What animals eat cucumber plants?
In this brief guide, we will answer the question, “What animals eat cucumber plants?”. We will elaborate on which animals attract cucumber plants and what is the reason for their attraction.
What animals eat cucumber plants?
Animals that eat cucumber plants include
- Bunny Rabbits
- Deer
- Moles
- Rats and Mice
- Shrews
- Squash Bugs
- Striped Squirrels
If you have planted cucumber plants in your backyard, you must have an idea of how they give a beautiful aroma, making the atmosphere pleasant. Not only do humans love to eat juicy and refreshing cucumbers but some animals also like cucumbers as snacks.
Many species of animals like to consume cucumber plants due to which gardeners mostly find drilled or half-eaten cucumbers.
Some of the animals who love to eat cucumbers are described below:
Bunny Rabbits
Though bunny rabbits are cute little animals, they are very intelligent. They are herbivorous, so they can quickly ruin the cucumber plants by biting on their leaves. Conversely, they mostly use their strong teeth to eat the fresh cucumber plants.
If you have a lawn and bunny rabbits in your house, then be prepared to meet the destruction of the cucumber plants. To keep your cucumber plants safe, you must cover your garden with fences. This will keep the rabbits away from your cucumber plants.
Deer
Primarily, deers belong to the group of hoof animals that enjoy feeding upon green plants. Though deer is a wild animal, still vegetables and green plants are its favourite food to eat.
Deer are adaptable animals. If you find a deer roaming in a backyard, you should think of the potential risk of the cucumber plants.
Fun fact: Deers do not harbour upper teeth but only lower pointed teeth by which they bite plants.
However, the best way to keep deers far from your backyard is to fence a firm wire surrounding it.
Moles
Moles are insects that munch on plant stems and roots. In fact, most plants get destroyed when moles attack their roots.
Due to the refreshing nature of cucumber plants, moles enjoy ruining them. This way, they are mostly discovered underneath the soil, and dogs swallow tunnels around the cucumber plants.
However, the best way to keep moles away from your cucumber plants is to keep a cat or dog in your backyard.
Rodents – Rats and Mice
Rats are rodents that can bite every tough thing with their front sharp teeth. Because of this, you can always find a rat eating your cucumber plants and other vegetables.
Therefore, they do not miss any season to bite on cucumber plants.
You must have an idea of how to keep these stubborn rats away. Of course, cats. So, if you wish to protect your cucumber plants, leave a cat around them.
Shrews
Shrews are mammals with elongated noses and mouths in comparison to the body. Particularly, some species feed on insects and other species enjoy leafy greens, plants, and seeds. Similarly, some species love to consume cucumbers and seeds.
Fun fact: Although shrews have weak eyesight, they can make sounds to listen to the echo of their surroundings. Thanks to their fast speed, they can readily bite on your cucumber plants and run away fast. At last, they have many things in common with mice, only a little bit small.
Squash Bugs
Squash bugs lay their brownish-orange eggs on the inner side of the cucumber flowers where the bugs hatch and mature. These feed on the whole juice of the cucumber leaves and ruin the growing cucumber plant. Then, the leaves dry out, and finally, they die.
To prevent this, you should spray your cucumber plants sufficiently and look for the presence of eggs regularly.
Squirrels
Squirrels are also among those animals that love to feed on cucumber plants. There are many species of squirrels and they are all seen enjoying chewing on cucumbers. However, flying squirrels, tree squirrels, and chipmunks are the most typical among them.
Squirrels are rodents with very strong teeth. So, they easily bite on all the fruits and vegetables.
Although, it feels very strange to know that squirrels eat cucumbers; since we know they love to eat nuts and seeds only.
The reason for this is that cucumbers have nearly 95 percent water. Hence, they bite on cucumbers when they are thirsty, and one bite is sufficient to satisfy the thirst.
This way, squirrels only have one tidbit and leave the entire cucumber for spoiling.
Conclusion
In this brief guide, we have provided an answer to the question, “What animals eat cucumber plants?”. We have elaborated on which animals attract cucumber plants and what is the reason for their attraction.
