Butternut Squash eaten!

[Crundy]

Hello,
I've got a small Butternut Squash going in the garden which seems to be doing quite well. I've had about four female flowers with fruits developing behind them now. I came back from a weekend away and decided to give them a quick check, and noticed that two of the fruits have been completely nibbled away. Do I presume correctly this is because of mice? If so then is there any kind of repellent / poison I can leave out which is safe to use around cats?

[Jardiniere]

why not just leave the cats out?

[janeyo]

Hi my courgettes are being nibbled by deer - you can see teeth marks! Could you have any deer?

janeyo

[Crundy]

The cats are useless, except one of them, who would probably try and drag one of the deer into the house. He's usually quite apt at catching mice, but I tend to feel bad when he gets a live capture and I release it back into the garden, only for it to eat my squash! Go figure.

P.S. No, it isn't deer! The whole garden is enclosed, and the squash are too small to interest anything bigger than a rodent / marsupial

[Alice]

What a shame Crundy. I'd put my money on slugs. I had the same problem recently and although I don't like to use them I sprinkled a few blue pellets around the eaten plants. I got 2 huge grey slugs and no more damage.
You can put the pellets on a little bit of plastic and cover the tray with a bit of wire to keep other animals off (I do) .
Good luck with your courgettes.

[Crundy]

Hmm, I didn't think about slugs. I might nip and get some slug pellets just in case.

[ChrisE]

I woke up this morning to find all bar one of my butternut squash eaten, plus most of my courgettes. I think it might be a mountjac deer as we have seen them in the past.

I'm gutted as it's the 1st time I've grown squash and was so pleased to see the small fruits growing. Hopefully the plants will set some more.

Last year I lost a few courgettes this way and I could sacrifice one now and again, but last night they had about 5 courgettes and 9 squash.

Can anyone advise ways to stop them? I've a few glass closhes but not enough to cover all the plants.

[Crundy]

What about netting? Or one of those cat deterrents that squirts water at anything moving?

[Crundy]

Or, camo-cream, a sniper rifle, and lots of patience?

[ChrisE]

I've now stuck some sticks in the ground among the courgette leaves so it is difficult for the deer to nestle it's head in to eat the courgettes without poking it's eye. Might be under estimating the skill of a deer. If it continues I might put a sheet of plastic over them and peg it down overnight as it is only between dusk & dawn that the deer venture into the garden.

I've heard that the cat deterents that use high freguency noise works but I don't really want the expense.

On a positive note, my butternut squash has staring setting new squashes, just need to protect them now.

Chris

[lynda66]

aren't you supposed to wee on the ground to keep deer away? or did i imagine that?? you could always get a big cardboard cutout of a tiger