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Index of Subjects This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_001A_01C91B5F.0182C440 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable We lived in Port Joli for many years and grew a number of roses.=20 We had so much problem with porcupines lopping them off close to the = ground that we were forced to move all of the bushes into the original = vegetable patch that was enclosed with a meter high chicken wire = fence.....the exception being a stand of hardy 'rugosa' roses which = multiplied and regenerated constantly ....but these were also destroyed = from time to time....the porcupines never seemed to eat the plants, = simply lopped them off and left the debris to annoy us...as Lelia = sometimes said "It wouldn't be so frustrating if they ate them !. I came to the conclusion that it was probably part of the mating ritual, = especially after a night of horrific wailing which awakened us to = discover one calling from high in one of our oak trees. The wailing = attracted another that climbed up the tree, and next morning we = discovered the ground at the foot of the oak carpeted with short green = branches, mostly about a meter or more in length , all neatly severed = and left littering. I HATE porcupines !! Andy=20 Andy & Lelia Dean 86 Baden Powell Drive Kentville, NS. Canada. B4N 5P5 Tel: [902] 678-6243 aadean@ns.sympatico.ca ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Roland McCormick=20 To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20 Sent: Saturday, September 20, 2008 6:59 PM Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Muskrat versus beaver diet choices Interesting. I think it unlikely that it was a beaver. I have always = thought=20 they prefer wood. One animal you might want to rule out is a = porcupine. I=20 have had problems in my raspberry plants with them. They will attack a = raspberry plant and chew off an inch or two, then move on and chew off = an=20 inch or two of a second one, and so on until they have caused = considerable=20 damage. Often if you find a wild patch of raspberries you will find a=20 porcupine in the patch eating this same way. Roland. ----- Original Message -----=20 From: "Stephen Shaw" <srshaw@dal.ca> To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> Sent: Saturday, September 20, 2008 2:34 AM Subject: [NatureNS] Muskrat versus beaver diet choices > We live on Chocolate Lake in Halifax, and during our time the garden = has=20 > always > had a multi-stalked rose bush growing within a couple of feet of the = lake=20 > edge. > This was trained up high over a tree and has (or had) six sturdy = woody=20 > stems > each about 1 inch thick: it must have been growing there for 20+ = years. > A couple of days ago I noticed that most of the leaves on the rose = were > shrivelled and dying, and traced this back to find that 5 of the 6 = stems > appeared to have been hacked through with a machete, probably about = a week > earlier. After thinking dark misanthropic thoughts, on closer = inpection=20 > there > were some striations on the hacks and the two ends of each hack = didn't=20 > seem to > match. It looked as if short sections had been removed by something = with=20 > teeth > -- looks like a rodent did it. This urban lake doesn't look like = prime=20 > beaver > habitat and I've never seen or heard of one living or visiting = locally on=20 > the > lake, but at least one muskrat has lived here for some years and is = still > around. > > Question: this muskrat regularly chews off nearby soft plant shoots=20 > (lilies?) > that grow directly out of the lake near the edge. I thought that = muskrats > exclusively subsist on such soft diet material and don't go after = woody=20 > shrubs > or trees in the manner of a beaver. Is this correct, or could the = muskrat=20 > be a > possible culprit for the woody rose incident? > Steve > = -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.169 / Virus Database: 270.7.0/1680 - Release Date: = 9/19/2008=20 8:25 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ----- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com=20 Version: 8.0.169 / Virus Database: 270.7.0/1682 - Release Date: = 9/20/2008 10:24 AM ------=_NextPart_000_001A_01C91B5F.0182C440 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 6.00.2900.5626" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>We lived in Port Joli for many years = and grew a=20 number of roses. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>We had so much problem with = porcupines=20 lopping them off close to the ground that we were forced to move all of = the=20 bushes into the original vegetable patch that was enclosed with a meter = high=20 chicken wire fence.....the exception being a stand of hardy = 'rugosa' roses=20 which multiplied and regenerated constantly ....but these were also = destroyed=20 from time to time....the porcupines never seemed to eat the plants, = simply=20 lopped them off and left the debris to annoy us...as Lelia sometimes = said "It=20 wouldn't be so frustrating if they ate them !.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I came to the conclusion that it was = probably part=20 of the mating ritual, especially after a night of horrific wailing which = awakened us to discover one calling from high in one of our oak trees. = The=20 wailing attracted another that climbed up the tree, and next morning we=20 discovered the ground at the foot of the oak carpeted with short = green=20 branches, mostly about a meter or more in length , all = neatly=20 severed and left littering.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I HATE porcupines !!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Andy </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> <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">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV=20 style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B>=20 <A title=3Droland.mccormick@ns.sympatico.ca=20 href=3D"mailto:roland.mccormick@ns.sympatico.ca">Roland McCormick</A> = </DIV> <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> Saturday, September 20, = 2008 6:59=20 PM</DIV> <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [NatureNS] Muskrat = versus=20 beaver diet choices</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>Interesting. I think it unlikely that it was a beaver. = I have=20 always thought <BR>they prefer wood. One animal you might want = to rule=20 out is a porcupine. I <BR>have had problems in my raspberry plants = with them.=20 They will attack a <BR>raspberry plant and chew off an inch or two, = then move=20 on and chew off an <BR>inch or two of a second one, and so on until = they have=20 caused considerable <BR>damage. Often if you find a wild patch of = raspberries=20 you will find a <BR>porcupine in the patch eating this same=20 way.<BR><BR>Roland.<BR>----- Original Message ----- <BR>From: "Stephen = Shaw"=20 <srshaw@dal.ca><BR>To: = <<A=20 = href=3D"mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca">naturens@chebucto.ns.ca</A>><B= R>Sent:=20 Saturday, September 20, 2008 2:34 AM<BR>Subject: [NatureNS] Muskrat = versus=20 beaver diet choices<BR><BR><BR>> We live on Chocolate Lake in = Halifax, and=20 during our time the garden has <BR>> always<BR>> had a = multi-stalked=20 rose bush growing within a couple of feet of the lake <BR>> = edge.<BR>>=20 This was trained up high over a tree and has (or had) six sturdy woody = <BR>> stems<BR>> each about 1 inch thick: it must have been = growing=20 there for 20+ years.<BR>> A couple of days ago I noticed that most = of the=20 leaves on the rose were<BR>> shrivelled and dying, and traced this = back to=20 find that 5 of the 6 stems<BR>> appeared to have been hacked = through with a=20 machete, probably about a week<BR>> earlier. After thinking = dark=20 misanthropic thoughts, on closer inpection <BR>> there<BR>> were = some=20 striations on the hacks and the two ends of each hack didn't <BR>> = seem=20 to<BR>> match. It looked as if short sections had been = removed by=20 something with <BR>> teeth<BR>> -- looks like a rodent did = it. =20 This urban lake doesn't look like prime <BR>> beaver<BR>> = habitat and=20 I've never seen or heard of one living or visiting locally on <BR>> = the<BR>> lake, but at least one muskrat has lived here for some = years and=20 is still<BR>> around.<BR>><BR>> Question: this muskrat = regularly=20 chews off nearby soft plant shoots <BR>> (lilies?)<BR>> that = grow=20 directly out of the lake near the edge. I thought that = muskrats<BR>>=20 exclusively subsist on such soft diet material and don't go after = woody=20 <BR>> shrubs<BR>> or trees in the manner of a beaver. Is = this=20 correct, or could the muskrat <BR>> be a<BR>> possible culprit = for the=20 woody rose incident?<BR>>=20 = Steve<BR>><BR><BR><BR>------------------------------------------------= --------------------------------<BR><BR><BR><BR>No=20 virus found in this incoming message.<BR>Checked by AVG - <A=20 href=3D"http://www.avg.com">http://www.avg.com</A><BR>Version: 8.0.169 = / Virus=20 Database: 270.7.0/1680 - Release Date: 9/19/2008 <BR>8:25 AM<BR> <P> <HR> <P></P><BR>No virus found in this incoming message.<BR>Checked by AVG = - <A=20 href=3D"http://www.avg.com">http://www.avg.com</A> <BR>Version: = 8.0.169 / Virus=20 Database: 270.7.0/1682 - Release Date: 9/20/2008 10:24=20 AM<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_001A_01C91B5F.0182C440--
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