Strawberry pest?

[Nicos]

Last year was a bumper year for our strawberries- and looking at the strawberry flowers we have it looks like we're in for the same again this year!

Problem is ( isn't there always something???)....

Out of about 20kg of strawberries we only managed to crop a handful

....what we found were piles and piles of green strawberries tucked away underneath the leaves. Must have been about 30 piles- all nipped off at the stem and stored .

I didn't take a piccie- but I found one similar....



...although mine were all green and tucked out of site.
Each pile was about 2" high and the size of a side plate.

We do have mice in the garden but we've never had damage like this before to anything!
Could it have been mice storing...or something else????

..and how on earth do you stop this happening again???

Anyone else experienced anything similar???

[ladylottie]

Last year I saw a squirrel running off with an unripe strawberry in it's mouth. I also found a few in a pile and each one had a bite taken out of it. I suspect the culprit was the same squirrel! So perhaps squirrels are doing the same thing over with you.

[Nicos]

Squirrels eh?

hmm...hadn't thought of that!

We do, very occasionally, have a red squirrel in the garden. It'd be easier to fleece them if that's the case.
I was wondering how on earth I'd be able to keep out tiny voles which would come up from underneath!

....fingers crossed it a squirrel then. Thing is- he'll/she'll remember where they are again this year so I'll have to beat him/her to it !

[Madasafish]

Squirrels do that.

I ended up trapping and killing 4 of the grey pests.. (But then the badgers came...)

[Nicos]

Hope it's a squirrel then- I can cope with that!

I was also worried that a pine or stone marten might do the same thing???? ( I know we have them nearby...and also stoats!)

[Two_Sheds]

It does look like mice storing them. Squirrels are just big mice with a fluffy tail

[Two_Sheds]

I was also worried that a pine or stone marten might do the same thing?

Not that likely, they're mostly carnivorous

[Julius Tristan]

I maybe think it is the squirrel also who have made the damage into your strawberry garden. You may get rid of them, in using squirrel trap or else poison them.

[Keira]

I maybe think it is the squirrel also who have made the damage into your strawberry garden. You may get rid of them, in using squirrel trap or else poison them.

How squirrel spread a disease on strawberries?

[Newton]

We had a squirrel come to breakfast on strawberries last year in my raised beds in the garden. He would take a few each day!

This year I have just cleared those raised beds. They are now empty! Guess who turned up yesterday! Mr squirrel appeared most confused checkingvoutvthe empty beds......

Clever little creatures..........

[Aberdeenplotter]

yups, sounds like squirrel damage but they are very difficult to keep out. Fleece won't do the trick . Newton does them an injustice saying they are clever little creatures. They are super clever.