Topic: Haunted allotment?

[elhuerto]

I'm beginning to think we have a poltergeist in the allotment.

It started about a month ago when I found some water hyacinth pulled out of the pond and left round the edge, along with a couple of plant labels - I put it down to pigeons or magpies - but it happened overnight so thought it was a bit strange, A week later the same thing happened but also this time one of the potted plants had been taken from the margins of the pond and dumped about 30 feet away. This time I suspected a dog but wasn't sure if a dog would do that or manage to carry the weight of the pot. The same pot was taken out last week and left a bit nearer to the pond. Yesterday morning I went to the allotment and the chickens were out of their run with their door wide open (that might have been me not closing it properly at night of course.) This morning there were two plants taken and left next to the pond, one plant knocked over, two labels removed, a large pebble taken out from the shallows of the pond, and most strangely a watering can pushed in with the comfrey. It was getting dark when I left the allotment last night and was back there at 8 this morning to check on the chickens.

The allotment is fenced off on all four side although a fox would have little difficulty jumping the fence. There's a metal gate in the entrance and the doors are kept closed by a stone (that hadn't been moved). The village here is quite isolated so it wouldn't have been kids. The old guy we bought the allotment off is the only person other than us that goes down to the plot as far as I know.

So discounting poltergeists and kids, who or what do you think is visiting the allotment after dark?

Cheers

[shirlton]

Perhaps someone is after your plot and is trying to frighten you into leaving ;D

[betula]

web cam............maybe not possible ?

Logic says then it can only be the old guy.

Was there someone else who wanted to buy the allotment?

Maybe you and a few friends need to spend the night,hide yourself and see what happens?

[gp.girl]

Invite most haunted for a gardens special  :D

[Digeroo]

I would suggest carefully raking round the pond and seeing if the ghost leaves foottprints 

Do you have deer? 

[betula]

Would a Deer open a chicken run door though  ?

[elhuerto]

I thought it might have been the old guy, he's 84 and misses not having his allotment - I drive him down there sometimes so he can tell me how I should be doing things. After the first plant was moved I put a padlock on the gate and there's no way he could have got in for the second time things were moved. I've since removed the padlock though. My main suspect is an animal or bird now, but I can't imagine what it could be.

I had thought of spending the night there but it only happens about once a week. I have also just put up a solar powered lamp on the shed with movement sensor. I can see the shed from my house so could set up the telescope to point at the pond but again, a lot of hassle. I might water heavily at night around the pond as it's still bare ground there and see if anything has left its mark overnight.

Failing that, I'll just have to give Shaggy and Scooby a call.

Edit
There's no deer here, plenty of foxes, badgers and wild boar. We get golden eagles but no water birds, herons etc.

[Digeroo]

Badgers are quite clever about opening things but I cannot see one leaping over the fence.  It has to be the fox.  I would suggest a better lock on the chciken coop.  Mind you if it was a fox and the coup was open I would not expect much chicken left.  Perhaps a manged mess.

[betula]

Ye s on thinking about it it probably is an animal of some kind. :)

[irnhed]

All very interesting.

I agree with the suggestion to carefully rake the soil in the suspect places, so you can look for footprints, animal or otherwise, in the morning.

Do you have any clay soil around the place?

If it's not too much of a faff, you could always do what people monitoring animals do, and put some clay soil into a plastic tray, smooth it down, then put it in place (sinking it into the ground).

Many animals are habitual, so will walk along the same tracks - so you'll have to work out where to put it.

I'd think that a human would see it and avoid (depending on how dark it is), but you might get some lovely fox prints to admire.

[elhuerto]

I'm erring towards the badger theory. I don't think a smaller animal could move the pots so far or push the watering can into the comfrey. It had been pushed in with some force as after removing it was still clear where it had been. My only doubts are how it could get in and I would have thought it might have had a nibble or more on the lettuces only a couple of yards away from the pond. What are the tell tale signs of badgers on the plot? Wouldn't it be burrowing, scratching and nibbled plants and crops?

[Alimo]

When we get badgers in the garden the tell-tale signs are huge holes in the lawn... so I'd have thought you'd have more damage.

Alison

[electric landlady]

ooooh....tis witchcraft!!

Or maybe it's a combination of things. I favour the fox explanation, they can move things around all over the place to a surprising extent and without doing a lot of damage. They would leave footprints though. You mentioned that you might have left the chicken door open by mistake...and there's always the wind blowing things around too, although not the heavy plant pots.

[cornykev]

Deffo a ghost,  :o has it been near your pumpkins.  ??? ??? ???

[picman]

Why don't you go spend a night there ,  take a camera.....

[Borlotti]

Apparently the chap that had my allotment died on it, but he is an OK dead bloke, and he doesn't bother me.  His raspberries are doing well and he is welcome to eat some or move my pots about.  That is why when I dig too much and get a pain I go and have a chat.  I don't think you are haunted, sure it is animals.

[elhuerto]

has it been near your pumpkins.

Funny you should say that, we don't have pumpkins but noticed last night that one of the butternut squashes has deep gashes in it, looks like claw or teeth marks.

Two more plants were removed from the pond this morning, slightly larger ones and they were left a yard or so from the pond. The ground around the pond is hard and bare and I watered heavily around it last night but no sign of footprints, I think the ground is just too solid even with the water (which had all but evaporated).

I checked for holes in the fence and apart from a 3 to 4 inch gap under the gate I can't see where anything could get in, but maybe that's it.

I'm sure if it was a fox there'd be signs around the chicken run of burrowing but there's nothing there so I guess it must be a small badger. I'll see if filling the gap under the gate makes a difference.

[Grandma]

Oooh er! Scary!

Big claw and tooth marks....... something bg enough to jump over a fence and move heavy stuff around.....!!!

Over here we have (alleged) sightings of big cats - black panthers etc. - in the wild, do you have the same in Spain?

You wouldn't catch me out there at night - not for anything!!!

Hope you solve your mystery soon!

[elhuerto]

No big cats here, although our Persian looks like it's been on the lasagna.

Wild boar are probably the scariest around, until you see them close up I don't think people appreciate how big they are. They are also pretty wild rather than the escaped semi-domesticated type. Fortunately I've only come across them when I've been driving at night. They cause a lot of damage to the young olive and almond groves here so I hope they don't find the allotment.

Maybe digging the pond was a mistake as there's not much water here, there's a small stream about a mile away and a village pond that's all but dried up. I think I have maybe created an oasis for the local critters.

[Froglegs]

has it been near your pumpkins.

Funny you should say that, we don't have pumpkins but noticed last night that one of the butternut squashes has deep gashes in it, looks like claw or teeth marks.

Butternut squashes ya say...then it's a werewolf... :o