Doggone Wabbit!

[clever...@gmail.com]

I’ve planted trees for the last several years in an attempt to fill in behind the dead and dying balsam and paper birch on portions of our property. It wasn’t until last spring, though, that many were nibbled off by a snowshoe hare, or hares. So I shouldn’t have been surprised a few days ago when I stood up from planting a couple of yellow birch seedlings and saw a snowshoe hare staring back at me, apparently waiting for me to move on so he could selectively eat, out of a sea of brush, my future forest. Sure enough, when I went back to fence the two seedlings today, they’d already been decapitated, along with a number of others I’d planted.

 

Now I know how Elmer Fudd felt.

 

Steve Wilson

Isabella

[Andrew David]

It’s been terrible. 2 years left alone and then last winter tens of my seedlings decapitated by the buggers. There are few options left me other than additional fencing and lead. 

Andy David
218.244.6794

andrew....@gmail.com

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[Mary M White / Charles R Neil]

Might deer also be guilty of doing such a thing? 

Chuck Neil, Embarrass

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[clever...@gmail.com]

I’m reviewing all the old Looney Toons cartoons to see if I can learn anything from Elmer Fudd. What I’ve learned so far is that the Wabbit always wins.

 

Steve

[Andrew David]

Deer are also guilty of ending a seedlings' life, or curtailing it's existence, the telltale sign is in how the damage looks.  A clean cut, often at an angle is rabbit damage, done with opposing teeth that meet at their end.  A sloppy cut, one with frayed ends, is the sign of deer grinding off the top of the seedling.  And if you've ever lost a seedling to girdling action at ground level, and you check close enough, you can see marks that show the width of the front teeth.  Very narrow are field mice or voles eating under the protection of snow.  Larger tooth width and typically higher up on the stem is rabbit.  Oddly enough, bushes or trees that are clumped at ground level have a higher survival rate because rabbits cannot get their head between the stems to eat all the cambium, so some nutrients can be sent up in spring and then down again in fall.  Of course, mice/voles are smaller and reach into crevices that much easier.  

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Andy David
218.244.6794

andrew....@gmail.com

[Mike Ruzich]

I’ve also had snow shoe hare girdling white pines well beyond the sapling stage.

Sent from my iPad

On May 30, 2026, at 8:07 AM, Andrew David <andrew....@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Danforth Sherman]

My planting has been slower,but I staple wax paper on the tips,and monitor.quick question to the experts. Are Mt.maple asexual? I have one full of seeds and the other empty.both volunteers that I let grow.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 30, 2026, at 8:07 AM, Andrew David <andrew....@gmail.com> wrote:



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