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Whats eating my hostas? Crows???

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

my neighborhood has a lot of jack rabbits, but theres also lots of crows. Based on a few pictures ive seen, these dont look like rabbit marks. It looks like beak marks to me, what do you guys think? I dont know what else it could be. How do i get rid of them?

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zkathy z7a NC

6 years ago

Did you have a late frost? Most of my early risers have a few leaves that look like that. It got too cold for the boxes and other coverings I used to protect leaves that were up.

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Comments (20)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
in my 25 years of hosta ... 3rd time .. lol .. i never heard of birds attacking hosta ...

the robins might rustle around under them for bugs ...

is it anymore than that one leaf ... if so.. yank the leaf out.. and fa-get-about-it ...

ALWAYS include where you are.. it also looks vaguely like someone may have stepped on the pip before it emerged ... but then there would be another leaf or two damaged ...

ken
User
Original Author
6 years ago
There's about 2 or 3 leaves like that on every hosta- and i live in Saskatoon Saskatchewan, Canada (zone 3)
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Moc, they might work for a squirrel problem! However, my solution to that was a circle of chicken wire or 2x4 wire right over the top of the pot, tied down through the hole in the bottom if it was a new plant. Or around the side of the pot if it was an established one. Plants grow thru it, squirrels can't dig. It was just hopeful thinking about the slugs. But maybe a ring of Sluggo outside the collar would keep them busy and hopefully soon dead. Edit: I did cut a piece of chicken wire, with a hole in the center, and put it around new small hostas when they were planted in the ground and weighted it down with rocks. Seems to have kept the squirrels from digging them up, and this spring I just pulled it off as the hostas were coming up and not in danger of that any more.. Sandy This post was edited by mosswitch on Tue, Apr 30, 13 at 14:24
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Thanks everyone, I was stressing out over worrying about something else! The stuff I was spraying on my hostas was keeping the rabbits away, but it would get the new ones I would plant or the ones that unfurled, and, we've had so much rain in the past couple of days, I'm sure the stuff got washed away. I looked up the link Steve gave me and there is a supplier not too far from me. I'm going tomorrow to check the pills out as I just used the last of the spray stuff I have. I think the rabbit is living under my lower deck as it came jumping out of it the other day when the lawn service guy came through with the leaf blower.
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Last week I posted a pic of my Cathedral Windows in bloom...and it has chicken wire around it because of overactive dogs... but this weekend I went out and the blooms were bitten off of all the scapes!!!! Rabbits! Those scapes were 'leaning' over the edges of the chicken wire and I can just imagine those lousy rabbits standing on their haunches, or even standing up and resting their little rodent paws on the wire and munching away! Then, I went around to the other side of the yard and checked on my cute little Rhino Hide... it had distinctive bite marks in several leaves. Well, I cut off the bitten scapes from CW. And I trimmed the bitten part of the RH leaves - giving them a straight edge so I can tell if they get chewed on again. Then I sprinkled cayenne pepper all around the RH. Next day - no bite marks. But if it rains I'll have to re-apply. They've also been biting off the outermost growth on my Rose of Sharon - so there's chicken wire around that now, too. I think they like the new, tender growth. They haven't bothered my Rainforest Sunrise hostas. I kinda wish the foxes that used to live in the lot next door would come back.
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User
Original Author
6 years ago
Oh also i should mention we have had a huge outbreak of tent caterpillars but i didnt see any near my hostas
buyorsell888
6 years ago
The American crow is omnivorous. It will feed on
invertebrates of all types, carrion, scraps of human food, seeds, eggs
and nestlings, stranded fish on the shore and various grains. American crows are active hunters and will prey on mice, frogs, and other small animals. Not Hostas :)
Jon 6a SE MA
6 years ago
A long shot but if you leave a hose lying out in the sun the hose and the water inside gets very hot and if you sprayed hot water on a hosta leaf it might look like that ??? Jon
jamie81
6 years ago
I don't know about crows.....but I have had both ducks and geese rip the leaves of my hosta. Don't think they actually ate anything, they were just tasting I guess.

Now muskrats will destroy a hosta. Mostly out of spite I think. They are nasty things.
koffman99
6 years ago
Kate,

Do you happen to have a dog or cat that goes near the plants ? I have seen dogs aimlessly wander through my hosta bed and bend and trample the leaves and leave them somewhat looking like that.
User
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks everyone! We did have a late frost so I'm thinking thats likely what damaged my hostas.
Joy Stansfield
2 years ago
We have a crow that regularly comes and attacks our hostas
djacob Z6a SE WI
2 years ago
Crows are known for being extremely intelligent and mischievous for sure, but a crow that attacks Hostas........really????

debra
GardenHo_MI_Z5
2 years ago
Lol Debra.

Mine would be a mess if that were the case...i have 3 that showed up about 4 years ago. They perch up on the highest branches....
William Pitman
last year
We have crows eating our hostas and caught it on CCTV!
bkay2000
last year
Maybe so, but the damage shown in the original post is cold damage.

bkay
djacob Z6a SE WI
last year
I don’t believe crows are eating your hostas, however however, they may be eating delicious slugs and/or other bugs crawling on or u der them……..🐌🐌🐌

debra
William Pitman
last year
You are probably right but in the process they are ripping off leaves from the hostas to get at them
bkay2000
last year
last modified: last year
I'm no expert, but it is my understanding that birds eat one or more of 3 categories of food - fruit, nuts (and other seeds) and protein (bugs, the young of other birds, fish, mice, rabbits, etc.). I don't believe I've ever heard of a bird eating leaves. Of course, I could be wrong.

bkay
Terry Haselden (7b, SC)
last year
Looks a lot like storm damage from small pieces of wood/limb blown by a high wind.
arcy_gw
last year
I see no animal damage, nothing that looks like a bite, and since it is that wide spread my hunch would be SOMETHING large walked trough your bed and stomped on the pips...dear/bear large dog????
Allen Carstensen
11 months ago
I thought that ducks were eating my hostas, so I set out my trail camera. It was robins! the ducks have been exonerated.

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