HelpfulGardener.com

Hi,

I've attached photos of a 5 inch cucumber that was eaten by some kind of animal.

The usual suspects for where I live are squirrels, mice, rabbits, or woodchucks.

Which do you think it was?

The only other clue is that this animal did not eat the nearby yellow squash.

Thank you for your help.

Huh. I have similar pests but haven’t seen this kind of damage.

I don’t think it was woodchuck— this looks like a smaller animal gnawed on it.

Questions —

1. Was the cuke growing on the ground or hanging from trellis?
2. Did you find it still attached to the vine or detached/pulled or chewed off?

I think if my area, I would suspect voles. (dark/slate gray, larger than mice— about size of chipmunks— short stubby tail).

I don’t have rats in this area, but that and another animal in warmer climate area — roof rats? fruit rats? I can remember … had been mentioned by folks in a floridians I think California too? … might be a possibility?

Another suspect may be squirrels.

My suspect are birds or a rat. It looks similar to the kind of damage I see on papaya. That being said, I did find some bird damage on my eggplant but instead of eating out a hole like a rat would, they pecked all over the eggplant