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Ozarks Gardening

what are the critters gonna eat this winter?

16 years ago

after the devastating late spring freeze, i have been thinking all summer on what the turkeys, deer, squirrels, woodpeckers and bluebirds are going to eat this winter?!

william- in yellville

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Comments (7)

oakleif
16 years ago
William, I've been thinking about that too and we've got a lot of critters to think about. I've got several little mini fields that have grass and flower seeds for birds and other little animals plus DD and i will have feeders up. I think the turkeys can scrounge elderberries and grasses, I think they'll eat corn I'll keep some out for deer plus if i can find some bales of hay.I'll scatter that later in the winter. I think there will be some muscadines as they bloom later than the freeze. I don't think there will be acorn or hickory nuts. That will hurt the most. I have'nt been out in the woods to see what all is out there.
That blasted bear is completely on his own. He'll probably be shot during hunting season anyway.
vickie
kaye
16 years ago
I am glad to see the persimmons! I usually cuss the things since they come up all over the garden..but there is a decent crop here at least. Saw a pileated 'pecker the other morning munching down on the poke berries. We keep corn chops out year round for the squirrels and birds.
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The local ecology gets pretty complex around here. Starts with the 4 dogs-------------->> chasing the feral cats (no no doggies, go inside, let them beÂ.)---->> cats eat possums, rats, birds, and hopefully some squirrels-------------->> squirrels eat all of my pecans, which is OK since they are tiny, too much work, nobody else eats them and they try to seed all over so I am pulling up little pecan trees all over the place Â so thank you squirrels. However, they do not go away when the pecan season is over, so I let them eat my sunflowers. I grow extra sunflowers for them. Same with the birds that are not eaten by the cats (less cats than squirrels or birds, plenty of food for everybody) birds eat a lot of my seeds (I lose about 20% even when I know I have 100% sprouting rate) and other things too. I also have lots and lots of lady bugs-------------->> eating aphids, thank you lady bugs! and praying mantids------>> now those eat everything, I thank them for eating the stink bugs, but please do not eat too many lady bugs you praying mantids! It goes on and on, the more I learn about beneficial insects and all these interactions the more fun this becomes. I just sit there and watch mostly, weed a little, admire all the flowering plants, tinker with the watering system, harvest A LOT of stuff, so we got plenty of food for everyone. Oh yes, I also plant lots of flowers that are known to attract beneficial insects, and many already came with the place anyway (lucky me). Of course, I also plant about 50% extra crops destined to feed the critters, act as trap crops for my bad bugs, or just be there in case of famine. This includes increasing the carrot crop (more beds for carrots, yeah!) because the 4 dogs LOVE carrots. They also told me that mine are much tastier than commercial ones, and do I not love them enough to grow carrots for them? They sure know how to lay a guilt trip on a girl.
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Terrene, The photo of your vole patrolcat is too cute-- fluffy little face stuffed full of critter.... I *love* it. My own (indoor) kitty friend is sitting on my lap as I (try to) type this. He's giving me a look that says "don't get any big ideas, woman.". I make my critter cages in all sizes. It just depends on the plant. I've found that an 8" diameter, 10" deep cage is sufficient for a lot of plants. I could make them bigger, but my soil is crazy compacted clay and full of tree roots, and I just don't have time to spend 30 minutes digging each hole. The roots grow through the hardware cloth eventually, but even if the critters mess with those, you've still protected the main tap and lateral roots. I would suggest starting out with 1/4" hardware cloth-- it's much easier to cut than 1/2". A good pair of tin-snips will also make your life easier, as will some nitrile coated knit gardening gloves. They are thin enough to give you good dexterity but still thick enough to keep your hands from being torn to shreds. As for installation, there really isn't that much to it. Dig a hole larger than the cage, put it in the hole and fill with plant and dirt. At first I planted them with about 1" of the cage above the soil, but I got tired of stumbling on them so now I place them at soil level. Thus far, no difference in critter "activity" between the two planting depths. If you need to plant something very shallow rooted, like crocus, and are worried about digging from the top down in, then get some crushed oyster shell (aka crushed poultry shell) and work it into the top 1" of the soil. It will keep the critters from digging down into the cage...... until all the birds have eaten it. Plan on reapplying it once or twice a season. Daylilies and iris were two plant types my neighbor and I couldn't agree on. I thought daylilies were critter-proof, but not iris. She thought the opposite.
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trfanatic That is a gotgeous pepper, but how could you stand to eat it. As you know it's the hottest pepper in the world. The Chili Pepper Institute of Las Cruces, New Mexico performed a scoville heat rating on that monster.From one drop of extract from that pepper it takes 1,300,000 drops of water before the heat could no longer be detected. I don't know how they determine that but I'm assuming it's scientific. The also tested a habanero, it was one drop of extract, took 300,000 drops of water before no heat. So, you are certainly growing the big boy in the pepper world. In India when they work around those peppers they are seriously protected from head to toes. Yikes, how do you enjoy them?
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oakleif
16 years ago
Saw 2 green acorns on the ground yesterday so maybe there will be some acorns this year.
My pilated woodpecker is munching down on pokeberries too. He is the most vocal bird around and always announces his prescence.
christie_sw_mo
16 years ago
I was surprised to see acorns on my pin oak but I didn't notice how many. I think you're right that they'll be short on food. I don't have any pecans, my gray dogwoods are usually heavy with berries and they had almost zero this year, and my flowering dogwood didn't make any fruit. I saw a squirrel running off with a big ol' green walnut in his mouth a couple days ago but I think there won't be many of those either. They may be pricey this year. Does anyone have cedar trees? Those usually provide a lot of food. I wonder how they did this year.
sweetwm007
Original Author
16 years ago
no acorns, walnuts or hickory nuts here. nothing!

william
sweetwm007
Original Author
16 years ago
actually seeing some acorns and a few walnuts around. feel a little better.

deer are really moving about. saw 8 today!

william- in the middle of the turkey trot in yellville!!!!!!!!!
mulberryknob
16 years ago
Oak trees come in two main divisions concerning how they mature their acorns. The white oak group--including white oak, post oak, overcup, bur, swamp and chinkapin all bear acorns that mature in one season. None of these trees are bearing acorns around our place this year. The red oak group takes two seasons to bear acorns. The trees of this group that bloomed last spring (o7)will not bear next year, but the ones that bloomed spring before last(06) are maturing acorns right now. Luckily the red oak group is larger. But we have no walnuts, no mulberries, no persimmons, no redbud seeds. We do have a small crop of large flowered dogwood berries. DL at mulberryknob

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