shred off Brussel sprouts, turkeys dig up melon and squash plants, only then to eat the seeds I planted. The turkeys even took row covers off. This shows, that damage is not limited to small critters. I have to say, however, the small caterpillars/bugs got the better of me in the fall. 

Small creatures cause their share of the problems too. There is the now infamous infestation of mice at Rock Island State Park. The mice were so prevalent, that a person used a baseball bat to kill over 100 of them while at the campground. The mice were eating tents, and footwear. They got onto boats and chewed wiring and cushions.  The small furry creatures snuggled down in sleeping bags. Hence, the DNR closed the campground several days earlier than normal. They blame a mild winter for the significant increase in the mouse population, and that normal predators, such as snakes, could not keep up. Some refute the DNR's claim of the mild winter, saying that campgrounds over 35 years ago on other islands in cold climates had significant infestations of mice like Rock Island had (has) this year. Of course, that does not answer why the mice were not apparently so abundant in the spring and summer as in the fall, or if they were, they were not at the campground, as the main reports came out in the fall. Maybe next year there will be more snakes due to the amount of mice available for food. You can see an article, and also a video, on the infestation (you may have to scroll down) at this link. The DNR will hope for a harsh winter and then let the predators perhaps take their due course. 

Critters digging in tilled garden soil
overseeded with annual rye

Friends, a couple, are docents for a week in August at the Rock Island lighthouse. They went up Oct 11 to help close the light house. He talked to my wife a bit a week later, and while by the lighthouse they were more dispersed, he said there were so many mice at the boat landing that the ground moved. What a welcome sight for visitors. The mice apparently know their food source--people.

The problem is that with climate change and the increasing number of invasive species, more challenges are presented for famers, foresters, gardeners and groundskeepers. I recall the first year I noticed a Japanese Beetle in my yard, I do not recall the year, but I know what occurred. That year for the first and only time, I had planted a pole bean, a blue lake variety, and also planted blue lake bush bean. Blue lake is my go to variety, that I have been growing for years. The Japanese beetle skeletonized my the pole bean, but did not attack the bush bean. Since, we have them in raspberries, on trees, and flowers. They love to dig into the closed bud on a rose bush. Plant choice is one way to help control, but that can only do so much.

Control of large mammals is a big problem. Case in point--deer. This year they have eaten plants in my yard they have never touched before. They would eat some, but not all hosta plants, but now all types are eaten. They ate anemone, tomatoes, peppers, pretty much everything but plants you would not mind them eating--burdock, bishop's weed and others.  I am not sure what the issue is. In the spring I figured it was that the nearby wetland area was too wet with all the rain, but with little rain since mid July, that should be better for their habitat. I think there are a couple issues, first, too many deer and the population in the village likely increased over the last mild winter. Second, they have found better vegetation in our yard than they find in the wetlands or nearby wild areas. That likely means it will be a problem for some time to come now that they have become accustomed to our delicious plants. 

I suspect with increased globalization, changing weather, and fewer available predators in suburban areas, we will continue to see increased damage from bugs and critters, not to mention the larger mammals. This poses a problem for gardening and requires more labor to better manage the infestations. Bugs and critters have probably been a nuisance for a long time, but invasives, like the Japanese beetle, may lack predators.