Recently proposed ethological explanations for the trace fossil Zoophycos include gardening of microorganisms. Because microorganisms are known to fractionate strongly against ¹³C, especially under low oxic to anoxic conditions, it is argued that any gardening activity in the trace would result in a noticeable shift in δ¹³C_org between spreiten and adjacent host sediment. In order to test this hypothesis, δ¹³C_org of the Spreiten Material and directly adjacent host material was measured. Measured δ¹³C_org in a glacial section of the core ranges from -22.6 to -22.9 ‰ for host sediment and between -22.8 and -23.2 ‰ for Zoophycos material. In an interglacial section the Zoophycos material measures -21.9 ‰, whereas the host material ranges from -21.2 to -21.4 ‰ . The minimal difference between Zoophycos and host material suggests that gardening plays an insignificant role. The gardening hypothesis is therefore rejected in favor of a cache model, where food is squirreled away for poorer times.