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Index of Subjects This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0015_01C8755D.FCB02630 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable When we lived at Port Joli we planted several large clumps of crocus = which blossomed profusely the first year....semi-profusely the second = year .... sparsley the third year.... and from then on we had only one = or two small clumps or solitary blooms.....and we attributed it to the = resident chipmunks which were a constant in the 15 years we resided = there....we also had red squirrels but we never had any evidence that = they ate the bulbs. Whilst eating lunch one day , sitting by the dining room window, we = watched a short-tailed vole emerge from it's den under a stump and make = several trips back and forth to a small surviving patch of crocus. It = was dragging blossoms , one at a time, with which to decorate the = entrance to its den.....we figured it was an aesthetically minded = individual and the purpose purely decorative, but there may have been a = more practical use for the flowers. Andy & Lelia Dean 86 Baden Powell Drive Kentville, NS. Canada. B4N 5P5 Tel: [902] 678-6243 aadean@ns.sympatico.ca From: David & Alison Webster=20 To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20 Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 11:42 AM Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Crocus corms Hi Margaret & All, Feb 22, 2008 I doubt Chipmunk because we have never (over 40 years) seen one in = the yard or nearby. But it is interesting that they also make use of=20 underground storage organs. Treatment of the Crocus corms suggests a=20 long-standing culture in corm/bulb usage. So I am wondering what = native=20 plants they might harvest and suspect that the dug up areas in=20 Coniferous woods, attributed by folklore to Squirrels burying cones,=20 might be something else. Yt, DW Margaret E.Millard wrote: > any chance it might be a chipmunk's stash? Sounds awfully familiar = to=20 > me. Here I have (sadly, as I love the snow drops but really wanted = to=20 > know where they were going) watched as they harvest the bloom and=20 > flower stalk, eat it and then dig up the corm and away they went and = > stashed them in my gardening gloves in a bucket that I use for = lugging=20 > tools about the yard... > Marg in White Point, Queens > http://margmillard.ca > ----- Original Message ----- From: "David & Alison Webster"=20 > <dwebster@glinx.com> > To: <NatureNS@chebucto.ns.ca> > Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 9:52 AM > Subject: [NatureNS] Crocus corms > > >> Dear All, Feb 22, 2008 >> For about 25 years I have hauled warm-weather wood last and = piled=20 >> it over a mixed bed of Vinca, Crocus and Snowdrops. These tiers are = >> used or moved by mid-March. This has subdued the otherwise=20 >> overwhelming Vinca and given the Crocus and Snowdrop room to = expand. >> >> But this year is going to be very different I think. The soil=20 >> under these tiers is entirely rooted up with runners sunken and=20 >> soil/debris piled between tiers. Today, while hauling in more wood, = I=20 >> uncovered a cache of 7 Crocus corms, carefully stripped of outer=20 >> husk, with the shoot chewed back and piled root end up in a red=20 >> squirrel (?) pantry. >> >> I suspect Squirrel because we have 2 in the yard, rarely seen=20 >> since cold weather arrived, and the associated ~2 Litre nest had = long=20 >> slim fleas that resembles some that came in with roadkill. So=20 >> tentatively, our Squirrels have developed a taste for Crocus corms. >> >> Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville >> > ------=_NextPart_000_0015_01C8755D.FCB02630 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Diso-8859-1"> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2900.3268" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>When we lived at Port Joli we planted = several large=20 clumps of crocus which blossomed profusely the first = year....semi-profusely the=20 second year .... sparsley the third year.... and from then on we had = only one or=20 two small clumps or solitary blooms.....and we attributed it to the = resident=20 chipmunks which were a constant in the 15 years we resided there....we = also had=20 red squirrels but we never had any evidence that they ate the=20 bulbs.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2> Whilst eating lunch = one day ,=20 sitting by the dining room window, we </FONT><FONT face=3DArial=20 size=3D2>watched a short-tailed vole emerge from it's den under a stump = and make=20 several trips back and forth to a small surviving patch of crocus. It=20 was dragging blossoms , one at a time, with which to = decorate=20 the entrance to its den.....we figured it was an aesthetically = minded=20 individual and the purpose purely decorative, but there may have been a = more=20 practical use for the flowers.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Andy & Lelia Dean<BR>86 Baden = Powell=20 Drive<BR>Kentville, NS. Canada. B4N 5P5<BR>Tel: [902] = 678-6243</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><A=20 href=3D"mailto:aadean@ns.sympatico.ca">aadean@ns.sympatico.ca</A></FONT><= /DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><B>From:</B> <A title=3Ddwebster@glinx.com=20 href=3D"mailto:dwebster@glinx.com">David & Alison Webster</A> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE=20 style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=3Dnaturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20 href=3D"mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca">naturens@chebucto.ns.ca</A> = </DIV> <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, February 22, 2008 = 11:42=20 AM</DIV> <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [NatureNS] Crocus=20 corms</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>Hi Margaret &=20 All, = Feb 22