Plums and mice

[yummersetter]

I have a couple of dozen plum, pluot and gage trees planted in an orchard with 125 apple trees. Several have upped and died this summer, just standing there covered in dead leaves. The apples are all fine, touch wood.

My Irish setters love digging up mouse/shrew/vole/mole nests, of which there are hundreds in the orchard. They often dig down right by the plum tree trunks so I chase the dogs away and refill the holes and mutter that 'if they've killed my tree I'll . . .'

Now I'm wondering about cause and effect - are plum tree roots especially delicious to mice? Is that what kills the trees? Is the dogs' love of delicious baby mice helping my trees rather than destroying them?

[veggiechicken]

By coincidence, I've just read this RHS advice
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=792

It seems they eat bark so maybe roots too? Interesting!

[nickdub]

I've had 3 plum trees die over the years, out of a total of less than 10.

I put my losses tentatively down to virus/fungal infection, in the absence of any obvious problems.

[fishpond]

Sorry, no idea about Mice and Plum trees.
Do your dogs like rats, as there are a few runs appearing.
Looks like it is going to be a hard winter.