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Evening Moths

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  • WoodgreenWoodgreen Posts: 1,273
    Dedekind said:
    Apart from spreading fatal Squirrel pox to red squirrels (the greys are immune)?

    Apart from causing the deaths of a large proportion of British song birds be eating eggs and nestlings? 

    Apart from the damage done to ancient deciduous woodland by stripping bark which kills the trees? 

    Apart from the above and other havoc they cause, there’s the damage they cause to fruit and vegetable crops. 

    They are a serious pest in the UK. 


     Fair enough.  I obviously understand grey squirrels are an invasive pest here. I suppose in their native regions they are fine
    It's a pity that there has been so little information over the years.
    I live on the edge of an area where there are still red squirrels. I was delighted to see one in our garden when we came here thirty years ago. The following year and ever since, none. Just more and more greys. A local Red Squirrel charity has helped by educating local people and encouraging the trapping of greys, in gardens and woodland.
    I just hope it helps and that one day I may yet see another red squirrel here.
    Don't feel bad Dedekind, it's just not been publicised enough how much of a threat the greys are to the reds' continued existence.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Fire said:
    I've never seen a red squirrel in person. (How odd). It would make me weep to think they might be lost to American pox and the hubris of human idiocy.

    Anglesey is currently a good place to see them. There's not many there but there's a few good places to spot them. I hope they hold on up there until some kind of vaccine for squiggle pox is found.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I think I saw one on the Isle of Wight.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • We see them here in Scottish Borders. Not as often as we used to, but they are certainly around. So are the greys, and there is a project locally to trap and shoot them. Most local landowners are involved.

    Just a suggestion for @Jac19 ..... if you want to guarantee seeing lots of butterflies and bees in your garden at this time of year, then plant some Sedum spectabile 'Autumn Joy' (now re-named as Hylotelephium spectabile).
    I counted 23 butterflies on the ones in my garden today .... mostly red admirals, but also small tortoiseshells and a couple of commas. Also loads of bumble and honeybees, and wasps.

    Bee x
     image

    Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders  

    A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
  • Jac19Jac19 Posts: 496
    It is not an uncommon thing to do to throw a net over vegetable patches to guard from moths.  I am saving only a couple of patches of Salvia for the bees.  There are patches right next to them that the night moths can feed from.
  • Jac19Jac19 Posts: 496

    Just a suggestion for @Jac19 ..... if you want to guarantee seeing lots of butterflies and bees in your garden at this time of year, then plant some Sedum spectabile 'Autumn Joy' (now re-named as Hylotelephium spectabile).
    I counted 23 butterflies on the ones in my garden today .... mostly red admirals, but also small tortoiseshells and a couple of commas. Also loads of bumble and honeybees, and wasps.

    Bee x
     image

    I will. Thanks!  I will.  They won't flower till later next summer.  So, I will put them down next spring.
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    @Jac19 - yes we throw nets over our brassica crops to prevent cabbage white butterflies laying their eggs on them but that's a bit different from putting nets over flowers when you think one species might be gobbling up all the nectar and 'stealing' it from another species.  That is really naive thinking.  Grow as many different flower shapes as you can (daisy shapes, tubular shapes etc) to attract as many different species as you can. They all have their own life-cycles and rely on different nectar sources being available to match those life-cycles.  You cannot dictate which insect will visit which plant and when - just provide the plants and leave them to it.  As for the birds and mammals - by all means give them a helping hand with additional food sources, especially in winter but please research what is good for them.  What we like (sugar, wine) may actually be harmful to a hungry animal - for example bread and milk misguidedly left out for hedgehogs.  
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • Jac19Jac19 Posts: 496
    edited September 2021
    I don't leave bread and milk for hedgehogs.  I buy special hedgehog biscuits, which are like cat or dog biscuits, but made especially for hedgehogs, from the pet shop around the corner.  The people who run it are my friends.

    It is the more altruistic thing.  Throwing nets over tomatoes or veg for one's own use is really selfish.  To do it so that half the food of an endangered species is protected from a moth infestation is a non-selfish thing.

    I used to belong to National Trust conservation groups where I lived, in Oxford, Harrow, and Cambridge.  Now I only get newsletters and buy wildlife things because I don't have the time to spare.  But I help people and creatures under stress in the spirit of the National Trust.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Grey squirrels are not under stress. The complete opposite. They cause it. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    edited September 2021
    Fairygirl said:
    Grey squirrels are not under stress. The complete opposite. They cause it. 
    they've stripped the bark from every hornbeam in my garden.( Maybe I should through nets over them? )  I fear many will not be back next year, but hey, they're cute ! Aren't they? 
    NO, THEY'RE VERMIN AND NEED TO BE WIPED OUT.
    Devon.
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