Bulb thief!

[wildinthecountry]

Something is eating all the bulbs I planted in pots - tulips, crocuses, the lot. I chose carefully this year so I'm really mad. I guess it's mice. The pots are in the cold frames covered with 2 layers of weldmesh, but the compost is still dug out in the morning and bulb tops all over the place. Any ideas?

[chris]

Could try putting the weld mesh underneath the cold frame too.?

Looked in the compost for any pests?


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[wildinthecountry]

Thanks will study thus further. There is weldmesh covering the pots as well as the cold frame cover. Beginning to think they may be rats.

[andy_j]

Is there any way squirrels can get in there as they can be swines. I planted 55,000 bulbs at work last year and we estimated the squirrels ate 40,000 of them !!!!!!

[Dorothy rouse]

Andy, what other things do the squirrels like/eat / steal, apart from nuts and my strawberries? We have quite a few up on our allotments, I quite like to see them must admit! Wrong I know.

DottyR

[Fleurisa]

Probably squirrels

[Jeanied]

I think it is squirrels too, I'll never forget seeing them vandalising a bed of tulips in the park - in broad daylight.

[Nicos]

Could be voles?

We have terrible problems with them - and they can get through holes as small as a pencil width.

[alldigging]

Squirrels probably. Nic's mum planted tons of bulbs in tubs and they came and ate them almost as fast as she planted them. She uses a finer mesh over the top now and that stops them.

[andy_j]

Squirrels don't seem to touch my large tulip bulbs...ive planted around 15,000 in the past few years but i planted 10,000 smaller species tulips last year and they ate about half.

Squirrels love crocus bulbs too....i decided to plant 5,000 yellow and 5,000 white crocus in a big bed. I mixed them up to get a wonderful display and they ate the lot. The bed looked like a war zone with holes everywhere.

trouble is, as i look after a council run garden, squirrel termination is out of the question !!!!!!

[cheops]

Dorothy Rouse - quite simply the grey squirrel is a destructive pest and that is putting it very mildly. Introduced around 130 years ago from N America they have all but ousted the smaller native red squirrel in GB.

In the garden they will eat flowers, take fruit and even dig up bulbs. Grey squirrels strip bark from trees as they like the sap wood, this can be such a degree that it completely rings the tree, killing all which is above the ring. This produces trees and branches in a dangerous condition increasing the likelihood of falling. Even if the trees are not killed stripping off the bark will make them prone to fungal attack.

Feeding birds in gardens is very common, anyone who has grey squirrels in the neighbourhood will know how must of a pest they can be. They take large amounts of the food put out for the birds and it does not matter what sort of feeder you use or where you place it, they will find means to access it. This may be possible to live with but the grey squirrel not content with the speed feeders provide the feed, will open or tear them apart to access the complete contents. Fortunately you can buy metal squirrel proof bird feeders.

Grey squirrels provide further irritation to bird lovers as they will rob nest of both chicks and eggs. To reduce raiding on nest boxes a metal washer should be fixed around its entrance hole, preventing squirrels from gnawing the hole wider. The bottom of the nest box must be far enough away from the entrance hole so that squirrels cannot reach the eggs or chicks with their arms.
For me personally they have bitten off sunflowers at the stem so they fall to the ground, they have dug up and eaten planted bulbs and they have clawed and sent to the ground unripened plums. Hard to love them xxx

[RedThorn]

You know what Cheops, I'm sensing a mild dislike there to grey squirrels...

[cheops]

Correct Sir. Perhaps someone could give me a reason to love them?????

[wildinthecountry]

I think it's mice, have caught lots now in the live traps - or maybe the same one lots of times! The mesh is too small gauge for squirrels. I always plant bluebells in the wood under weld mesh now so the squirrels and muntjacs can't get them. Learned the hard way when over 2,000 disappeared in a week. Many thanks all for help.