6

I have some rows of beets, and it seems that something has started to eat their beet greens. Interestingly, whatever is eating them seems to be working its way methodically up the row, rather than eating the biggest ones first. There are not many fallen greens on the ground which makes me think it is a critter and not a bug. I have a fenced-in yard so nothing bigger than a raccoon could get in (there is space under the fence). If it helps, I am in the US Pacific Northwest region.

Are there critters out there that like to eat beet greens?

UPDATE

Animals we have seen in the past

  • Cats
  • Moles
  • Rabbit (in a previous year)
  • Dog

We also have other vegetables that have not been eaten (yet!)

  • Tomatos
  • Cucumber
  • Beans
  • Brussels Sprouts
  • Carrots

enter image description here enter image description here

UPDATE

I was able to get a footprint, but unfortunately it is not well-defined. The fact that it is so light does make me think that the critter is more rabbit-sized than deer-sized.

enter image description here

SethMMorton
  • 587
  • 5
  • 14

2 Answers2

3

Looks like rabbits to me. Where is it you live? What animals have you observed? This is how rabbits eat; they leave the tougher main vein and eat the leaf completely.

PNW is famous for slugs. Surely you are able to recognize a slug slime trail? Were there any slime trails?

I see bunnies snacking. We have wild bunnies that are easy to keep out of the garden using wire fencing...just 2 to 3 feet in height.

If you had evidence of tomatoes or cucumbers or squash being eaten then I would say rodents: Mice, voles, rats. Far smaller than Raccoons who like oysters, chickens, richer foods than just vegeys. You need to put in a wire fence that baby bunnies are not able to get through.

I am worried about that beet plant in your picture. Why would those leaves on the periphery be acting like they are in drought? Look at the beet itself. Beets that large should be harvested and eaten anyway. You should be enjoying those leaves cooked like spinach! Total yummmmm! Look to see if that beet is being chewed on by...rabbits or rodents. Mice and rats will go for the beet, a tomato, an eggplant, shelling peas over sugar flat pea pods. Do you have cats? Whatever you do do not put out poison!

If you could take a picture of the 'chew marks' left on those petioles, that would help narrow the suspect (s) down considerably. Look at the beet poking above the soil. Pull the soil back and look for chew marks. Pull the chunky mulch stuff back and put fine soil down around your plants. You will readily be able to see tracks and scat!

stormy
  • 40,098
  • 3
  • 31
  • 75
  • We have had slugs in our strawberries in the past so I would recognize that. As for the rest I'll update my question to respond. – SethMMorton Aug 29 '18 at 01:45
  • Also, we have been in a bit of a drought for about two months. – SethMMorton Aug 29 '18 at 01:46
  • Thanks for the note about them being awfully big and ready to eat. My wife has been insisting we wait till they get "just a bit bigger", and I think this is the push she needed to let me pull them! – SethMMorton Aug 29 '18 at 01:55
  • Have you been watering these plants? Smart insects that hang out with plants that get regular watering...the Seattle area is sort of my stomping grounds. – stormy Aug 29 '18 at 01:55
  • We have been watering, but probably not as much as we could have considering the heat wave and the drought. – SethMMorton Aug 29 '18 at 01:57
  • The chew marks look like bunnies. Where are you in Washington? The San Juan Islands? Now there is a major boom and bust with rabbits! Omnivores such as mice and rats and raccoons aren't at all interested in a juicy leaf. Rabbits however, love their fresh greens. – stormy Aug 29 '18 at 01:59
  • I'm actually in OR, near Portland. Bunnies sound pretty reasonable, since I've seen them around here before. Also, I'll try out your test of putting softer mulch around the beets to get more evidence. – SethMMorton Aug 29 '18 at 02:01
  • We are in south central, family in Portland. Use a fine sand- like medium versus soft. You'll get clear prints and please send me a picture. I am into tracking and sign...it should be as good as a photograph for ID. Take a picture early morning or late afternoon to get a bit of shadow and relief. – stormy Aug 29 '18 at 02:48
  • 2
    Yeah, looks like rabbits, but I've seen similar damage from woodchucks (had a family living under a shed for awhile last year). Have you tried using a trail cam? That's how I found out who was under the shed AND who was eating my vegetables. For your sake, I hope it's rabbits: woodchucks are greedy buggers and difficult to get rid of in a city (they can't easily get lead poisoning there...). – Jurp Aug 29 '18 at 02:54
  • 1
    He would have noticed the tunnels and digging if it were woodchucks. What else is herbivorous in the area? – stormy Aug 29 '18 at 02:59
  • Not if the 'chucks actually live elsewhere. One of my neighbors was wondering at the time why rabbits were eating her sunflowers. The critters were crawling under the fence at night to snack. They eventually trapped two of them, using sunflower heads as bait. – Jurp Aug 29 '18 at 10:56
  • Sigh, how sad. Hope they let them go. I hope you are talking about small baby sunflowers. Rabbits or gophers would be unable to reach the heads of the taller mature sunflowers. No leaves to entice them upwards either. Woodchuck/gophers couldn't eat sunflowers unless they pulled the heads down to the ground. I feed the wildlife and they reward me by leaving my garden alone. Of course I have wire fencing around my greenhouse/garden. I don't want to set innocent, hungry animals up for failure. – stormy Aug 29 '18 at 21:10
  • I put in the soft dirt - now the waiting game begins! I’ll update with a new picture once I see something new. – SethMMorton Aug 30 '18 at 03:01
  • Seth, this stuff is so exciting! I am waiting for these pictures. Look for scat as well. Close ups of what ever has been eaten. We humans are learning how to live in harmony with wildlife and indigenous plants we have supplanted. – stormy Aug 30 '18 at 04:57
0

It sort of looks like deer damage to me. Could a deer leap your fence? If the weather has been dry the hoof marks would be harder to see than in moist soil. My concern about it being rabbit is that rabbits would work their way up one side of the row, that is from the side, deer would work from the top down and both sides. Deer can come at night and be gone by early morning. Deer are fond of beets and beans, what other plants are under attack as well as beets?

Colin Beckingham
  • 19,612
  • 1
  • 12
  • 43
  • I’m not sure a deer could leap the fence - it is 6 ft where it faces the neighbors yard, and 10 ft in the back. So far, nothing else has been eaten. – SethMMorton Aug 29 '18 at 14:13
  • a six foot fence is nothing to even a little white tail deer, from a stand still. 10 feet? If they are able to hit the top of the fence they can most certainly vault the rest of the way. Have you ever watched these guys bound and jump through the forests? I have. You, Seth, will be able to find out the real bandit with this easy to see track medium. Have you guys ever watched rabbits dig? Oh my. If they are hungry they will dig and get at the food. Bunnies and other wildlife want to survive. – stormy Aug 30 '18 at 04:54
  • Deer would have eaten the entire plant, pulled it out and shook the roots of soil to eat some of that as well. Grins. I love this discussion. Where there are deer there are cougar, bobcat and bears. And that is the truth. I had to get tough with clients who wanted to put their play grounds right next to the greenbelts. I had to drag them out to see cougar hair on the wire fences, bear print and scat, coyotes will certainly kill cats and small dogs. Learning to 'track' is learning the language of the natural world again. You see far more and can read what is happening outside your home. – stormy Aug 30 '18 at 05:03
  • Behind the fence is an absurdly large patch of very aggressive blackberries, and behind that is a 15ft concrete wall, and behind that is the light rail for my area, and behind that is a 20ft chain link fence. It is like that all along my street, so even though the deer could jump the fence I don’t think they could get close enough to attempt the jump. – SethMMorton Aug 30 '18 at 21:26