The Cucumber Scamper

For the last two years despite having great looking cucumber plants with lots of flowers and little cucumbers, we have harvested very few cucumbers. I have tried everything ...extra compost , bone meal to decrease blossom end rot , extra water during dry times and nothing seemed to increase the harvest numbers .

Then today as I was inspecting the response of my plants to the wonderful rain we had yesterday our yard squirrel "Roger" as he is called by the boys decided to visit me in the garden . Usually he just watches from the power lines but my little teacup rat terrier "Baby " who likes to chase him was inside sleeping ,so he ventured right in with me standing just 10 or less feet away. He watched me pick the radishes and then ventured over to the cucumber vines. I thought he was trying to hide and tried to get him to come out for a radish. Roger has eaten pieces of cantaloupe from my husbands hand and even took an ice cube one time.

Well, anyways he wouldn't come out . I noticed that he was nibbling on the cucumber blossoms. I'm willing to share and was kind of tickled to see him enjoying the blossoms so much. I decided I would go in and get my camera. Obviously Roger must have better eyesight than me because even though I had looked closely at those vines for fruit , when I came out he was on the fence with a 3 inch cucumber in tow. Mystery solved...The good news is the garden out back is just for test and family / squirrel use. The big garden is a few miles away with lots of cucumbers and not a squirrel in sight.

Roger has been a part of our family for for about 3 years now . We have some great pictures of him. He even attended our wedding ceremony on the rock patio garden in December 2006 watching. Enjoy these pics . Roger will be featured in future blogs as he provides lots of family entertainment.