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Badgers, rabbits and foxes
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Does anyone have any experience of growing veg in an area with badgers, rabbits and foxes on site? I have seen evidence of all 3 on the land. We have a big badgers sett and I regularly see rabbits. Also my delightful dog often finds fox poo to roll in!
I was going to do a chicken wire fence but someone said a badger can plough right through chicken wire or dig under.
I am considering getting an electric net fence but they are expensive and I am not sure if its the best approach.
I was going to do a chicken wire fence but someone said a badger can plough right through chicken wire or dig under.
I am considering getting an electric net fence but they are expensive and I am not sure if its the best approach.
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Got badgers & foxes here. I use trellis laid flat to protect beds along with short canes - hundreds of canes. I laid bark mulch around some flower/shrub beds last year and the badgers really went to town over the winter (when food is short - they're looking for grubs). - This year I'm trying rocks on the mulch to dissuade them from diggingDoes anyone have any experience of growing veg in an area with badgers, rabbits and foxes on site? I have seen evidence of all 3 on the land. We have a big badgers sett and I regularly see rabbits. Also my delightful dog often finds fox poo to roll in!
Why am I in this handcart and where are we going ?0 -
I’ve got simple home-made hoop cloches over my veg beds and cover these with plastic sheeting during frost season and horticultural fleece in summer. The badger has never tried to dig in to it while these are on. But i have occasionally taken them off during the day, forgotten to put them back at night and found my beds like the aftermath of the Somme in the morning.0
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We have all the above close by, though the rabbits don't last long if they come ito the cats' garden.....We also have pigeons.
Frankly, none of them is a problem, though we don't grow brassicas. We do have chickens and none of the fencing has ever been dug under.
Perhaps wait and see what happens?0 -
Thanks unrecordings and Apodemus, I will try a mixture of these ideas. Maybe I should wait and see davesnave but I would be gutted if they trashed all my hard work. We are so lucky having diverse wildlife on our doorstep and I would hate to feel resentful of it.
At least if I try to make it harder for them to do any damage hopefully we will remain friends!0 -
Thanks unrecordings and Apodemus, I will try a mixture of these ideas. Maybe I should wait and see davesnave but I would be gutted if they trashed all my hard work. We are so lucky having diverse wildlife on our doorstep and I would hate to feel resentful of it.
At least if I try to make it harder for them to do any damage hopefully we will remain friends!
The only thing that I ever resented was last year's phantom pooper - which think was a cat that we've not seen since the autumn - it just draped the poop everywhere despite the trellis, despite the canes, despite the windmills, despite more canes, despite our own furry menace, despite further canes laid across the other canes - it eventually took a dense entanglement of holly & brambles to put the little sod off
Why am I in this handcart and where are we going ?0 -
Sorry unrecordings I know I shouldn't laugh as I bet it was incredibly frustrating - but your post really made me chuckle! The phantom pooper :eek:0
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Foxes won't cause you a problem. Badgers can and will climb over or dig under fences, wire or trellis to get what they want.
I'd be more concerned about pigeons and rabbits to be honest.You'll find me in the garden. In the shed. In my greenhouses. Or maybe the local hostelry!0 -
MartinGardener wrote: »Foxes won't cause you a problem. Badgers can and will climb over or dig under fences, wire or trellis to get what they want.
I'd be more concerned about pigeons and rabbits to be honest.
I posted a picture of my cane arrangement in another thread the outer canes are stout & pushed in deep. The inner canes are thinner/taller to put off pigeons & footballs - then there are fillers for density.The trellis is laid flat - it puts off most diggers - The badgers round here punch holes in the fence - and seem to enjoy the mulch I put round some bushes & trees last year -there very much seems to be a set (sett ?) a couple of metres from the bottom of the garden. No rabbits round here, they apparently died out a decade or so ago
Why am I in this handcart and where are we going ?0 -
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Does anyone have any experience of growing veg in an area with badgers, rabbits and foxes on site? I have seen evidence of all 3 on the land. We have a big badgers sett and I regularly see rabbits. Also my delightful dog often finds fox poo to roll in!
I was going to do a chicken wire fence but someone said a badger can plough right through chicken wire or dig under.
I am considering getting an electric net fence but they are expensive and I am not sure if its the best approach.
I grow veg in long 1m wide beds, covered with netting draped over steel hoops and held down at the edges with pegs and bricks. There are stone paths between them. Last year a badger got under the netting, and ploughed up one side and down the other, destroying half the seedlings, in search of worms in the compost. This year I have pegged it down more thoroughly.
Without netting, blackbirds plough the compost, sparrows eat the seeds, and cats visit.0
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