This morning while on the phone with my Dear Dad, I was looking up into the yard and I noticed that two of the smaller trees, in a group of many, had the bark stripped off of them.
Now the snow has melted quite a bit over the past week, so last week, there was probably 24 inches of snow at the bottom of those trees, and not having gone out into the yard yet, I would say the bark is gone from between the 12 inches above the ground and 24 inches above the ground.
Last week, Sylvester seemed quite interested in the underneath of the deck area. I thought perhaps one of the local stray cats was hiding out of the weather under there. Perhaps I am wrong.
Now, I will need to put on my snow boots and investigate for foot prints in the snow, IF there are any left to be found, AND also keep a closer eye on the yard when I let Sylvester out at night.
Two weeks later:
More of the snow has melted and while I was up at the top of the yard, near our neighbors shed, underneath which the rabbits live, the sucker starts are all eaten about two feet above the ground as well. AND there is ALOT of rabbit poop near them!
So, I am confident in stating that the rabbits had a difficult time finding food while the deep snow was on the ground this winter.
Two more weeks later:
Today I was in the garden, trying to see if I could plant some pea seeds. In the garden were still a few Brussel Sprout plants that had been left behind in the fall. The rabbits had eaten each one until the stalk had become a woody point! PLUS, they left behind a fair amount of rabbit poo in the garden. My poor rabbit friends must have been so hungry this past winter.
I have seen both of them in the yard on the nicer days last week, so I am sure they will be having babies soon, and I'm okay with that!
Hi
ReplyDeleteBack in November 2013 you left a comment on my blog.. I try to work my way through everyone who leaves a comment although it takes me a while.. I love your gardening blog.. I too garden and have planted a whole lot of seeds although I haven't blogged about them yet this year.. to many things going on! I have read back on your blog, about your cooking, your old Dad who still plants things and your life.
It was a wonderful read. I shall have to pop back and see how your seedlings fare.
Happy gardening
Chris x
I listen to an internet radio station all day, every day, that is based in New Hampshire. The DJ mentioned snow was expected again a few nights ago. Here in Queensland, summer was meant to end by mid March, but it is still hot every day. I've stopped growing things for now...the heat and the summer bugs got to them. Where I live, I can grow most everything year round though, so I will be planting again soon. Just wanted to let you know that growing in containers can work well. Due to my health, I grow everything that way. The past couple of years, I have had great luck with cherry tomatoes in the hanging bags with a bonus, they look pretty too. I grow salad greens, potatoes, and various other things in pots and they all thrive. One fun subject to research is growing things from store bought clippings...I kept some celery going for quite a long time, and I will never have to buy green onions again...they are still going strong. Good luck and enjoy the trial and error, it's part of the fun. xx debbie
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