Bean Sprouts...

What animal would pull up my bean sprouts by the bent green stem and then just leave them lying there exposed next to their holes? They look like they were pulled straight up!

Fortunately, I think I got to them in time and I replanted them. (AND I covered them to keep out the evil creature.)

I'll guess cat as that's what my little pain in the welll... would do with my seedlings. Luckily I have pretty tough seedlings, have to with my style of gardening (oh shoot, it's already may, get em in the ground)(what I just watered them last week.. or was it the week before?)

I thought of a cat but there was no sign of digging? Maybe a bird interrupted?

Could be a bird, any marks in the leaves?

Not really... that is why it is strange. I thought a bird would grab it and fly away. The mystery of it just bugs me!

You don't have any of the 10 finger pests around do you ?

Hmmm... I know my 15 year old daughter was digging around in the garden the other day wanting to see how the beans were growing but the day this happened, she was at school. A raccoon would have taken the plant and they do their crime at night.

Good news though is they seem to be OK. I lifted the cover and peeked inside today and they were again breaking the surface of the Mel's Mix.

Might have been a bird looking for grubs

I can't believe it happened AGAIN! I left those specific beans covered until they were out of the ground and 1 1/2" tall. I went to check them this morning and 3 were pulled straight out and laid next to their holes. There was not sign of digging. The bad news is that they looked like they had been there too long and I am not sure they will recover my re-planting them.

The critter also pulled up two melon plants that were in pots. Each pot was sitting on top of a 1 foot grid because they are for the SFG bed I haven't finished yet. The strange part is again, they were pulled straight up and these seedlings were laying on the ground parallel to each other like they had been set there by a human. They were not eaten, just pulled and laid aside like a creature was weeding. If it stops raining, I will take a picture because those poor babies are dead.

Now I KNOW no human around here would do that! My kids are all over 11 years old and are really into the gardening. OMG --- I may have to set up a surveillance camera to catch this in action! This is so strange and it is driving me crazy!

Shoda wrote:OMG --- I may have to set up a surveillance camera to catch this in action!

+1 CCTV

Aliens?

I think birds do that to get the seed (what remains of it) at the bottom.

I hadn't thought of the seed remains. I will have to examine the seedlings next time they are pulled out. Most of the seedlings seem be recovering.

How can the birds tell which plants still have seed remains on them? Are they going to pull them all out looking for seeds or can they "smell" them? That might explain why the majority of the plants tampered with were the beans and the squash which both have larger seeds. This has happened to a total of about 10 seedlings. Only one was a small plant without the seed remains (basil).

Guess I will need to make some small covers for the bean/squash plantings until the plants get large enough to be "safe".

Shoda wrote: I left those specific beans covered until they were out of the ground and 1 1/2" tall. I went to check them this morning and 3 were pulled straight out and laid next to their holes.

I've watched stellar jays do that to my beans. I have to leave them covered until they're 4-5 inches tall.

Boffer,

Steller Jays huh? I have seen a lot of scrub jays around the back yard. I bet that is it! Perhaps this mystery is finally solved. And here I thought we had an OCD Raccoon checking the crops out.

Thanks!