The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: suziequeue on April 21, 2013, 02:15:00 pm

Title: MICE!!!!
Post by: suziequeue on April 21, 2013, 02:15:00 pm
The mice have had most of our onion sets this year. I've just planted a load more (a bit late I know - but then spring is a bot late so I'm stretching it a bit!!).


Any ideas on how to keep the mice away?
Title: Re: MICE!!!!
Post by: spandit on April 21, 2013, 08:08:20 pm
Have a look at Nooski traps
Title: Re: MICE!!!!
Post by: HesterF on April 21, 2013, 11:00:26 pm
Are you sure it's mice? Plenty of other things that would pull up onions as well.

Not really too late for onion sets by the way - mine went in at the end of May last year and were OK - not huge but OK.

H
Title: Re: MICE!!!!
Post by: Mammyshaz on April 21, 2013, 11:05:54 pm
I haven't known mice take the onions. Pea or bean seeds, yes, but not onions. Are there any pigeons around your plot. They are notorious for pulling out newly planted onions.
It is interesting if it is mice. I've not given them a second thought where onions are concerned  :thinking:
Title: Re: MICE!!!!
Post by: HesterF on April 21, 2013, 11:39:59 pm
That's kind of what i was thinking - I know birds pull up onions and we've got a badger that comes through that would probably go for most things (although he's ignored the onions to be fair - took down the sweetcorn last year). Also I reckon the rabbits might have a nibble. So I think it's hard to be sure what's got them - in which case you could spend a lot of time trying to catch mice when it might not be. Maybe you could put a little mini-fence around them? I saw one today in the garden centre that was fleece and designed to keep carrot fly off your carrots but it would work equally well for mice and onions (but not birds). Or at this stage you could just put fleece over the top and surround it with stones and hope they don't dig under....

H
Title: Re: MICE!!!!
Post by: suziequeue on April 22, 2013, 05:50:01 am
Yes - could be pigeons  ::)


I just thought it was mice because of the way they had been carried and stored in a little pile under the mypex and there are lots of mouse burrows around.


I might put some bits netting up then  :D
Title: Re: MICE!!!!
Post by: Bodger on April 24, 2013, 11:34:31 am
Please don't set mouse traps out in the open, or you'll end up catching robins and blue tits. Make your self some wooden box tunnels to set them in, with small entrance holes at either end for the mice and not the birds to go into. :fc: