Voles?

A young leek chewed below ground in my front raised bed was the first sign.  The second was a wilting red-veined sorrel in the same bed.  Examined, the roots had been nipped off in a straight line.

Remarkable.

Who would have thought that a vole (presumably) would have escaped all of the neighborhood cats to burrow into my raised bed, and eat a leek and (very sour) sorrel roots?

Maybe that's what's happened to my seeds/seedlings in that bed (I've sowed climbing squash and beans, and there's been limited evidence of seedlings, at least so far).

OK, I'm a wildlife-friendly gardener, but voles in my vegetables, and a bear flattening the perennial leeks down below, along with the woodchuck that now seems to be creeping up from the ravine and nipping on the tomatoes!  Not normally a woodchuck favorite.

Hhrmph.

A foraging woodchuck ( I think)

OK, I don't mind a bit of nibbling, but...

I think it's a woodchuck that has been making visits to my vegetable garden beds and selecting, in sequence, his or her favorites.  First, the young beans, then the young broccoli (that weren't under my wire cloches), now the young leaves of chard and whatever young pea shoots he/she can reach. Not to mention the young Tuscan kale.  The patches under the wire cloches are fine, thankfully.

Aargh.

Of course, I live in a community full of fresh veggies, and most of us live in areas with an abundance of food, from whatever source. So, I won't be without fresh vegetables, as I'm volunteering in one community garden and have credits in another.

But,  I've reset my large Havahart trap with more Chuckster (a favorite of a late colleague) and some fresh apple, and moved it to the middle of the path from the ravine to my veggie garden.

We'll see.

My last experience with trapping was down in the Piedmont, and involved a young opossum, who I had to free from getting caught in the wire mesh of the trap.  Most upsetting, although I was successful in letting it go!