Have i got mice !!!!!!!!!

[Ian White]

Good day to you all

I have just been out to water my seedlings in my plastic greenhouse,but i have found that something is enjoying my seedlings ,what ever it is has only had a go at the broccoli

the first thing i did was to look for slug slime but i can find no evidence of slugs or snails,do you think it could be mice ?

Thanks for any advice and all the best,Ian

[PAULW]

I had a snail in my greenhouse it grazed the newly hatched sprout seedlings, there was no trail but I looked under totray and found it hiding there, STAMP no more.

[Ian White]

Thanks Paul i'll go and have a look again in a moment

Ian

[Helgalush]

I had something similar with my beetroot last night (only sowed the seeds yesterday). It is on a table though so I assumed that a bird had come to have a peck, as there was quite a bit of soil that had been spilt on the table, plus they only bothered with one or two....

[Helgalush]

PS Look for droppings if you think it might be mice. They usually leave some lying around, and if they are anything like rabbits they will poo quite soon after eating!!

[Ian White]

Thanks for the help,so far i have just to see if it is a mouse i hane set a couple of mouse traps,the humanie kind can bring myself to kill anything.

And i'll let you know what happens

All the best,Ian

[FB.]

The main thing that eats our broccoli is caterpillars, although slugs and snails will eat the seedlings. It only takes a small number of slugs or snails to destroy a whole plot of newly-planted seedlings.
Have you checked under the leaves? Young caterpillars will be very small to start with, so you'll need to look hard.

[Nicos]

I think we are in for an awful year with mice eating our crops.
The fiels near the potager has so many field mice holes that you'd have thought a whole school of kids had had a pogoing competition!


Even the neighbours cat has got bored with eating them!

[Ian White]

Well i set the traps and so far no luck,but what ever it is has stoped eating the seedlings

I'll keep you all posted what happens next

All the best,Ian

[organic]

Ian - I've had a humane trap down in the kitchen but only so I could guarantee an instant kill... and I'm the sort who doesn't squirm (much) at the thought of doing so.

After a lot of careful I'm about to replace the humane trap with some kill traps though.

With a humane trap the animal is confined and has to deal with a very large predator approaching and then you're faced with 2 choices, neither of which are very good if you're trying to be nice about things.

You either release them elsewhere, which means they are in a strange environment with no "home" shelter to go to for safety. They may well have to fight for somewhere to live and food to eat and will be more vulnerable to predators while they try to find somewhere...
...or you kill them yourself, which takes a bit of nerve and resolve and the right technique to make it fast and humane.

On balance I think the traditional snap-trap is the only truly humane solution if leaving them to carry on unchecked isn't an option (and obviously that's the most humane of all - thought really not smart if they are in your home).

Just a thought for you.

Oh, and Helgalush said to look for droppings to see if it's a mouse. If you find some they'll look like dark brown or black grains of rice.