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What the halibut happened here?!?

  • Thread starter DragonsEye
  • Start date

DragonsEye

carnivorous plants of the world -- unite!
So I have a couple large pots I keep outside (soil and all) year round as I have no room indoors. Have done this for years with nary an incident. Yesterday, I came home to this:







The soil was originally relatively level to within an inch or so if the pot's rim. Quite baffled as to the why and culprit of it all. I live in a 3rd floor apt. There are no large trees nearby. And while the building's brickwork is rough and therefore theoretically scalable for critters with claws, the likelihood of this being the handiwork of a squirrel or raccoon is negligible at best. Squirrels have never made an appearance around this building and I doubt a coon could or would heave its bulk up 3 floors up the side of the building. (Not to mention the fall that would likely ensue as it tried to descend would be seriously injurious.). Furthermore, there is no incentive for such an arduous venture as there were no plants (bulbs or otherwise) to feed upon. This leaves some sort of bird as the architect of the excavation. But the Q remains as to what and why? Again, there was no food reward to be gained. And the size of the hole would imply a pretty big bird. If it was a prelude to nest construction, what ground nester would fly up that high?

Puzzling, puzzling. Makes me wish I had had a security camera monitoring my balcony.


 
I wouldn't rule Raccoons out so quickly, they are quite agile even when large.

I've found birds to be quite troublesome, though they have never created craters that size before. . . The blue jays are the worst for me.
 
I've found birds to be quite troublesome, though they have never created craters that size before. . . The blue jays are the worst for me.

I've had birds rip seedlings out of pots to eat or use as nesting material as well as while stealing sphagnum to use as nesting material, but never excavate a hole like this.

Maybe worms or grubs in the pot?

And a raccoon could easily go up and down a brick wall. Check out video proof:
A Racoon family occupaing an abandoned house - YouTube
:D

That video was both humorous and educational. :-D Still skeptical about coons as the cause. They tend to stay much further back (0.5-1mi ) in the complex where a small woods abuts. There are numerous dumpsters back there which the folks who live back there rarely close. My balcony would be a long way to come for naught. Also the symmetry of the "crater" coupled with a lack of paw prints would seem to argue their non-complicity in the affair.
 
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Im putting money on Coons, or maybe even squirrels.

The squirrels are very good at finding sub terrain-en Bulbs and tubers
 
I found the answer . . .





















i-dont-know-therefore-aliens.jpg
 
That is an amazingly large hole. Where did all the soil go? I can't imagine that was entirely filled with a giant tuber.
 
Im putting money on Coons, or maybe even squirrels.

The squirrels are very good at finding sub terrain-en Bulbs and tubers

I can't imagine that was entirely filled with a giant tuber.

As I mentioned earlier, there were no tubers/corms/bulbs in the pot. Even if there had been they would have turned to rotted mush by now. Nothing I know of would survive a winter on my balcony. Without the ameliorating affects of long term snow cover and residual heat of being on/in the ground, the freeze-thaw cycles are too frequent and temp swings too great. By the same token, worms and grubs don't stand a chance either.


That is an amazingly large hole. Where did all the soil go? .

The diameter, depth, and symmetry of the hole is part of what mystifies me. In the first picture, you can see some soil scattered rather evenly on the balcony around three sides of the pot. I assume the dirt which would have been on the 4th side scattered onto the ground below.

The only birds I typically see on my balcony are house sparrows and occasionally grackles. Neither is known for digging.

Still doubt coons or squirrels. Nothing to lure them up here. Nor any paw prints of any kind. And the plantstand -- as old and decrepit as it is -- would not likely have held up under a coon's weight. Furthermore, the hole strikes me as far too symmetrical.

Another curious item -- the other large pot was completely undisturbed...
 

Another curious item -- the other large pot was completely undisturbed...

What I find interesting is the symmetrical/horizontal and unbroken lines on the left side of the crater.
 
  • #10
What I find interesting is the symmetrical/horizontal and unbroken lines on the left side of the crater.

Those are shadows from the plantstand to the right of the pot. :p
 
  • #11
The hole looks too symmetrical for critter digging. My vote would be a two-legged (human) soil thief.

On a side note, never underestimate what a Raccoon is capable of! They can climb just about anything and are quite agile for their size and weight. When they get overpopulated in an area such as the woods near the complex, some will fan out, or get kicked out during territory disputes, in search for new food sources.
 
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  • #12
The hole looks too symmetrical for critter digging. My vote would be a two-legged (human) soil thief.

I thought that too, but the balcony height and the lack of anything in the pot or special about the soil would make it a fairly pointless exercise (unless there were rumours of buried treasure in there).

Given the date, perhaps someone was playing an (early) April Fools joke? I will crack up if DragonsEye wakes up and finds a plant in the pot.
 
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  • #13
The hole looks too symmetrical for critter digging. My vote would be a two-legged (human) soil thief.

I thought that too, but the balcony height and the lack of anything in the pot or special about the soil would make it a fairly pointless exercise (unless there were rumours of buried treasure in there.

A pointless and rather dangerous exercise that would be, indeed. Absolutely nothing remarkable about the soil that was in the pot. And unless said hypothetical thief had a grappling hook and rope, their only means of reaching my balcony is an approximately 6' leap from the railing of one of the nearest balconies. Anything less than an excellent landing would painful, at the very least.




Given the date, perhaps someone was playing an (early) April Fools joke? I will crack up if DragonsEye wakes up and finds a plant in the pot.

I believe I have identified the culprit.

As it turns out, Stranger, I did wake up to find something in the pot -- albeit not a plant...





She was evicted yesterday morning. Stubborn squatter. I had to practically lay hands on her to get her to go. Found her again this morning along with a newly laid egg. Sent her on her way and, this time, put a board over the pot. Had I been on the first floor, I would have just let her have the pot. However, knowing the distance her hatchlings would have had to fall from my 3rd floor balcony to reach the ground (and much of that would have been onto cement), I did not see that ending well for the ducklings.
 
  • #14
Time to rename the thread "What the duck happened here?!?"
 
  • #15
:-))

Duck nesting spots must really be in short supply around there, LOL. Glad the mystery is solved!
 
  • #17
Ah, but those were woodducks, Amph, and they were landing in leaf litter. Not all ducks a created equal. ;)
 
  • #18
WHAT THE DUCK DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET THROUGH TO YOU?!?

*sigh* Well she came back and dug a nest in the other pot. Had placed a teepee trellis (think upside down tomato cage with the pointy stakes on the largest ring and the narrowest area welded together) in that other pot in hopes it would discourage her. Unfortunately, she could fit through the bars and figured it made a good nesting site. So I had to evict her yet again. This time I added a large upside down plastic pot inside the cage. Poor dumb adorable birdbrain. It was simultaneously both humorous and sad to see her try to figure out what had happened to her new nest. She pecked at the pot several times trying to "make it leave".

Has me wondering if I'll be able to plant anything in those pots this season....
 
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