Author Topic: Kale eaten by voles?  (Read 2412 times)

early weeder

  • Not So New ...
  • *
  • Posts: 25
  • We are in windy Midlothian in a frost pocket!
Kale eaten by voles?
« on: March 08, 2018, 21:08:38 »
For the last 5 winters kale has been a staple in our winter diet however this year we noticed a few plants had been nibbled at the top as we started to harvest it. Then this week the snow drift over the bed has started melting to reveal just bare well chewed stumps. The bed is netted so it's not pigeons so I suspect the voles which have taken up residence in the compost heap. I'm wondering if putting some boards around the bed would confound them. They don't seem to jump as high as mice. We are in the countryside and have seen them around but they've not been a problem before.  Anyone have any ideas how to deter/ get rid of them?

galina

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 5,456
  • Johanniskirchen
Re: Kale eaten by voles?
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2018, 05:52:38 »
Voles are a huge problem for me too.  As is deer that can make short work of kale and chard over winter.  A neighbouring cat has started to make inroads into the vole population, but whenever we have flooding in the area, they all move to the highest ground locally, and our garden happens to be one of the higher ones.  Rabbits also do some damage to the garden.  But voles are the worst.  And they stay in summer too, whilst deer and rabbits leave when there is more gardener activity.

Voles decapitate bean and pea plants in full swing, so I need to use a bottle cloche for every plant.  The bottle stays in place all season and the peas or beans grow out of the bottle neck.  This protects them, but is a pain with short varieties.  When I run out of bottles, the plants are at risk.

Get a cat if you can.  Unfortunately OH gets asthma attacks from cats, so this is not an option for us.  Some dogs are also good at hunting rodents, but you might not like the damage they can do in the garden.   :sunny:

ancellsfarmer

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,335
  • Plot is London clay, rich in Mesozoic fossils
Re: Kale eaten by voles?
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2018, 21:35:13 »
As a fellow vole sufferer, I pursue an unrelenting guerilla war, using any/all legal means. They are enchanting little characters ( they will sit and watch you!) but they cause havoc. My plot is surrounded by 30 acres of rough grassland pasture so there is no chance of eradication, but some relief achieved by thinning resident populations.
 Little Nippers, wired to pegs under cover , baited with peanut or peanut sized bits of apple, work. You must check at least daily (both for 'welfare' and anti-cannibal reasons- you may find skeleton within your trap.) To enlist natural assistance, corpses are left on 6' fenceposts which supply kestrels and a red kite. They are ,apparently , Europes most numerous mammal, so we must all have at least one.
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

early weeder

  • Not So New ...
  • *
  • Posts: 25
  • We are in windy Midlothian in a frost pocket!
Re: Kale eaten by voles?
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2018, 13:15:19 »
Thanks for the suggestions. A cat not practical as we are next to a nature reserve and have lots of birds that I don't want catching.
Our first winter here there were mice getting into the polytunnel and I caught 60 odd with a humane trap. I'm less patient now so think disturbing the compost heap and all the hiding holes along with setting some traps might be the way to go.

squeezyjohn

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,022
  • Oxfordshire - Sandy loam on top of clay
Re: Kale eaten by voles?
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2018, 13:02:29 »
I think some rodent or other has killed all my purple sprouting that was protected by nets.  They've scraped all the skin off the stalks resulting in some very sad looking wilting plants.  I don't know whether they will come back from it.  It may be rats.  But netting against rodents that burrow in is pretty much a lost cause.

ancellsfarmer

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,335
  • Plot is London clay, rich in Mesozoic fossils
Re: Kale eaten by voles?
« Reply #5 on: March 20, 2018, 21:05:26 »
Can you see any clues? Droppings? Tooth marks? Footprints?
Voles work 'under cover' ; snow would suit them fine. Rats would work on top ,you may see their run, in snow or beaten down grass. Rabbits and deer ? Obvious footprints.
I would set a little nipper mouse trap, and a nipper rat trap. Peg them down to a wire. I would expect either a vole killed in either,* if the mouse trap repeatedly sprung and bait gone, probably a rat.
* only once, caught 2 voles 'side by side' in a rat trap. The last thing it does is nip !
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

 

anything
SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal