Shock in the carrot box!

[Moog]

Hiya

Just thought I'd share what we discovered today down the allotment. We built a coldframe to start off early carrots a few months ago and they are coming on really well now. But as the weather is better, I've just left the lid off and so it is a nice box with soft compost and young plants in.

We arrived down there this morning to find that there had been a big hole dug in there and a pile of soil/seedlings in the corner. My initial reaction was that a cat had seen it as a lovely loo-tray, but once I got to rescuing what I could of the carrots, I discovered a huge rat buried there!

I reckon it was a fox - what do you think?
I half expect to get down there tomorrow to find the whole thing dug up as he couldn't find his snack!

[shirlthegirl43]

Yik! Might be worth putting a bit of net or something over the top when you sort it all out - save finding similar happening again.

[Sue]

Moog
I found half a chicken (thankfully not one of mine) buried in my about to be onion bed, a shock but given your experience, I think you win!
Have had a lot of trouble recently with foxes digging in my raised beds but it all seems to have suddenly stopped, fingers crossed.
Sue

[Two_Sheds]

Ah, a penny just dropped.

Foxes dig in the garden not to get at the plants, but to bury their kills.

* ping!

[bluemoon]

Lady on the next plot found half a rat under some of her potatoes last year, it looked like the fox had even taken a couple of spuds, presumably rat and chips being a foxy delicacy. The worst part, or course, is that you're constantly wondering if you're about to come across the other half.

[Flummery]

presumably rat and chips being a foxy delicacy.

Are you sure it wasn't Ankh Morpork dwarf activitiy?

[Glutton4...]

Like when you bite into an apple and find half a maggot !

[kevnsue]

Lady on the next plot found half a rat under some of her potatoes last year, it looked like the fox had even taken a couple of spuds, presumably rat and chips being a foxy delicacy. The worst part, or course, is that you're constantly wondering if you're about to come across the other half.

Hi,whilst digging our spuds last year we were finding pigeon eggs buried under ours,would that mean egg and chips for tea.

[bobleponge]

At least your rat was dead, although sympathies to your carrots that had been culled. The rat in my compost heap ran across my bare feet a couple of days ago. Buerk. If I had managed to get hold of the thing it would have met the same fate as the one you found.

[bluemoon]

Are you sure it wasn't Ankh Morpork dwarf activitiy?

Why didn't I think of that? Classic dwarf behaviour! And what we thought was half a house brick must have been the remains of a loaf.

[Flummery]

Why didn't I think of that? Classic dwarf behaviour! And what we thought was half a house brick must have been the remains of a loaf.

Yep - Rat and chips with dwarf bread!

[HayleyB]

Our foxes are a bit more haute cuisine we get half buried pheasants in the manege (sand/pvc school for horses) that is half pheasant AND half buried

[tootles]

Buerk..

That made me laugh - No.1 son says it all the time - you may have been here too long....................................

[Alice]

Shame about your carrots Moog.
In my last garden I had foxes coming through. I never found anything they buried but I did find the toys and shoes they brought from neighbouring gardens. And I found all the stuff the squirrels had buried - acorns, beech nuts, peach stones and all the stuff they thought they could eat later.