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What happened to my zucchini flowers, squirrels revenge?

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Squirrrel Hunter

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Jul 2, 2002, 8:58:30 AM7/2/02
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This is my 1st yr growing zucchini so I was eagerly watching the initial
flowers fattening up. I was out for only 1 hour on sat but when I returned half
of the flowers were gone. All that was left was the flower husks. They had been
striped clean of any remnants of the yellow flowers. I suspect the squirrels.

Squirrel catching had been a little slow, the birds had been biting. I got a
little complacent and didn't set the trap for 2 days. Damm. I would have had
him.

Since then 3 squirrels in the zucchini patch. No more missing flowers, yet.

Anne

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Jul 2, 2002, 12:23:26 PM7/2/02
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I would be more likely to suspect slugs or snails. They are notorious for
eating the squash flowers and since they come out at night when it is cool, you
are unlikely to see them around. I have a major problem with squirrels and what
they get into is the squash itself, putting teeth marks into the flesh.

Anne

Squirrrel Hunter

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Jul 2, 2002, 12:39:21 PM7/2/02
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Anne wrote

>since they come out at night when it is cool, you
>are unlikely to see them around.

I'm sure this happened between the hrs of 10 am and noon. I had been watching
the 1st squash preparing to open up, and then the flower was gone. I was going
to attempt some hand pollination since I've haven't seen a whole bunch
pollinators so far.

Anne

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Jul 3, 2002, 12:05:56 PM7/3/02
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All I can tell you then is that squirrels are mainly nut and seed eaters with
the occassional bend towards fruits. I have never heard of them eating flowers
though.

Squirrrel Hunter

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Jul 3, 2002, 12:21:37 PM7/3/02
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Anne wrote

>I have never heard of them eating flowers

I have to disagree with you there. A while back when my Mom was doing her best
to dissuade me from drowning the varmints we witnessed it first hand. As I was
reciting the merits for disposal, we watched as a grey tail scampered along our
chain link fence stopping next to my moms roses. He reached over and pulled a
rose bud right from the plant and started rolling it between it grubby little
mitts while using its mouth like hedge clippers.
My Mom shouted "Kill the Bastards".
I opted for relocation.

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