Foxes.

[shirlton]

yesterday mornin went to the Erdington plot and to our horror the enviromesh cage that Tony had made for my second lot of onions (after the loss of the first to stem eelworm) was taken apart and the bl***y foxes had stamped down the whole bed. Tony wanted to turn the van around and go home. Unusual for him he is usually the stalwart one. This is where I came into my own. "They are only onions" I said and proceeded to tidy up and put the mesh back on what was left of them. I think it must be my age or summat cos I usually lose it in situations like that. Just have to make the frames a lot stronger. I just wish that the youngsters would play in the wild sections of the site. They seem to prefer jumping about on wire netting and fleece.

[shirlton]

[manicscousers]

not fair, though, shirlton  :-\
I occasionally have to tell Ray, we don't have to depend on growing our own, thank goodness, we wouldn't starve if the whole ruddy lot went, trouble is, when you've put the effort in, it's a blow to lose out  :)

[pete10]

 Jaye's fluid seems to work for foxes they hate the smell.

[pigeonseed]

Our foxes seem rather sedate they just mooch about at sunset.

But an old vixen did come out in the afternoon last week, obviously very ill, completely oblivious to us. Very grey fur. Felt quite sad to see her, all covered in flies. I know they're annoying when they trample your crops, but it's not nice to see them suffer.

Anyway on Sunday I went down there and she had died, on my potato patch at the back.

Sorry I can't think of a way to end that message on a happy note...

[shirlton]

I don't like to see animals suffer either and I wouldn't do anything to hurt them. We have just made the structures stronger. I will try the jeyes fluid though. I'm gonna try the jeyes fluid though. I will put it all around the paths and just see what happens. At the moment one of Tony's shirts is standing guard fixed onto a crossbow with one of my old hats fastened onto a pop bottle. It would frighten the bl***y life out of me let alone the foxes

[greenscrump]

Sorry I can't think of a way to end that message on a happy note...

don't think I could have done either  :(

It's badgers that cause the damage  on our site, they quite happily tear down  cages to get at raspberries.

[pigeonseed]

It's badgers that cause the damage  on our site, they quite happily tear down  cages to get at raspberries.

!! I thought they ate worms! Yours are classy badgers.

[Bionic Wellies]

We used to have some foxes on our site but some daft prat shot them because they were causing damage - then the bunnie wabbits and feathered rats came back by the hundreds and caused much more damage - we have all had to erect fences around the plots (only puts the bunnies off a little and doesn't stop the flying rats at all).

That was 3-4 years ago and I think (hope) that a fox has come back - there has been a slight decline in bunnies but that might be a coincidence.  I just hope the do-gooders leave the fox alone this time.

[Trixiebelle]

Our fox cubs like to roll on the rhubarb! They squashed the 1st lot but have obviously grown up a bit now, so the rhubarb has re-grown.

Foxes also dug up my mate's potatoes several times in one week. Turns out she had planted them with blood, fish & bone. OOPS!

We covered her tatties with huge bits of privet cut down from the hedges and that seemed to do the trick.

I like foxes  ;)

BIONIC WELLIES: What's a 'feathered rat'?

[shirlton]

Well we put a Jeyes solution around all the paths and guess what? No damage at all. The wire netting hasn't been layed on or anything. I just hope that it works in the long term, Will do the jeyes treatment every couple of weeks I think just to keep the smell around.

[Hyacinth]

Great news Shirl....must be a foxy lady, me, cos I don't like the smell of Jeyes,  either ;D Renardine, when you could get it, was really effective & I wondered if you could treat kindling sticks the same way (douse them in the fluid) then hammer in around any other crops you want to protect? Might be worth a try...

I hope our young fox comes back, and comes back hungry.....large grey rat appeared from out of the undergrowth a short while ago :o

[Bionic Wellies]

Feathered rats = pigeon

The fox used to catch them - how, I'm not sure - but others on the lottie swear that it did.