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Chipmunk Dug Up My Job's Tears

Rachel Lindsay

gardener

Posts: 1416

Location: Tennessee

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posted 2 years ago

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We've watched it under the deck for years--
then it decided to dig up Job's Tears.
Once I thought it was hopelessly cute--
But with its desire to pillage and loot,
I want it no more in my hot urban yard!
But--diverting the rodents is outrageously hard.

“If we are honest, we can still love what we are, we can find all the good there is to find, and we may find ways to enhance that good, and to find a new kind of living world which is appropriate for our time.” ― Christopher Alexander

Anne Miller

steward

Posts: 17425

Location: USDA Zone 8a

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posted 2 years ago

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I assume the chipmunk wanted to eat the roots?

All I can say is get an outside cat.

I have no mice, squirrels, or rabbits among other things.

Sorry, that happened though the chipmunk was just doing what comes naturally.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Rachel Lindsay

gardener

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Location: Tennessee

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posted 2 years ago

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Anne Miller wrote:I assume the chipmunk wanted to eat the roots?

All I can say is get an outside cat.

I have no mice, squirrels, or rabbits among other things.

Sorry, that happened though the chipmunk was just doing what comes naturally.

No, it takes those seeds three weeks to sprout, and this mini-fiend got them before they sprouted. (All but one, maybe.) I saw it in the planter every day for four days. I don't know how it knew I had planted something in the front yard.

Anne Miller

steward

Posts: 17425

Location: USDA Zone 8a

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posted 2 years ago

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Rachel Lindsay wrote:No, it takes those seeds three weeks to sprout, and this mini-fiend got them before they sprouted. (All but one, maybe.) I saw it in the planter every day for four days. I don't know how it knew I had planted something in the front yard.

I googled Job's Tears Seed because I didn't know what they were or looked like or the plant either.

So the chipmunk thought you planted "nuts" just for him:

Job's Tears, Coix lacryma-jobi, aka Cherokee Corn Beads

The hard seeds are naturally pre-drilled, used as beads to make bracelets, necklaces and rosaries. We grow Job’s Tears in our greenhouses and it makes graceful clumps about 3 feet high. Its quite pretty and the seeds are a tasty raw chew. Also used for making flour and tea.

Perennial, hardy to zone 9 to 12, otherwise grown as an annual, 120 to 140 days to harvest

https://strictlymedicinalseeds.com/product/jobs-tears-tropical-coix-lacryma-jobi-seeds/

source

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

Dennis Goyette

Posts: 175

Location: Great North Woods (45th parallel)

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posted 2 years ago

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Go to an animal shelter and see if they have any barn cats. These are non-house cats that will live in a barn like structure and take care of any rodent issue. Just put food out and they will eat it. I have had a feral cat come around for the past 9 years. He came back late May after 2.5 years away. It took a couple of weeks to get him back in to the garage where he stayed before. He was starved for attention and craved it. He took off again about 9 days ago. Do not know when he will be back. No matter how nice they have it they still have roam since they are more feral than domesticated.

G Freden

pollinator

Posts: 754

Location: West Yorkshire, UK

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posted 2 years ago

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When I direct sow beans and peas I will cover the ground with insect mesh or close-woven bird netting until they have sprouted up a bit. I bury all the edges of the mesh with soil so critters can't get underneath it. This seems to work against mice and rats, and birds; would it foil a chipmunk too? I leave it on till the plants are growing a bit because once all my little corn seedlings were dug up by a rat; the corn kernels were still intact enough to eat even though they'd sprouted leaves and I lost the entire bed.

Trying to achieve self-reliance on a tiny suburban plot: http://gardenofgaladriel.blogspot.com

Rachel Lindsay

gardener

Posts: 1416

Location: Tennessee

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posted 2 years ago

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Thanks for all these ideas! The "Job's Tears" seeds were just something fun, not something we depend on, so it's minorly annoying, not a crisis. But something ate all my sweet potatoes five miles away at my mom's I found out today, in spite of the deer fencing...so I will definitely have to find a solution for that!

laura Henke

Posts: 4

posted 2 years ago

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One sunny afternoon, a mischievous chipmunk embarked on a gardening adventure that would forever change the fate of a peaceful garden. Unbeknownst to the gardener, this furry little creature decided to dig up the carefully planted Job's Tears. With nimble paws and a determined spirit, the chipmunk unearthed the precious seeds, scattering them haphazardly across the once-tidy garden beds. The gardener arrived later, only to find a chaotic scene of upturned soil and scattered seeds. Frustration turned to curiosity as the gardener realized the chipmunk's unwitting act had inadvertently created a whimsical, unplanned tapestry of nature's design, a testament to the unpredictable beauty that can arise from unexpected circumstances.

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