I have seen several snakes this season and this must explain why my lilies are doing so well! This area has a problem with voles.
Voles are a cousin of moles but lead a very different life!
Voles eat plants while moles eat bugs and worms. Voles live above ground making tunnels through mulch and grass to reach the stems and roots which they eat. Moles dig tunnels underground but are looking for worms. They don’t hurt your plants but their tunnels are not attractive.
When I first moved to this house I brought many cast iron plants from another house and planted many hostas but the voles ate them one by one over that first Summer. They only eat the root so that you would think the plant was only leaning strangely but when you tried to straighten it up the plant would come out of the ground with no roots! Ugg.
They love lily bulbs, too! I love tiger lilies. I must have planted tons of bulbs when I moved here. They were all eaten with in a season or two.
Rabbits are another animal that are plentiful in my garden, too! They don’t do much damage with the exception of chewing some plants here and there. They frighten me sometimes because they will sit motionless while I am pulling weeds then take off suddenly when I get to close. They are cute, thought!
The one below was in the garden along the patio today.
One time I was pulling English Ivy seedlings under a large Formosa Indica azalea when I saw, out the corner of my eye, a few hanging dead leaves. As I reached over to pick them I turned my head to get a better look at the leaves.
I froze. I realized the leaves were actually three small brown bats! They didn’t seemed upset. They just continued licking themselves. They reminded me of mice, but with wings. I slowly backed out from under that azalea!
In my neighbor I have also seen foxes, Red-tailed hawks, deer, nutria, and I am pretty sure I saw a few coyotes walking down the street one night!
There must be plenty of wildlife in the wildflowers along the street for the hawks and such.
Many spiders, as well! This is an egg sack on the post light by the driveway.
These lights are on all night so I assume the spiders like to build webs here because of the endless supply of moths.
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Arthur in the Garden! 