Turned my back for just a second...

[Pa Snips]

...and one of my neighbours many cats entered my greenhouse for a bit of a nosey around. I went in and the poor thing freaked out and attempted to make a swift escape through one of the panes of glass by launching itself headlong into it. When that didn't work it tried again...twice! If it wasn't so distressing to watch I would have laughed. Never before have I seen a cat bounce of a pane of glass three times in quick succession.
Once it realised that this method of escape wasn't working it tried the jump-from-bucket-to-bucket approach, successfully bending one tomato, knocking another one over, snapping two of my peas (one of which was just producing its first flower) and trampling a few spring onions.
Finally it came to its senses and headed for the door.
I don't blame the cat, it just panicked, but it's awfully frustrating.

Do any of you guys 'n' gals have any gardening related incidents to regale us with as a result of 'turning your back for just a second'?

[taff]

A bird flew into the greenhouse when I was trying to pot some seedlings on last week. There was a bit of a mess by the time it realised where the door was. I was telling it where the door was, as if it could hear me

[Mato]

Oh, yes. Many times I have been potting up plants and forget something from the other room. By the time I've come back, my kitty has made a mess of everything! I've learned my lesson and keep her in the other room while I'm potting now.

[veggiechicken]

I suffer with the birds in the greenhouse scenario too. Its awful to see them flying into the glass, searching for the door. I've found the only way to get them out is to creep around the back of the greenhouse, then they're so alarmed they find the door in a jiffy!

[zazen999]

I tend to tap the glass from the other end as well...

[donnakebab]

Well I hadn't exactly turned my back but I was just having a look round our lottie site to see how all the other plots were doing when I came across a magpie caught in some fruit netting. It was hanging upside down with one of his feet tangled in the netting. I had to cut it with some scissors that I strangely had in my pocket at the time. It was very happy and stood on a nearby branch for a moment before flying off.

Would be horrible to come to your plot and find something dead there...other than plants that is!

[Jamesy_uk]

I worked in a garden centre from 13 to 16 on weekends and I tell you the amount of Pigeons that made their way into the big glasshouse was incredible, get at least 2 a day probably the same dopey ones lol.

[Sanjo]

My small greenhouse is positioned very close to next door's flowering rosemary so at the moment I get a lot of bees coming in.
I have thick bubble wrap up at the glass and I hate it when the bee gets trapped behind it so was forever trying to get them out rather than leave them to find themselves stuck.
We actually took the top triangle of glass out and covered it with loose cardboard so that I can shoo them out that way (They tend to make for the highest, lightest spot).
As that didn't always work I have bought another bug catcher and now I can trap them against the bubble wrap, slide the little door shut and release them safely outside.
Regarding animals/birds trapped in the greenhouse I used to hang large holed plastic netting up at the door if I was going to be out or away.
I stopped doing it that way when we came home and found a very dead hedgehog which had become tangled in it. One of the most distressing things I have seen when gardening.
I do still hang netting but the bottom 18" or so is a solid board.

[Feral007]

I came back from a visit to family to find a lot of our cabbages etc trashed. Couldn't work out why the dogs had gone psycho when they hadn't touched it since we put the electric tape around it. Realised today that they'd moved the bales of hay that the kids put over the baby mice they found......obviously the mice got bigger and were skipping around the garden a bit - Amazing really that any of the plants survived two kelpie x's in a frenzy.

[Peas'n'Kews]

We had a sparrow which could see its reflection in the glass of window of the shed. It tried to attack its reflection, and made such a noise the cat stalked and pounced from the other end of the garden, scaring it off.

The cat then returned to the house.

This farce was enacted 3 times in total before I had the gumption to tack fleece to the outside of the window!!

[Albanach]

Working in the garden at the brother in laws house and he forgot to close the polytunnel door he was called into the house...a wee while before this he'd let one of the pigs out to have a root around, after 10 minutes I looked up and no sign of the pig and right enough there she was in all her glory wallowing in of the beds in the polytunnel...I got a bucket of nuts and persuaded her out without her doing much more damage...as happy as a pig in...

[taff]

see? most peoples animals would be an odd hedgehog or a bird, or maybe even a marauding snail. You've gone straight to the top prize of a pig

[chris]

If I turn my back for a second and leave my greenhouse open my chickens are in there, in the blink of an eye - demolishing *everything*. Even crops that are considered poisonous - they'll eat, and not stop until it's all gone (as what happened last year), or I go in and gently translocate them elsewhere

[veggiechicken]

Re ^^^^ I have an old baby stairgate in the doorway to the GH. Its enough to stop the dogs going in to sleep on the salads!

[Feral007]

My dogs like sleeping on the herbs! Ali