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rose thief
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Posted by madisonwigardener 5 (My Page) on Sun, Aug 9, 09 at 23:44
| Hi everyone,
My friend Teresa is going out of her mind. She has about 80 or so new roses from Nor'east and last week she woke up in the morning and 3 or 4 of her roses were gone. Completely gone, presumably eaten. She thought they'd been kidnapped. Next night, same thing -- three more. She put fox and coyote urine out yesterday, and this morning, autumn splendor, iced tea, and scentsational -- all gone. Anyone have a clue in the world what's going on? Any idea on how to save the remaining roses? She's lost about 15 so far!! thanks for your help. Debbie |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: rose thief
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| Has she planted all of the roses in the ground or are some in pots that can be moved/protected? I recently saw animal repellent pellets on sale in a gardening center, and they are supposed to keep dogs, cats, rabbits, deer, etc., out of the garden without harming the animals. Cats can also help keep rabbits at bay. I didn't realize it was possible to obtain fox and coyote urine. Those are sophisticated weapons! |
RE: rose thief
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| If they are in the ground, and there is no sign they were dug up, she may want to protect them by caging them or as jmac said use an animal repellent. I have found the product called RO-PEL to work well again the critters that eat roses. They are small roses now and she is loosing just a few each night, it is most likey rabbits. Are they eaten down to the ground? They are on own root so if there is a little cane left they may come back. Hope your friend can catch what ever it is in the act so at least she knows what she is up against |
RE: rose thief
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| guys it's rabbits, rabbits rabbits; every time I see posts like this I want to run screeching like a maniac! I hate rabbits with a passion! They will eat baby roses faster than a lettuce leaf! I promise you this! Nothing will be left of a baby band. Rabbits love baby roses-- I can't emphasize enough that baby roses are their favorite food! Even my young Lincoln, which wasn't a band was eaten-2/3rds of the entire bush was gone- before I discovered the small gap in my own fencing that the rabbit had gotten to. Immediately put those bands behind wire fencing of some sort. Rain washes away pellets, and I believe my neighbor tried the ropel etc. to no avail. Only wire mesh ever kept their roses safe. |
RE: rose thief
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| thanks everyone -- she's now fenced ALL of them. Two nights ago she got about 50 cages up, and the next morning 4 more roses were gone -- but they were from the ones that weren't fenced yet. Then yesterday she caged the rest of them...so am hoping for a good report today. most of the ones eaten were eaten to the ground. what are the chances that they'll come back given the roots are still there? she's hoping... and serenashy -- she equals you w/ her hatred of rabbits. None have touched my roses but perhaps I should start building cages.. In the meantime I'm letting my cats out at night to stand guard! |
RE: rose thief
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| Cats will a great job chasing rabbits away, but they may treat you to rabbit head trophies from time to time. (I don't hate rabbits, but deterrence can save the garden.) If there are coyotes/foxes roaming your neighborhood, I'd probably keep my cat in at night. Otherwise the hunter may become the hunted. |
RE: rose thief
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| I am glad your friend found the "thief" and was able to stop the damage. As far as the roses that have been eaten. IMO as they were young roses and planted not that long ago, it maybe questionable since they were eaten to the ground, but there is always an outside chance some if not all may come back. If it was me I would cage them and keep them there until the spring. |
RE: rose thief
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| ooo-ooo definitely cage, cage, cage, MadisonGardener. Lucky for you you've got your kitty guardians, but sometimes when they're indoors during the day the rabbits can still get to the bands. My Eluane helps chase the rabbits but that poor Lincoln disappeared while we were asleep that one night. Sadly Eluane is too gentle. She only chases rabbits because she's trying to herd them, but the rabbits won't cooperate. Our backyard has no fence so she will always stop at the border. I wish she would eat! them instead. Karl Bapst told the "lovely" story about his Pellet Gun that sometimes accidentally kills rabbits and how he substitutes his rabbits as "blood meal"; and lol! some screeched at that but I did my evilllll chuckle, hee-hee! I was also very delighted to see a neighborhood cat trot off with a baby bunny in my own front yard. Hurrrrrrray! Sorry folks if I make everyone else screech at this. But boy do I hate rabbits! Still haven't run over them with my car yet; I always brake; now why in the world do I keep doing that? Hmmmmm, just kidding! |
RE: rose thief
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| serena, I'm with you on the rabbits! Squirrels and chipmunks too. Yes, they're cute, blah blah blah. Who cares. They are rodents that live in the city, so they have no natural predators around to keep them in check. Shake Away has worked for me on keeping rabbits away. They also don't care for eating leaves that have cayenne pepper sprinkled on them. Deanna |
RE: rose thief
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| My friend put up cages and the rabbits went away. thankfully!! Now we are waiting to see if any of the fully eaten roses come back at all. Hoping those roots will produce something, even though some of the plants were eaten to the ground! thanks for all the posts. Debbie |
RE: rose thief
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| Get a good Beagle! Mine keeps all animals away. A rabbit wouldn't stand a chance in my yard! |
RE: rose thief
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| Dan -- she has two dogs -- labs -- she put them outside during all this, and they peacefully slept while the bunnies ate their rose snack!! Deb |
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