Pika-like behaviour

[deb&tony]

Hi
Last Fall I bought winter violas and a mum, as I usually do, for the front step. A few days later I was greeted with this image when I opened the front door:



I decided to leave it there as an experiment... the 'nocturnal' culprit returned to clip away the surviving greenery, allowed it to dry and then hauled it away- this took several days (I have to say it did a nice job removing every little piece of greenery, no clean up necessary after the "harvest").

So no activity for months until the violas attempted to sprout again a few days ago... and then, just when I thought they were actually going to grow back... they were mowed down once again. The only other plants that had been harvested before the recent snowfall were the licorice ferns....and, same M.O.,- cut, dried and hauled away a few days later. It kind of reminds me of what a pika would do.

No tracks/scat are evident nor have I seen a chipmunk- they tend to come and go as we have a healthy Douglas Squirrel population. When they are here, they don't harvest my perennials nor my annual plants.

A few years ago we had a chipmunk cut down our native tiger lilies only to pile them and leave them there. It continued to clip other lilies and stockpile them but never returned to claim them. And I saw this chipmunk on several occasions when it ate birdseed in the backyard near the feeders.

Has anyone experienced this type of mammal behaviour? We live in a mixed forest near the Fraser River.

Baffled and without winter flowering plants....

Deb

[martin]

Bizzare, you could set up a trail cam to catch the culprit, if you know any hunter they might have one.

[Gord]

Deb, that's pretty new to me! Like you say, other than Pikas, Ive not seen that behaviour. Could it be a vole or something? But then, knowing your yard, Im not sure if it's any more appealing to a vole then a pika but perhaps I associate voles with grassland and marshes more than I should.

Let us know if you figure it out! Im most curious too.

[Harrier]

Disgruntled neighbor?

[gary]

Hi
My guess is a pack rat. Had this happen on many flyfishing trips. Open the hood of the truck and there would be dandelion flower tops pick and piled in one spot. with the bottoms in another spot. Just my two cents..

[Gord]

Gary, you might have figured it out!

[deb&tony]

Hi

A pack rat or wood rat is an interesting possibility. I looked it up online and it kind of fits the M.O., now I'll be searching for stick houses nearby...a sure sign!

And yes, activity started up again a week or so ago. The new green growth of the Daylilies located down by the river have been clipped!

A trail camera would be great.

Here is a bit more info on the Bushy-tailed Woodrat or Pack Rat in BC:

www.ilmb.gov.bc.ca/risc/pubs/tebiodiv/beaver/mbwpml20-01.htm

Thanks

deb