honolua

HELP! I have never had this happen before!!!!!. I have had musa basjoo in the ground in my garden for over two years. This year, I added 2 sikkimensis, one big and one small. They have been in the ground for months now. As my garden begins to really take off, I awake this morning to find my larger sikkimensis pushed over and eaten! It's like a musa bloodbath out there! The stalk of both big and small was ravaged, and leave bits are everywhere in my yard, as far away as 10-12 feet. Something(s) has knawed right through it all! As well, one of my lower fronds off the phoenix canariensis has had the tip broken off and scattered! At first, I thought: "RAT", but that must be one hell of a rat. We do have many skunks in the neighbourhood, with almost nightly scents of one late at night as the breeze wafts in through the windows. We also have the occasional pack of raccoons wander through. In any case, I am tempted to think a raccoon or two may have eaten through the stalk, then some leaves, as the sweet smell attracted them? There have been many bees buzzing around them lately too. Attached are crime scene pictures. I apologize that they are a bit blurry and rotated wrong, but you will get the idea.... What do people think as I am here in the pacific northwest. My yard is enclosed, and I am not up on the north shore, so no bears. I am very concerned that they will come back! I will put out some "critter ridder" pepper-based repelant, but what else can I do? It is most bizarre and I don't know how I slept through it either, especially since the gigantic back yard flood light would have come on as it sensed them/it-----the beasts! I am so mad!

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Bananaman88

Any deer in your area? I'd think it is still too early for the rut to have started but bucks will thrash trees with their antler as the rut approaches, so maybe that is a possibility. No wild hogs in your area, I assume?

revensen

Kind of looks like something tried to climb it. Didn't mess with the planting in the lawn though? Do you have any kids in the area or pissed off neighbors? Someone posted a while back about his dog destroying his banana plants. The dog chased something up into the plant, dog followed and plant was damaged.

Sorry about your bananas.

stumpy4700

Did you say you live in the Pacific Northwest?????????? say where "Sasquach" lives....Hmmmmm. No its too early for the rut of Bucks. If you would look closely at the ground the deer would leave impressions on the ground of their foot tracks..are there any chew marks on the leaves????????

pitangadiego

It looks a who0le lot more like it was run over in the middle of a soccer game, than eaten. Maybe a burgler ran into it?

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CookieCows

Well if it were me, I'd string some electric wire. It's a little spendy in the beginning but can be reused later if more problems arise. The kind we have gives off different strengths of 'zap'. The first zap is very light and if the animal continues to push through, the zapping will get more intense but not so harsh as to kill it but can get painful if the animal doesn't let up in which case.. I think there's something wrong with that animal! We've used it around our backyard fence to keep the big outside dogs from getting out when they were younger. It's been our experience that they get zapped once or twice testing the perimeter and we can then just take the wire down. We've used it around our garden before when we were having problems with rabbits and groundhogs. We have some friends that one year were just days away from harvesting their corn and racoons did it for them all in one night.

I sure hope you can save your nanas from the damage!! What an awful sight.
Deb

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adrift

Youch. That sucks.

I'm with pitandiego. If an herbivore was munching your plants, there'd be nothing left. Those look trampled, not consumed. If it wasn't kids messing around, maybe wild dogs or geese or pigs or ???, either mating or fighting. Since you say the yard is fenced, maybe the geese? I had ducks ripping up my plants a couple months ago.

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Bob

Looks like something my dogs could have done. Racoons could definitely have done this. At this point just cut below the damage and you're going to have to baby it just a bit. Keep cleaning off whatever turns mushy...........Pacific northwest?...........I'm not going with sasquatch but, how big are your banana slugs?

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sirmoebly

YOU DIDN'T PISS OFF ANYONE LATELY, sorrrry about your plants If I was you I would invest in a good trap or a shot gun............. If that happen to me I would be at war & something would have to die...

Bananaman88

After looking at it again, I think it almost looks as if it were run over/into. I agree with the Sasquatch theory! If you get pics you could sell them for a lot of $$$!

adrift

Mystery solved! That is why it is so hard to get a sasquatch on camera. Who in sasquatch territory baits their traps with ... BANANAS! We're gonna be famous, boys & girls!

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buffy

Everybody knows Sasquatch love bananas. It's cinammon they hate.

honolua

Very funny............not funny for me! My main sikkimensis was over 7 feet tall with the most lovely large leaves. My small one had the best mottling and great markings. I am at a loss. I think it was raccoons, although they usually make quite a bit of squealing noise. Either that or someone climbed into my yard in the night and went to town on them! I am sticking to raccoons. My neighbours are lovely and enjoy looking over the fence at my plants.

I hope that is over and they moved on to somewhere else (not that I wish that on anyone's garden). It was so strange...never happened before in all my years of planting and gardening. Wow.....In case, I did spread a LOT of pepper last night. I know some say that attracts squirrels, but hey, I had to do something. My other option was to buy that thing for cat owners that you place on the counter (ie: kitchen) and when they jump up onto it or in the vacinity, it lets out compressed air to scare the cat off the counter. I was thinking of placing one in my banana grove (what is left of it) and trying that, but it doesn't work in the rain so no outdoors for that puppy! With all that pepper, they will either not like it and run away, or at least I will awake to hear them sneeze!
cheers!

Patty in Wisc

Did you have other nanas planted out there? Did they only get this one? I'd set up a camera or set a live trap. There is also a motion detected sprinkler (uses 9volt battery) called "Scarecrow" - it scares squirrels, deer, raccoons & ME away
Hope you find the culprit!

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Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.

honolua

Well, several nights later, no more munching for the critter(s) that attacked my banana bed. I put so much pepper out there, that I hope it keeps it, them or whatever away. We had pouring rain for the last few days, so I think I need more pepper. Keep your fingers crossed!

Magilla Gorilla

Good luck with the mystery. It does look like trampled rather than attacked. I have coyotes, racoons, possums and skunks and none of them have ever munched my plants. I hope it does not happen again! I do like the get a shotgun suggestion.

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banfan

I've read that human male urine also works wonders at keeping some animals away from your otherwise tempting plants.

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