This spring, my crocus flowers have been eaten by some unknown critter. The flower buds are nibbled down to next to nothing, but the foliage is intact. Other flowers affected include Cyclamen coum, where the entire flower and calyx are neatly nipped off, and some anemones. In many cases, there are fragments of the flower scattered on the soil below. Potential malefactors: birds deer squirrels rats mice slugs earwigs Initially I thought it was slugs, but a scattering of slug bait yielded no dead ones. There are deer around, but I've seen no evidence of them lately. Only one squirrel in residence that I know of. Live traps baited with peanut butter haven't caught anything yet, but those can sometimes take weeks to catch a rodent. I've been in this house nearly 25 years and never seen damage like this before. Suggestions? -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Z. 7-8, cool Mediterranean climate