Let's talk animal protection

[Agriff]

This morning I woke up to find that my JM was reduced to this:


And ever since I started topping my pond baskets with sphagnum moss, this has been happening:



My other sapling maple (pencil thick, about 3 feet tall) was completely uprooted and carried off somewhere. It's nowhere to be found.

I have a completely fenced in yard, with wood fencing on one side and chain link on the other. What kind of creatures do this sort of thing, and how do I prevent it?

 

[sorce]

Folks say sphagnum attracts birds.

I've found that buckthorn do best in a shadier place where sphagnum isn't needed.

No fence will deter the determined.

If we are talking about animal protection, offering them better, easier food than your trees is the best option.

Sorce

 

[BobbyLane]

now it could pass for animal grazed yamadori

 

[JudyB]

Depends on how determined you are to protect your trees. Me I go the full monty. I have a electric sheep fence (it looks like netting, but its like a short fence) that goes around all my display benches. My visitors are mostly at night, so it's only on after 10pm and off at 6. If you have daytime issues, then you could run it during the day, but if you have pets, you'll have to teach them not to go there. Animals remember getting the shock, so usually after they get hit a couple times they don't come back. You could also do a hardware cloth or bird netting around and over your trees, but that may not be so attractive to your spouse, lol.. Birds do go after moss, and squirrels and chipmunks like to dig in the soil. They like potting type soils better than bonsai soils, I have found. Good luck!

 

[Michael P]

Squirrels will eat bark from maples to get at the sugary sap. Think maple syrup. Birds will collect moss from pots for nesting material. I can always tell when the wrens are nest building.

I put up with bird damage, they do far more good than harm. But squirrels are the very Spawn of Satan! I have squirrel-eating dogs, and use traps and a pellet gun. I know this will horrify some people, but after squirrels have chewed through the soffits of you house (not to mention your bonsai!), permanent solutions are necessary.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Squirrels are the worst and most frequent urban offender. Racoons & opossums are frequent night raiders. Cages, are often best. I have a bonsai friend who collects garage sale bird cages, and many of her trees are displayed in these cages around the yard. I use a dog crate for trees that are tasty to squirrels. Squirrels are daylight foragers, a dog is usually quite good to keep them at bay. The night prowlers really require more deterrents. Spraying deer repellent, dog repellent and cat repellent, the cocktail of all 3 should repel racoons and squirrels. Most mammals are repelled by capsicum. But birds like capsicum.

Rat poison use outdoors is dangerous, as animals eating the sickened squirrels will be poisoned. If you have coyotes, you won't have squirrels, rabbits or deer. I don't know how to encourage coyotes, nor is it advisable. LOL. Just a few random thoughts.

 

[Haines' Trees]

The entire northern side of my street is forest preserve so I have seen the whole gambit of animals. Deer, foxes, coyotes, skunks, opossums, turkey. Relatively few small mammals because in addition to the predatory mammals there has been a large hawk nesting in the forest preserve for years, but I do see the odd squirrel or rabbit. I keep my trees behind a 5 foot tall wire fence with chicken wire mesh along the bottom (for the random squirrel). I have a shade net over part of the enclosure which I do think helps to at least discourage birds. I have a bird dog which I’ve seen chase down full grown squirrels and rabbits and keeps small rodents down to a minimum. A dog that loves to play outside is genuinely the best defense. Offering tastier treats works! I inadvertently offer up the fruits of the landscape peach and apple trees to the deer every year…. Still trying to find a way to protect them adequately.

I find the biggest problem with squirrels that I have is in the spring when they dig up soil looking for buried nuts and seeds. Somehow they still get in… your buckthorn could have had things as small as voles or mice snagging stuff for nests or digging down to chew on anything they can find in the pot. If it’s something that small, a mousetrap with peanut butter placed amongst your trees would work fairly well. Really no way of keeping small rodents out of anything they desperately want to get into tho…

My condolences about your JM. That’s a savage wound, but with proper care you won’t lose the rest of the tree.

 

[vp999]

Very natural Jins and sharis.

 

[dtreesj]

Everything I care about is surrounded by a rabbit fence. I have blackberries, raspberries and so on, the birds usually attack those instead. Squirrels go after the bird feeder.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Personally have found 1/2" or so layer of pumice on top of deciduous trees (part organic) substrate helps discourage fleabitten furry tailed rats from digging there. Pumice planted conifers largely left alone. Normally trees not bitten on except for cones.

 

[flor1]

A 22 does a fine job of reducing squirrel.
Throw them into woods coyotes have them before morning.

 

[MGTT]

Should I start to worry?
I keep my trees relatively close to the house, which limits deer issues (other than inground tridents, which they’ll pick clean given a chance). But I found this walnut seed lodged in a JBP, and saw the squirrel on one of the benches today.
My trees are well protected from rodents in the winter, but do I need to worry before they go into their winter home?
(I’ve had trees in these locations for years with essentially the same rodent/squirrel population with out issues….yet)

Btw, my other half thinks it’s hilarious