Life is tough up there in the winter. Our neighbors have been planting a lot of small trees on their property. Of the 49 Andy looked at yesterday, thirteen were untouched:
Untouched
Sixteen were nibbled:
Nibbled
Nibbled
Six were partly girdled:
Partly girdled
Partly girdled
Partly girdled expanded
And fourteen were completely girdled:
Completely girdled
Nature isn’t always kind.
March 28, 2015
Yes, it is a matter of survival of the fittest!
My guess is if you’re a little tree luck has something to do with it too. They’re all vulnerable.
that’s why nature though it’s magnificient and i love it… it’s also heart breaking.
who knows… with all the snow it’s possible that all that nibbling saved the lives of little creatures who would have starved without it. but then i think of the baby tree trying to survive too. it’s always shades of grey.
if the trees survive and now with other things more prevalent things to eat…
maybe they’ll make it. we’ll hope! for andy! and the mountain!
Unfortunately we’ve lost enough trees in the past that Andy puts hardware cloth around them to protect them from the mice, and bigger fences to protect them from the bigger animals. During the last snow there were deer tracks all around the fence protecting the pussy willow.
what kind of animal is the nibbler?
Rabbits and mice if low, deer if higher.
Your post reminds me that I need to walk over to the edge of our property to see if the trees I planted last fall made it through the winter. I hope like the little one in your photo, they did. –Hope you are doing well too!
Please let us know how they did.
I think I’m on the mend, but still a lot of redness and swelling in my left eye and face. I’m taking a lot of naps and keeping involved enough so the time doesn’t drag. Thanks for asking!