Bamboo Decimated by Squirrels (voles? rats?)

[siyeh]

Three years ago I planted about 70 mature bamboo plants in several species. I lost half the first year to harsh weather conditions (heavy rains, high heat, drought--we had it all). The next spring I replaced the lost half and got some shoots from the survivors. However my deerhounds discovered the shoots when they were about a foot tall and chewed them to toothpicks. This year as soon as I saw shoots I fenced off the entire grove so the dogs couldn't get to it. Then I monitored the growth.

The Phyllostachys nigra had 10-15 culms up to 1-1/2" around, the castillonis was also big though more sparse, the P. atrovaginata had dozens of 1" shoots. All of them were 2-5" tall. Yesterday I went out to check again and there was not one shoot left. They had all been eaten to the ground by the squirrels. Is there any chance they will still grow after having lost that much of the tip? Is there any way to protect any new shoots that come up short of constructing and securing chicken wire cages around each individual one of them? I love my bamboo, but I can't be building cages daily for the month+ they all shoot.

Whoever said that running bamboo is invasive and will take over your yard has clearly never had to live with deerhounds and squirrels. :-( I have had maybe two new culms in three years.

[Mark Meckes]

Hi siyeh,
This is a disheartening experience to see the shoots destroyed at their most vulnerable stage of growth.
What do the stubs of the chewed off shoots look like?
You can upload pics here if you have a camera.
From my experience with squirrels, they usually just chew off one side of the shoot and go after the inner pickings and don't eat the whole shoot.
Rabbits will eat more, and with smaller diameter shoots they nip it off at an angle - \ .

As far as I know, voles will only go after underground shoots as the shoot buds begin to swell.

Years ago someone from Missouri got some bamboo (Phyllostachys) from me for a display garden and was wondering why they weren't producing many shoots. A few years later he dug up the bamboo in early spring to move it to a new location and found bunches of sprout buds gathered by voles in their tunnels. :eek:

Here in central Texas I haven't seen any voles, and so far this spring I've had very few problems with critters eating my shoots. (crosses fingers and toes)

I've never tried this but I wonder how repellent sprays used to deter deer rabbit,s dogs etc would work on shoots?

One year, when living up north, I was having a big problem with rabbits and squirrels and the only thing I had at hand was Tanglefoot, a very sticky substance, which I applied to the shoots. This was effective, but what a mess, when the sheaths fell off, the sticky goop stuck to everything! - not recommended!

Another thought - untried - is to place pvc (or bamboo tubes) over the shoots, maybe a couple feet (?) in length ... if one had a bandsaw, prongs could be cut at the bottom end of the tube to insert them into the ground.
They would need to be removed once the shoots got to a height that they could still be lifted off.

Usually if the first flush of shoots are damaged/destroyed, the rhizomes will send up more shoots, (more so in a sunny location and less in a shady location),but usually a smaller size diameter.
Quantity and size will also depend on how early in the plants shooting season this happens - the earlier it is, the greater chance of more shoots ... and it also depends on how extensive a rhizome network the planting has been able to establish.

With a mature grove, competing rhizomes often send up more shoots then the grove is able to provide adequate nutrient to, resulting in a percentage of aborted shoots. Also this provides a natural backup if some of the shoots get eaten by critters.

Mark

[siyeh]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the detailed reply! Answers to questions: There is almost nothing left of the shoots this time, but what there is is not clean cut. They look nibbled from the sides, and the little papers that wrap the tip are littered on the ground around where the shoots were. The fat culms are almost flush with the ground and look like artichoke hearts scooped out with a spoon.

My husband also suggested the pvc solution, but I am concerned about air circulation around the young shoots (it's pretty humid here and we already have a problem with mildew and black spot) and lack of sun. There's also the issue of having to go out every day to find and protect the new shoots before the squirrels find them.

I did find a couple of new shoots of the black coming up Saturday night and they looked good-sized. I am going to try to protect them today (unless the squirrels already found them--it rained all day yesterday so I didn't get anything done in the garden).

I like the idea of predator spray--and thanks for the warning against Tanglefoot.

We had a very early warm-up this year and consequently everything sprouted early (including the bamboo). Then we got a late heavy cold spell and the new growth on a lot of plants froze. It didn't get below the 20's, but I am wondering if the tips of the bamboo froze in some way and the resulting sugar decay attracted the squirrels. Probably not.

So off to buy a couple of lengths of pvc and look for some predator spray. Thanks again, and I'll post how the pvc works!

Brenda

[scottybamboo]

you could drill some holes in the PVC tubes so It would get air flow...

[sittersan]

We have black bamboo and the new culms have been eaten by something; either skunks, squirrels, rats or racoons. I'm just wondering if anyone has had any success defeating these pests. Also wondering if you know which of these animals is the most likely culprit because my method of attack will be influenced by that. (Raccoons can get into almost anything.) Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[CaroleMeckes]

I have had problems too with squirrels eating the bamboo shoots.

This year I will try sprinkling some cayenne pepper on my new Mexican Weeping Bamboo Shoots - last year they were all eaten up!

Carole