Kitchen Garden Forum

Until last week, I had a beautiful row of beetroot in my garden. I had started them off in modules, then planted them out under netting until I thought they were big enough to be safe from birds. Last week I uncovered them (judging them big enough to be safe from birds and needing the netting elsewhere), and within two days I noticed that some had gone. Or at least the roots have - there were still some leaves lying around. Gradually, more have gone, and I finally covered them over yesterday with enviromesh, thinking that even though it wasn't fixed down very firmly around the edges, it would solve the problem. Fast forward to this morning and I found more beetroot gone. Left behind was a trail of leaves, and it led through the chainlink fence into the neighbour's wilderness (head-high brambles, nettles, etc...). The culprit had clearly gone through the chainlink near the bottom, because quite a few beetroot leaves were stuck there where it had dragged the plant(s) through.

My first thought was rats, but don't they usually just eat things like that in situ, without taking it away? If not them, I can only think it could be squirrels, though I am quite surprised that they would squeeze under either the enviromesh or through the chainlink fence.

What do you reckon?

Afternoon Bert, sounds like rats to me, as they do store food for a rainy day, so to speak.

Hmm - not sure what I can do then, unless I can get the Americans to napalm the neighbouring 'jungle' where the rats must be hiding out!

What, with mole attack from below (though I think I'm winning that war now, having got another today, no. 4 so far this year) and rat attack from above, it's a wonder there's anything left for me to eat!

Certainly sounds like rats. I've had rats (and mice?) gnawing at beetroot in the past in the polytunnel.

Mine seem to prefer takeaways, Alan

Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humour, Bert.

Well, it looks like you were both right. Mr Mouse suggested that we set his (hitherto useless) rat trap. We did it a couple of hours ago, and when he checked it 15 mins ago he had caught a rat!!!

Said rat has now been dispatched and trap is reset and repositioned, but fingers crossed that it was just the one rat that had developed a taste for takeaway beetroot.

There's another rat in the trap this morning!

Mr Mouse is psyching himself up to go and deal with it - if there is one thing that he has a genuine fear of, it's rats, so it's not an easy job for him.

A handy picture of rat damage here. Exactly the same as I have seen.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle ... ts-gardens