Topic: I hates those meeces to pieces

[derbex]

Mice are eating my spuds, I pretty much caught them at it yesterday when I was harvesting them.

I think it's (at least in part) because they were grown as 'no-dig' potatos, and the mice nest in the mulch.

Does anyone have any ideas of how to stop them? If not for this year then next.

Thomaaaaaas -where is that cat when you need him?

Jeremy

[teresa]

Oh dear
Cats are either indoor ones or outdoor ones.
indoor havent the faintest idea of catching anything outdoor ones catch all fur and feather.
The mice you could put poison traps down a poison mixed with bran or meal.
Or change the way you grow your potatoes?

[derbex]

Given where my allotment is I don't think I can keep them out, and given that I'm doing this for fun I'm not going to use poison (apart from worrying whether my daughter or her friends will play with it).

I might change the way that I grow them. If not I should probably harvest them sooner and more often, easy with no-dig, as this would save more and the disturbance might keep them away.

I guess I was hoping someone knew  of 'mousebane' or something similar.

Jeremy

[growmore]

There are a lot of catch them alive traps about which you could bait
with stuff a lot more attractive to them than your potatoes.
But hope when you release them they dont find their way home and get your spuds :D cheers .Jim

[derbex]

Jim -I'm right next to a wild area which goes onto a field- I think they can breed quicker than I can trap them and unfortunatley they can get through the chicken wire which was only of a size to keep rabbits out :-[

Hey Ho -there's enough spuds for us all- if I'm quick.

Jeremy

[teresa]

I am going to tell you a true story of my mother in law bless her she is 82 so please take this into account.
Last winter she had potatoes in her outside shed and the mice were eating them. So someone told her to get some traps and put choclate on them to catch the mice.
So off she goes to the local pet shop explains that she needs choc drops for the mice in her shed. The chap who served her felt sorry and gave her a hand full of choc drops for free.
When sister in law went in to see her a few days later mum says the choclate worked oh says her daughter did you put it on the traps.
No says mum I broke the choc drops up and scattered it round the shed and the mice moved out.

All the family were in stiches and laughed about it for months.

[Beer_Belly]

Teresa - Our cat had lived in an apartment for 10 years so had never been outside. We moved house to one with a garden and she's managed to catch mice, frogs and a bird so far.

beers,
      -B_B-