Bright Light May Encourage Mountain Beaver To Move

Q: Something is eating all the leaves off my roses and the needles and branches from some small pine trees. A weasel or a rabbit?

A: Hmmm. Weasels are meat-eaters and rabbits seldom bother with pine needles, although if you live on an island the rabbits may try anything, as they will when populations get quite dense when food is scarce.

Or do you have deer? It's also possible that your visitor is the mountain beaver, a biological oddity known as Aplodontia rufa. The only habitat for this creature, world-wide, is in the coastal regions of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. This is the oldest living rodent on earth, which testifies to its adaptation to existence.

It's about the size of a rabbit, weighing about 4 pounds, with an appetite for stems, leaves and tender plant parts found above ground. Plants with broken or bent branches and many leaves gone could indicate its presence, and if you live close to a woodsy area, the animal will have lots of cover. These critters feed at night, and often can be followed to their burrow by a trail of broken, scattered branches and prunings.

Check for a trail or track leading to a tunneled burrow. The burrow will be about 6 inches in diameter, located on a moist, brushy slope.

The state Department of Wildlife suggests several ways to discourage mountain beavers:

-- Light may bother them; lighting the garden can help (or going out and waving a flashlight in the middle of at the night).

-- Another suggestion is to locate both ends of the burrow, and then set a lighted highway flare at the lower end so the smoke moves through the burrow and out the upper entrance. Remove flammable materials before trying this. The upper burrow can then be filled in or covered with brush.

-- A live trap baited with apple and placed outside the burrow may also capture the animal. If using a live trap, cover the trap with black plastic and check it often; the animals are subject to hypothermia and can die quickly even in a humane trap. Relocate captured mountain beaver to woodsy areas far from homes or logging operations.

-- The simplest recommendation is fencing; wire mesh fencing buried in the ground and extending about two feet above ground may deter their passage.

The mountain beaver is a remarkable survivor of the Mesozoic era which deserves living space in contemporary times, even though humans have moved into its territory and provided it with tasty roses, rhododendrons and vegetables.

Q: I ordered three lilac bushes by mail. They came with green leaves still on them. What's the best way to winter these over?

A: The best place for all woodsy plants this time of year is in the ground. Plant them where you want them to go. Lilacs need sun and space - these small twiggy bushes can grow up to be 6 feet across and about 12 feet tall. Ground shelters roots from cold better than any other method.

Water the plants well when installing. Another good protection for newly set plants is a mulch 2 to 3 inches deep, using any organic material like small fallen leaves, sawdust, compost or purchased composted steer manure or municipal biosolids.

Q: How can I get rid of mushrooms in the yard?

A: Mushrooms, which are the fruiting bodies of fungus living underground, are not harmful in gardens. During dry weather the underground web of fungal life isn't obvious, but in fall the spore-producing bodies appear. They are non-chlorophyll producing entities that live on decaying or dead organic matter. Many of these fungi, in current studies, are being found to serve beneficial roles in the health of tree roots, assisting the roots in taking in mineral nutrients and other necessary growth components. They help out in the growth of trees.

Knocking them over and raking them up is about the most benign prescription for getting rid of them. There are no chemicals registered for mushroom control, nor should there be, as they are not harmful. Another approach is to observe and appreciate these mushrooms as parts of the web of life.

Gardening runs Friday in Scene and Sunday in Home/Real Estate. It is prepared by Mary Robson, area horticulture agent; Holly Kennell, Washington State University/King County Cooperative Extension agent, Susan Miller, integrated-pest-management specialist, and volunteer Master Gardeners.