Hot on the heels of flea beetle massacre, I now have rodent mayhem on my plot. 1st noticed about 3 weeks ago when watering made no difference to wilting leeks. Unburying the stems, I found they’d been eaten nearly all through. Then I noticed random half – 1cm holes appearing in new (expensive) v fine insect netting on many beds. Then last week another patch of leeks in a different place had casualties. There was no sign of soil disturbance but they had been eaten through below surface level. I keep finding brassica seedlings under mesh with detached leaves and two cauliflowers planted last week have disappeared without trace.
Yesterday I discovered beetroot tunnelled out. See photos. These do have excavations around them.
Guess I’m lucky to have only had moles before, so what do you think I’m dealing with here? Mice? Voles? Both? The allotments are bordered by recently ploughed rape fields on 2 sides and a graveyard on third. There’s a lot of rabbits around but I don’t think they get in. Only predators I’ve seen are the occasional red kite nearby. I set a couple of traps next to beetroot last night. Small plastic boxes with holes through and old-fashioned trap inside. They’re meant for rats but I couldn’t find anything ‘undercover’ for mice that didn’t involve poison, which I don’t want. What would you suggest is the best bait to use? Or any better trapping/deterrent devices?Don’t know if anything has been caught yet as allotment is 5 miles away.
Thank you for all your help.
Jan
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