Mice or voles eating brassicas?

[Yasminh14]

I have several cavolo nero plants and PSB's doing pretty well under netting to keep the butterflies off. However, today I've noticed that just one of the CN plants has been substantially munched. The others are all pristine. I also still have some kale in pots ready to go out as soon as the green beans come up which I have kept in our woodshed, as it also has wire netting on one side which keeps the butterflies out. I have noticed that gradually all the lower leaves on these are being eaten by something. Not nibbled, but the whole leaf disappearing and just a bit of stalk left.

I have read that voles and mice will eat brassicas. There is no sign of insect infestation or slug/snail trails, so I'm guessing it's rodents. There is no way to get rid of these in the country, even with plenty of cats around. I don't want to put poison down, does anyone have any suggestions for protecting the plants?

[Bigmallly]

My guess is not mice or voles but caterpillars or slugs. You say you have netting, I'm intrigued how fine the wire netting is in your woodshed, it would have to be really, really fine to keep butterflies out.

[Yasminh14]

I can guarantee it's not caterpillars. There are no eggs and no caterpillars on anything, and the leaves have no holes in them. Last year we had real problems cabbage whites, so I know what the damage looks like, and this is not the same. I can't really think what it could be if not mice or voles.

[Penellype]

I don't know what is eating yours, but I found about 6 of these on my broccoli (under veggiemesh) today:

Sorry about the picture quality - it was hard to get the camera to focus on the caterpillar rather than the leaves. I think its some sort of hawk moth caterpillar - the ones I found were mostly green but one was brown, and they are well over an inch long. The question is, how did they get there?

Done some googling - I'm now seriously confused. These caterpillars are exactly like the images here for the hitched arches moth caterpillar melanchra adjuncta https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=hi...w&ved=0CCAQsAQ
However... this moth is native to pacific north America. How on earth did it get to York???

[Bigmallly]

Could it be a Dot Moth?

Dot Moth - Melanchra persicariae | NatureSpot

[daviddevantnhisspiritwife]

Once I had dealt with the voles (or should I say, gotten the voles under control) the main pain this year has been caterpillars. the little b*ggers are eating everything. They really like boring holes in tomatoes, chillis and peppers - not just brassicas.

[Penellype]

I think it could well be - its a close relative of the hitched arches, and very similar.

[Penellype]

Once I had dealt with the voles (or should I say, gotten the voles under control) the main pain this year has been caterpillars. the little b*ggers are eating everything. They really like boring holes in tomatoes, chillis and peppers - not just brassicas.

I've had caterpillars on the greenhouse tomatoes and peppers too - they are a real pain.

[Bigmallly]

I've had caterpillars on the greenhouse tomatoes and peppers too - they are a real pain.

Me too for the first time, was really surprised when I saw them.

Sorry Yasmin, going off topic here.................

[Florence Fennel]

I've had exactly the same problem, brassicas eaten down to just skeleton stalks and the same with some young bean plants. I've never seen snug damage to that extent before, so I too am wondering if it's rodents. I do hope not. I can cope with said snails and slugs, but not mice/rats/voles Ugh.

[Snadger]

Rats got mine even though they were netted to the ground!I blame the rat poison I put down. I think this makes them thirsty and brassica seedlings are full of moisture!

[Yasminh14]

Once I had dealt with the voles (or should I say, gotten the voles under control)

How exactly did you get the voles under control? I saw a suggestion somewhere for using solar powered mole repellers, they apparently repel rodents too. Anyone got any experience of these??

Yes, I do think it must be rodents. The kales in the woodshed are losing whole leaves from the bottom of the stem upwards, every day a few more leaves gone, leaving just a small bit of stalk. I'm sure a pile of wood is an ideal haven for mice, so they seem a likely culprit to me. Want to plant them out, but plan was to put them in after the green beans, which are suddenly getting a second wind thanks to the warm weather, so it's hard to pull them up. Might just have to do it for the sake of the kale!

The cavolo outside is damaged in a different way, more like the pics of the possible moth damage from Penellype. But only one plant out of 6. The others are untouched. And no sign of a caterpillar. Very strange. Could be some other kind of leafcutter insect I guess, but they are netted with fine netting to the ground, so I just don't know....

[Two_Sheds]

There is no sign of ... slug/snail trails

They don't always leave a slime trail, in fact I rarely see slime but I do see 100s of slugs. They are there

[Two_Sheds]

I've had caterpillars on the greenhouse tomatoes and peppers

Yes and yes, same here.

And the peas too of course:

[joyceybabe]

My kale has suffered the exact same problem. The stalks are bitten right through and they are left on the ground. I think it is voles. They were also gnawing on any carrots that were above ground level. My beetroot (Chioggia) were eaten right through too. My son's cat has been staying for a couple of weeks and I found the bodies of 2 voles which she had caught near the veg garden. No more damage at the moment so maybe she has caught the culprits. Never had this problem before but then I have never been without a cat until this year. My old cat was a brilliant hunter but we lost him earlier this year at the ripe old age of 22