A Mystery Critter and a Happy Haul
I offered to harvest carrots while Mom was out of town, figuring it’d be a quick task. Loosen the soil, pull them up, rinse off the dirt, and done. But, of course, that’s not how it went.
Loosen the Soil
For this carrot harvest, I started with a pitchfork, working along the rows to loosen the dirt. Almost immediately, I noticed something strange: crisscrossed burrows twisted through the soil. It looked like something had dug out an entire little tunnel system under the garden. Whoever had moved in there had really settled in and helped themselves to quite a few carrots in the process.
Guess the Intruder
I never saw the culprit, but the signs of the carrot thief were all over the harvest zone. Some carrots had been gnawed on from the tops; others had bite marks from underneath. From the size of the tunnels, I started to guess: maybe a rabbit, or possibly a ground squirrel. Then again, prairie dogs are known for their underground communities and are no strangers to garden raids. Voles could be the culprits, too; they’re notorious for snacking on roots from below. Whatever it was, it definitely knew its way around a carrot…
A Nice Carrot Harvest
Despite our mystery visitor’s appetite, there were still plenty left to pick. I finished up the patch, filling two big, overflowing bowls for this carrot harvest. I left behind quite a few damaged carrots. The critter will still have something to eat. Or, if my digging scared it away, the carrots will rot over the winter and add their composted nutrients back into the soil for next year.
So, no showdown with the carrot thief, but still a happy ending to this carrot harvest: two bowls of fresh carrots for the family, plus a bit of garden intrigue. It’s a reminder that even a quick garden chore can turn into an unexpected adventure.
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