Hahahahahahaha!!! Oh, how I wish it were a wombat!!! I just love the little blighters! Definitely not a capybara, though...I held one of those once, and got a really good look at it. I'm pretty sure I would recognize one again, even far away from its native riverland habitat. And speaking of Homer, let me just say this: DOH!!!! Never-miiiiiiiiiiiind! You have all made wonderful (or wonderfully funny) guesses, but I saw my mystery visitor today in full sunlight and at much closer range. DEFINITELY a rat. Period. Potter can have his shot at it today. I must have been on drugs yesterday (maybe some of that joyweed mentioned in the thread on Melissa's Before & After photos)! I don't know what I was thinking. Too much caffeine, perhaps. Or not enough. Perhaps I need more fiber in my diet. Or less. Certainly I need new glasses!! Sorry to have led you all on a wild rodent chase, but I sure enjoyed your answers! Thanks a million for the laughs! Marcia (hanging head in shame, and wandering off somewhere to hide!)

I highly doubt its SADD if others in the area have the same looking disease. My guess would be brown patch. The area of brown patch that I had in the winter is greening up, but not fully recovered. The area has hardly any upward growth, it appears to be stunted, which is a usual characteristic after the BP occurrence. In order for these areas to fully recover and start upward growth, is to put some quality compost on the effected areas and keep it moist for a week or so. (bagged compost will also work). From past experience, compost is the only solution I have found for the grass to fully recover from Brown Patch disease. The experiment I conducted was to determine if I had Root Knot Nematode. I placed Corn meal on the area at the recommended rate and sugar on half of the effected area. Initially, the sugar half recovered faster, but currently the half with Corn meal only is doing better. It takes time to recover, try not to expect instant results. About sod webworms: The larvae are greenish with many black spots. Adults are dingy brown moths with a wingspread of about 3/4 inch. You will see alot of moths fly away (somewhat eradically) when you walk or mow over the area. The adults (moths) are laying eggs, and the larvae feed on the grass blades and cause noticeable injury within 2 weeks (early webworm damage resembles drought stress, even when there is sufficient moisture). They complete their life cycle in 5 to 6 weeks and have several generations each year. The soap flush technique is a good way to detect sod webworms. dchall is 100% correct. Last year he told me the same thing he told you about the paper wasp. In the past I would kill them because my wife was worried about them stinging the kids. In turn, I would get sod webworm damage every year. Last year I stopped killing them and I must say they proved to be a huge help to me. I only had a few very very small areas that were damaged by the webworms. I would always see the paper wasps hovering just above the grass blades hunting for there next meal. I also used the BT a few times last year. Timing is very crucial for the product to work. Apply BT 1 week after you first notice the adult webworm moths fly around, then reapply every 3-4 days if in full sun and every 5-7 days in shady areas until the moths are gone. If it rains or you run your irrigation you must reapply. Hope this helps Can you post a few pictures? It would help out a lot.

I found this link that might help: Posted by gardenguru1950 SunsetZ16 (My Page) on Sat, Aug 8, 09 at 13:06 The most common "eater" of rose leaves in California is the Bristly Rose Slug, the larvae of the Rose Sawfly. The sawfly is a pudgy little wasp. It lays its eggs on the UNDERSIDES of the leaves and the caterpillars feed on the UNDERSIDES of the leaves. The rose slug is tiny, no more than 1/4-inch long and very slender, and it's the exact same pale green as the undersides of the leaves. Talk about hard to see and find! It's the critter that "skelotinizes" rose leaves. It's pretty easy to get rid of, actually. Almost any good spray will do the job: insecticidal soap, Neem, pyrethrum. The trick is to spray thoroughly UNDER the leaves. Not stand back and spray all over. You have to get UNDER the leaves. By the way, a commonly suggested spray for rose sawfly is BT. It doesn't work. It doesn't work because it's meant for the caterpillars of moths and butterflies. The rose slug is the larvae of a wasp. And I'm not sure of any beneficial insect that preys upon it. As for your rose buds, Applenut has a good idea. Go outside late at night with a flashlight. The critter most likely is an earwig, sowbug or pillbug. It also might be a slug or snail. Joe Here is a link that might be useful: Bugs that eat roses' leaves

Many days of below zero (-16 F one morning) weather here and a really brutal winter. The only saving grace was the snow which was several feet thick. This ensured nothing dries out. I don't know about pots but the cold surely didn't kill them. My only loss was one mushy tuft that had a big chunk of Irish Spring soap on top of it. I think you would see signs of voles, holes / tracks. Did you inadvertently feed them anything or spray the area with anything? It had to be something capable of affecting a wide area. Even mulch if not stored properly and stirred can produce deadly fumes for plants. It is a real mystery but, to me, but it had to be something that was done to the many plants, perhaps in the Fall, killing them which, at the time, may have been seen as just going dormant??? Sorry for your loses. Jon