Dee that is a riot!! lol Who would have thought. Are you sure they are not rabbits? I saw a post on another site with photos of a rabbit nest they discovered and it was in the ground and had a lot of fur around it like that.

Geez, you know, PM2, I did think for a moment it might be rabbits - and my heart really sank at the thought! I suppose it still could be. I still don't feel like I've gotten a really good look at them, plus in my limited experience, squirrels usually nest in trees.... don't they?

Gee, I'm *really* hoping it's not rabbits... wouldn't there be more of them, lol? Although DH did say something about the nest possibly going the whole length of the bed. Sigh. This may be worse than I thought.

It's times like this I wish I was ruthless. Too bad I'm so ruth! I can't even pull out a dead plant, never mind get rid of a live animal!

:)
Dee

P.S. Hey, on the bright side, my hairy vetch did really well this winter, lol!

Aaaaw...how cute!

I didn't know there were Ground Squirrels.

Think you got em, though.

"Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel" anyone?

This isn't funny as it seems you're hubby is close about tunnels. Babies build their own nests "close to home" as they say in article.

Note this information comes from a site called
"pestproducts.com"...

Good luck and hope you find a way to convince them to build baby nests farther from "home".

Here is a link that might be useful: Ground Squirrels

I was going to say that about squirrels in trees. I can see a couple of squirrel nests in the trees around me. And maybe there are more of them, that you aren't seeing. I am the same Dee, I would be in big trouble if I had to raise animals for food, I would probably have to become a vegetarian. Haven't I read in the past, that rabbits will often build a nest right in the middle of a garden? LOL I just thought of Peter Rabbit and Mr McGregor....lol

I don't know what to suggest either. Pets? [g] Great for fertilizer.

Sounds like you have a really great and welcoming stand of hairy vetch! :-) Mine did well and I've already turned it over, moved one bed and as of today have all my veggies planted. Earliest yet. Of course, I'm working with 4 little puny 4x4 raised beds and a few containers. [g] I saw a photo of your cinder block beds eariler today somewhere and I was VERY impressed! You've got a LOT of space for growing. I would love to see photos once you have them all planted.

:-)

I really think it is a rabbit's nest. They will dig a hole that is really hard to see right in the middle of our lawn at times. Once my son stepped on a next, we heard the loudest squeal. My son didn't know what was happening, just looked at me. I had to tell him to move, he was standing on something alive. I guess he didn't hurt them too much, they all left the nest a few days later.

Oh, those are rabbits. I had a bunch just like that last year!! Squirrels have their babies in trees or in attics (I have experience in that department too!)

belfastmom, how was your garden last year? Did having a nest of rabbits affect it terribly? I've never had any rabbits around (well, lol, I guess I must have had them if there are babies now, lol!) But I should say I've never had a rabbit problem, and I'm really concerned now.

And I thought the voles were bad. Sigh.

:)
Dee

PM2, I meant to add that I am very impressed that you have your vetch dug under already and your garden all planted! Wow, all I do is walk around and think about it, lol. I've blamed most of it on the rain, and that has indeed put a huge damper on my work, but this afternoon it was dry and I could have worked, but I just walked around and looked at all the work I have to do. Pretty overwhelming, which doesn't make it any easier. And now I have rabbits...

:)
Dee

Wish I had nice little furry babies in my gardens. All I've got is slugs... Hi Dee!!

Dee, I usually have a rabbit or two visit my garden. I have a lot of white clover in the lawn and that is all I've ever seen them eat. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. [g]

I completely understand overwhelming. I suffer feeling overwhelmed most of the growing season. [g] In defense I have had to take the approach of just chipping away at it and being happy with whatever progress we can make. An encouraging quote I've heard that keeps my focus in the right place.....

'Inch by inch it's a cinch, yard by yard it's hard.'

:-)

maybe the heat retention of the cinderblocks influenced their choice of nest site.
best,
mindy

Hi Tiff! Nice to see you over here! The little furry babies are all cute and cuddly now, but they will soon be hungry teens, lol! Oy.

PM2, I like that saying! I think I am going to actually write down a list of what needs to be done. I'm not normally a list person, but it might help. On one hand that makes everything more real and daunting, but then when I can cross things off it's a visual of what I've accomplished. I just hate feeling this behind this early in the season. Darn rain!

:)
Dee
P.S. I've got a lot of white clover too (was just noticing today how I really have a LOT of it!) so maybe the bunnies will be happy with that. It certainly would be less work for them, being ground level and all, lol!

Definitely rabbits! We had nests in the garden the first couple of years here but my little dog developed a taste for babby bunnies! The last couple of years mamma bunnies have got the message and no longer put their nests in our garden - but still come to snack on things! Misty tries but hasn't suceed in catching anything but baby bunnies....

So, we had a visit from Mama this evening.

I was working in the yard and thought I saw a chicken run across the yard out of the corner of my eye, lol. Don't ask me why I thought it was a chicken, but that was the first thing that sprang to mind. Thought it might have been the neighbor's from across the street, loose and having fun.

So I look up and see this very large rabbit, just sitting there. I don't know why it stopped so suddenly. So I stopped suddenly too, because I didn't want to scare it away. I wanted to watch it go to the nest. Well, that rabbit sat there for almost ten minutes not moving a whisker. I walked closer and got a good fifteen away from it before it twitched a muscle, so I stopped. I didn't want to scare it.

So I stood there for another five minutes, then thought if I walked near the nest it might come over. (The rabbit was about 15 feet from the nest.) I walked about five feet away from the nest but the darn thing didn't move. It was kind of funny actually, like it thought if it didn't move it would be invisible.

So I gave up and went in the house and called my teenage son. He had much less patience than I and within three minutes walked right up to the nest. I told him to be careful the rabbit didn't suddenly become like the killer bunny in Monty Python's Holy Grail! Then my son started gently poking at the nest, and called me over, saying I had to see this.

Well, those stinkin bunnies are sooooo darn cute! They were poking their heads out and have grown so much since last week. Absolutely adorable!

After oohing and ahhing over the babies, we finally both tired of waiting for the invisible bunny to move and went inside. A bit later I looked outside and saw Mama at the nest. She heard me from 50 feet away, despite the traffic noise, and looked up and ran off!

So I went to take a picture, but the babies were not cooperating. I guess when my son was there, they thought he was Mama, so they were more than happy to stick their heads out of the nest. Now that Mama had come and gone, they wanted nothing to do with me. Two of them actually stood up and turned around and showed me their backsides, lol! Well!

Oh goodness, there's at least six of them in there that I can count, squished in there as they are. I can't help thinking they will be a heap of trouble, even though they are so gosh darn cute now!

{{gwi:226531}}

What's cute "bunny" now may turn out to be cute "topless seedlings" later.

Rabbits are like some rambunctious kids...I find them cute at other people's places...LOL.

They nipped the little foliage tops off my Dwarf Larkspur seedlings yesterday. I only had 8-9 germinate so I wasn't happy when 3-4 were clipped. Pathetic little stems just standing there all alone. It shouldn't have been slugs because the diomataceous earth was still undisturbed all around seedlings and wasn't any mulch yet under which they could hide during the day. The blood meal was still ringing the seedlings too...so much for that bunny repellant.

Bless you for having a kind heart.

Well what do you know, they were rabbits! lol Dee...I feel for you. It will be very interesting to see what happens next. I wonder if possibly, if they have their home base in your yard, that they might go foraging in someone else's? Does anyone near you garden? I don't even know what rabbit's favorite food is. I haven't seen a one this year so far. Not any kind of critter but birds, come to think of it. I keep waiting for them to show up. The clover has not started blooming yet in the lawn. Oh, I just thought of something, maybe the babies all leave the nest to make their own nest soon? One can hope. I wonder if you could bribe them to stay away from your vegetable garden with a bag of carrots every couple of days? [g]

I look forward to the next installment. Quite an adventure this year. :-)

Those little faces are so cute!! Maybe they'll behave like my DM's wild rabbits. She has them all over her property. Lives on a few acres and the gardens are huge. The rabbits never bother the gardens because years ago ahe discovered that they prefer Dandelions to anything else so she lets the Dandelions grow on the lawns and around the gardens and that's what the rabbits go for. :O)

Baby rabbits are terribly cute, and many "wildlife gardeners" would go out of their way to protect that nest of cute little baby bunnies. Although I consider myself a wildlife enthusiast, my position deviates from the "Bambi syndrome" and is closer to that of a farmer's, whose livelihood depends on the success of the crops. Rabbits and other pests aren't cute when they mow down the plants you work so hard at planting and tending. Sometimes they need to be controlled.

Rabbits breed prolifically and are basically a prey animal for numerous predators. No worry about them being an endangered species. My outdoor cat would make short work of those baby rabbits. And she considers them a delicacy.

Oh, goodness, newbie_in_NJ, don't bless me for having a kind heart - bless me for having a soft head, lol! I'm gonna need that blessing when these darn things start eating my garden.

I know lots of folks here are shaking their heads, but I am fully aware of what might be to come. But I'm sorry, could any of you possibly do any harm to this?!

{{gwi:226533}}

I can't. I just can't. As a matter of fact, this little guy jumped out of the nest and hasn't moved in hours. I'm terrified a hawk will swoop down and get him! And then I stop and think, well, maybe that would be a good thing. But then again I think it isn't. I'm actually thinking of going out in the next half hour or so at nightfall, and if he's still outside, I might cover him with a pine branch or something, to keep him warm and protected. Gosh, I'm my own worst enemy, lol!

But look...

{{gwi:226535}}

And here's brother or sister looking on the whole scene...

{{gwi:226536}}
On the hopeful side, I've got a bed of lettuce and peas about ten feet away from the nest, and it is completely untouched. Maybe they won't bother my stuff.... too much....

:)
Dee

They are just too cute!!!

But I'm sorry, could any of you possibly do any harm to this?!

I could not, despite my viewpoint of rabbits being pests in the gardens and agriculture. Such an adorable vulnerable baby animal. (Now baby mice, that's a different story.) I'm glad the cat takes care of it for me.

Dee,

You have a good heart. Don't ever let it get sour. :O)

You've reminded me of something which happened when we first moved here in 2001. My DD (7 yrs at the time), loved sunflowers so we decided to plant a couple of dozen in one area. They grew so well throughout the summer and late in the summer we saw the buds coming out and were anticipating the beautiful blooms, but one morning we awoke to find the buds all gone!!! The deers had come in the middle of the night and ate all of them.

I thought my DD would be devastated but her response was one which an adult could not even dispute.

"Well, maman, they have to eat too. I'm sure they enjoyed something different." :O)

Everytime the deers eat my hostas, phlox, lilies, hydrangeas, etc., I think of what Robyn said and move on.

Great story Tiff! We could all learn a lot from Robyn! I told my husband something along the same lines last night. He was with me watching when that little guy above jumped out of the nest. He shook his head and asked if I was sure he didn't want me to take care of them for me. I told him we can't just kill these things for doing what they are supposed to do. They have their place here and they are just doing what comes naturally to them. I greatly wish they would do it elsewhere, lol, but on the other hand I am a bit pleased that my yard is so welcoming to so many creatures.

Now, ask me in a few weeks or so and I may have changed my mind, lol! It sure would be nice if we could sit down and have a conversation - I could point out all the nice weeds they would be allowed to eat, and also point out all the flowers and veggies that are off-limits. Wouldn't that be a great working relationship, lol!

:)
Dee
P.S. When I went out at nightfall, the baby was gone. I'd like to think that she/he made it back to the nest, which was nicely covered over once again (I guess a visit from Mama had occurred) and not that there was a visit from a hawk! I didn't see any signs of disturbance in the leaf mulch, so I'm telling myself that means it was Mama who came to the rescue.