What's digging in my plant pot?

newlywed

Hi, has anyone got any ideas what could be digging up the earth in my rose pot?

It only happens at night.
There's no sign of cat poo.
The digging isn't round the front of the pot but near the back, between the rose and the wall
Sometimes the earth is scattered all over the decking (out of the pot).

I put lots of twigs in the soil stuck upright to try and stop cat/fox or something, but it's still happening and this morning there were a load of the twigs pulled out and in a pile next to the pot and another hole at the back.

The main thing we can think of is a seagull (stupid things seem to live in the town these days instead of the SEA!!). The neighbour admitted to having fed one :rolleyes:

But why would it be digging a hole in the earth? There's no worms - it's from a fresh pack of compost

Any ideas of how I can stop it/find out what it is without staying up all night?

phizzimum

I've caught squirrels digging in my pots - but I think they were after bulbs.

olly300

Squirrels?

Foxes?

I have both digging in my garden. One of my friends' only has foxes.

You can tell if it's foxes because the area really smells.

They are mostly nocturnal as well there as squirrels do their damage in day light hours only.

Both are deterred by a sprinkling of chilli powder on the soil surface.

People state like the poster above that they are only digging for bulbs however both animals will dig regardless of whether there are bulbs in the pots, bed or not. They will also dig whether or not you use organic or inorganic fertilizer in the soil or in the pot.

I have left bare soil for about a month in a bed, and my neighbours have seen the squirrels having the time of their life in the bed even though there was nothing growing in it apart from weed seedlings as I had removed all the plants plus the rubble in the bed. (And there definitely weren't any bulbs in it.)

My friend commonly finds the foxes do a sort of test dig for one or two days, ignore the pot/area for days to weeks and then one day seem to get bored and destroy the whole pot/area.

There as squirrels will tend to destroy the pot completely on the first go if they don't get disturbed. They are sneaky beasts. Otherwise they will come back until they have killed the plants - my neighbours have lost lots of plants due to this.

Oh and both animals love bark mulch. They can't get enough of it. Every time I mulch the soil I find most of it elsewhere.

kazwookie

Rabbits
Neighbours cat
Rats
Local kids

?????

tomterm8

Are you sure you are not sleepgardening:rotfl:?

Jack's_mummy

Birds.

One year a sparrow uprooted plants and scattered soil everywhere out of my pots

Le-y

I'd still say a cat - i had the same thing for a few nights - awkward place behind the plants - no sign of cat poo and low and behold yesterday i caught the blinking cat having a wee in there!

they of course scatter the soil after too.

I've now put a little fencing and some plastic bag strips attached to stakes around the areas i dont want the cats to go and i admit when i caught the culprit i went out there with the watering can!

she hasnt been back to that place since lol!

(i will also add this is MY cat doing it grr)

newlywed

Well i've put that garden weed block fabric over the top of the soil in the pot and hoping for the best

And no, definitely not me sleep gardening - my hand's are clean and I'm sure I wouldn't wash them in my sleep

mrbadexample

Well, I had footprints in all my tubs this morning. Too big for a cat, so I'm guessing a fox. No damage, just footprints.

Farway

mrbadexample wrote: »

Well, I had footprints in all my tubs this morning. Too big for a cat, so I'm guessing a fox. No damage, just footprints.

The Yeti? :rotfl:

mrbadexample

Farway wrote: »

The Yeti? :rotfl:

:think: I don't think so. 'Tis unseasonably warm for yeti, and the footprints were quite small.... :whistle: