Hi again, I posted this problem before, back in 2014, but it's gotten much worse. Today I went to my clients house to find over 100 of the Lucifer crocosmia fronds lying on the ground. A few were dragged about 6'-8' away from the bed. The stems were savaged, shredded, chewed thru. There is no evidence of animal droppings, tunnels, or prints. It also ate a few irises and lilies, chopped off at the lower stem. The Lucifer is really shredded though, up to 12" high. I'm at my wit's end here, my client loves her bright red flowers but there are very few left now. Please advise if you have any ideas. Thanks so much.
I have no experience with this, but I did find one site that mentions something eating crocosmia and taking the leaves away: Something is eating the leaves of my crocosmia, that says "it could either be nocturnal caterpillars, such as climbing cutworms or earwigs. While caterpillars are easy to handpick in the evening with a flashlight, earwigs are best trapped using rolled up newspaper that is discarded in the morning." I assume when you say there is no evidence of animal droppings or prints that you're ruling out rabbits, though a few sites say that rabbits don't like crocosmia.
Hi Wendy, yes that other message was mine from 3 yrs ago. This has been going on for awhile, but has escalated to the point of insanity. I'm talking about over 100 stalks have been destroyed. It is not any small bug, the leaves have been dragged far away from the flower beds. This is something with sharp teeth, the leaves are shredded. Thing is, I can't find a solution without knowing what the animal is.
A night vision camera would come in handy for monitoring the area - something like this: Amazon.com : Wildlife Camera, Abask Trail Surveillance Waterproof Digital Camera 3 Zone Infrared Sensor 12MP 1080P HD With Time Lapse 65ft 120° Wide Angle Night Vision For Game & Hunting : Sports & Outdoors
Thanks Junglekeeper, I don't think my clients are willing to spend any money on a camera. I love the idea though!
Being dragged (or dropped) 6-8 feet away sounds like an animal to me. Squirrel? Have a look at what a squirrel did to corn plants here: Squirrel Damage in a Vegetable Garden. - The Gardening Cook
A few years ago I was finding young sweet corn plants shredded and pulled from the ground. Some were even found outside the vegetable garden which was enclosed by chicken wire at that time. Not only were the plants shredded - not eaten or chewed on, just shredded - but the plastic tags were snapped into pieces and scattered about the yard and garden as well. And even stranger was that these acts of destruction were taking place early in the morning, as in after 6AM but before 10AM. It took a couple of weeks to discover the culprit was a young, and obviously bored, young raccoon.
I would suspect a varmint--raccoon, squirrel or rats. These are tough to deal with. Fencing is unattractive and difficult to pull off in an effective way. Rats get through tiny holes. None of them like hot pepper, you might try something like that. You would probably have to apply frequently at first.
Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply. Yes, I think it's a toss up between squirrels, rats, or raccoons. I did try cayenne after I watered, threw it on the stems and it seemed to help. Now where can I buy a big container of it for not a large cost? Maybe a bitter yucky spray would also work, with soap.
