Topic: Big Pest or Predator

[ivyfox]

Hello everybody and here's my first post

Something fairly big is destroying crops on my Mum's half-plot allotment. 

Transplanted courgette plants were pulled up from the bed (3 out of 12, all near the edge) and discarded without being eaten.  Mature beetroot have been eaten on one side, to the depth of a large human bite (area munched about the size of half a hen's egg).  These were not uprooted. 

The site is large, level and open (no sheds or trees allowed), surrounded by 6' chain-link fence with one access gate at the far end.  There is housing on one side and open land on the other three.

I found some rabbit droppings nearby but they were not fresh and there were only a handful.

Ideas and suggestions for plant protection please  ???

[manicscousers]

Hiya, ivyfox, welcome to the site  ;D
hope someone can help. sounds like your mum is having problems with a quite large pest  :-\

[Flighty]

Ivyfox a warm welcome to A4A!

Have any of your mum's plot neighbours had the same problems? Some sites have real problems with foxes, squirrels, rabbits and even deer on occasions!
I'm sure that others here will be able to suggest ways of protecting the plants.

[thifasmom]

it does sound a bit like rabbit and maybe foxes (re the pulled out plants, were they at young plant stage/ fully grown?)

Welcome to the site :) and by the way what are you holding in your picture.

[Theplotthickens]

Transplanted courgette plants were pulled up from the bed (3 out of 12, all near the edge) and discarded without being eaten.  Mature beetroot have been eaten on one side, to the depth of a large human bite (area munched about the size of half a hen's egg). 

I found some rabbit droppings nearby but they were not fresh and there were only a handful.

Does the bite mark show small teeth marks about 2-3 mm wide or much larger ?

Are you sure the rabbit droppings are from rabbits as deer poop is often mistaken for rabbit ?

I would have said deer, either Munties or Roe, we have bother with Roe and they love beet and I have had bother with them scraping at my `gettes too.

If it is deer try laying either hawthorn of blackthorn cuttings so they can`t get at the base of the beets, remember to stake them down. If the munching then continues it will be rabbit

[daxzen]

badgers maybe - they wander thru my plot from time to time

if it is badgers - they tend to get into a routine and will come back again & again

[ivyfox]

Thank you all - what a nice welcome!  :)

In response:
Plot neighbours report no problems like this, but one only grows spuds and the other doesn't grow beetroot;
Uprooted plants were young courgette plants with first pair 'true' leaves;
I'm holding a Giant Puffball (I'm a forager rather than a gardener);
Teeth marks difficult to tell - looks like a single mark 5 or 6 mm across;
I'm not familiar with deer poo so yes, I may have mistakenly identified the droppings.

I'll pass all contributions on to Mum - the thorny cuttings sound a great enviro-friendly idea. 

[thifasmom]

Oh that is definitely a giant puffball. I found one once but it wasn't a monster like that one. It tasted great but when i had to cut it up the aroma of the cut flesh made feel nauseous, so my mum prepared it and i then cooked and ate it with the rest of the family. Like I said it was delish!

[ivyfox]

We found a footprint of a small cloven hoof, so now we know for sure it's a deer of some kind.

And Mum's decided that she can spare the odd beetroot for Bambi!  ;D

Cheers all

[Flighty]

It could well be a muntjac then! You'll be very lucky to see it but you may well hear it.

http://www.bds.org.uk/muntjac.html

[telboy]

Flighty,
Good link! They should be classed as vermin now. As I understand, there are no restrictions in shooting. They are very distructive, but good eating!!
 8)