mouse in the greenhouse

[ebba]

Just wondering whether anyone has some advice. I'm currently planting crops of peas and beans and last year left them to germinate in the greenhouse...although when I went out to water them I found a load of pots full of eaten husks! I'm planting similar crops again this year and am trying to germinate them in the house (we have cats) but unfortunately it is cold with no central heating and although south-facing, the windows are very small so I've quickly used all the available space and am doubtful about whether there will be enough heat/light for germination.

I don't want to go to the effort of planting crops that are simply going to be eaten if they get put outside. I live in a very rural area with lots of wildlife and mice everywhere - the cats often catch them, but of course the only place the cats are shut out from is the greenhouse, hence it's a place of safety for mice! I hate using pest control and try to garden organically - has anyone had a similar problem and if so - is there a solution?

Ideas welcome!

[SueA]

Some older gardeners soak their pea & bean seeds in things like petrol, paraffin or meths before planting them which is supposed to put mice off eating them & not harm the peas/beans. I wouldn't fancy doing this myself but it could be your last resort. You can buy humane mouse traps which you bait with food & then release the live mouse elsewhere-but you have to take it a fair way or it will find it's way back & as you are in a rural location you would probably just get new mice families moving in. Welcome to the grapevine by the way.

[Squirrel]

You don't say where you live, but I would have thought that unless you have no garden it would be safe to plant them out in your beds. As the cats are around there they should have a good chance of growing! Good luck.

[Peter]

The only answer is non-chemical pest control.

Use traditional break-back mouse traps, they kill or miss completely and with the cats banned from the greenhouse there should not be any sore paws!

Poison no good with pets around, "humane" catch-alive no good, 'cos unless you take them miles away they come back and that is likely to kill them anyway.

[ebba]

Thanks everyone for all the advice - there goes my hope that there was some miraculous solution!

I agree, Sue, that soaking in meths sounds unpleasant, and as a vegetarian don't really want to start killing wildlife (the cats are quite bad enough, as it is!). I'm relatively new to all this and so have a total disbelief that anything will grow if I plant it direct into the ground (much happier with my propagator!) - I live in North Northumberland near the Scots border quite high in the Cheviots - although on the other hand quite a lot of the garden is south facing. I know despite the cats we have families of mice in the garden (met one on the upstairs window box the other night - it must have climbed up the rose!) - do you think outside plantings would do ok at this time of year?

Thanks again!

[Lesley Jay]

Have you got electricity in your greenhouse because if you have you could get an electronic mouse scarer.

[ebba]

Wow - I've never heard of such a thing! No electricity in the greenhouse, unfortunately - maybe there are battery operated mouse scarers...

[SueA]

Ebba I would think you should be O.K. planting outside now but the mice will probably just dig them up! You could try planting under a cloche if you have one or under individual plastic bottle cloches if you haven't got too many plants, this would protect them from the elements & to some degree from the mice.

[gcroft]

mice

You could always try keeping the buggers well fed on grain until all your seeds are up if you dont want to kill them...

[ebba]

Thanks so much, gcroft...

I've germinated one tray (!!!) of sugar snap peas...now, if I put them out in the greenhouse will the mice go for the shoots, or is it just the seeds they go for? (Last year's crop didn't get far enough for me to find out...!)

Thanks again for the advice!

[gcroft]

keep some wild bird seed next to your seedlings and they shouldnt be bothered its like having a big mac at your feet or a salad that takes a while to prepare they will go for the easy option

[Sug]

I have an electronic mouse scarer in the greenhouse, it's one of those that are inaudible to human ears but has a high pitched sound which frightens off the mice. The problem is all my mice are deaf - so it hasn't made a blind bit of difference!