Thanks folks, maybe I should be a little more clear...the veggie garden is right next to one of the rock piles, I mean actually on the other side of the fence. We heat the house with an outdoor wood furnace so there is a very LARGE (but neatly stacked) woodpile just several yards from the veggie garden, we also have a small pond...great wildlife habitiat out here! Is'nt that enough in itself to keep the Chippers around? I don't have any feeders as close as these are. I participate in bird studies with Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and also monitor a small nestbox trail for cavity nesting birds, so it's much more serious than just feeding birds. However hubby loves his garden and I am sure having his plants devoured is as heartbreaking as finding a nestling that has been thrown out of it's box. Lastly I know some of our new baby Chippers have not even left the nest yet, killing Mama would be horrible! I guess what I am hearing from you folks is that I have a real dilema on my hands! I was SO hoping someone had better news. Lets not even get started on deer! LOL Thanks!

Wow I never thought I'd see comments from this post again that was like 4 years ago. Yes I have plenty of the blue tailed skinks and some are very large, very. I think what the skinks do unless they are using toads tunnels, is make tunnels all through the ground. I think that's why the ground seems almost hollow in that area and I have seen skinks come out of the little holes. I believe I have had voles before but my kind dogs dug up the whole yard to get them and now they are gone. :/ I don't think the skinks are the roses roots that may have been voles but the skinks do a number on the spoil I think. I made chicken wire cages for the other roses along the back fence where I have the skinks problem. I don't kill the skinks, voles yes skinks no. ;)

I can say with 99 percent certainty (OK, 95 percent) that it's your chipmunk friend. Mole holes aren't that big, and 30 feet is just about right for the back door of a munk hole. Your options are limited, based on your wife's love of the munk. But remember that munks don't just tunnel into gardens and eat bulbs, they tunnel against foundations, which weakens the structure due to water damage, and they also chew through wiring. If interested in eradicating your little critter, check out the chipmunk problem solver post on this forum.

Rhubarb. I don't know what I continually do wrong but it'd died four times now. A friend of mine also had problems with getting rhubarb to live. He said the little plant would just disappear. I told him the only thing I could think of was that possibly some underground varmit was getting it and pulling it down and away. I'm not sure if he ever succeeded or not. If I have something die, or not do well, when I get a new one, or the opportunity, I move the existing one. A 'new' spot usually helps a lot. Sue