They are at it again

From time to time I have commented on the impact of the furry tree rats on our household. It has been related to their demand for nourishment since we stopped offering them the occasional peanut, to their insistence that our ceiling space is their preferred winter habitat. It is their gardening habits that have been most prominent in irritating me recently.

We learned many years age that when you planted tulip bulbs it was good idea to coat them in pepper or plant a daffodil bulb on top, if we did not want them dug up and eaten. The arrival of crocus blossom in the early spring was apparently a dinner invitation to squirrels who tried to eat the flowers before anyone else could admire them. We managed over the years to have a large enough number of crocus for the squirrels to get bored and leave some for us to admire. Either that or they were distracted by the fact that there were by then tulip blossoms for them to destroy.

I have nurtured a hibiscus and fuchsia for many years, bringing them in in the fall and returning them to the garden in June. They are both happily ignored by the squirrels to date. Ten days ago however, while shopping at Sobeys I saw some beautiful small hibiscus plants with spectacular blooms. I purchased one and planted it alongside my older plant. Within 24 hours the squirrels had eaten not just the flowers, but all the buds.

There is a clematis that grows on the side of the house, just outside the picture window in the living room. It is not yet in bloom, but the buds are forming. Yesterday evening a squirrel was half way up the clematis and chattering at me through the window, apparently complaining that I had not got it in bloom for him!