They are good at clearing up seed from the bird feeder and table, but I have them half way down the garden near the wildlife wall so the field mice don't come up to the house they have all they need down there...food and shelter and it is nice to see them cleaning up down there for me
I love wildlife n do all I can to encourage it into my small back garden. I had seen the odd mouse out there,but wasnt that bothered....until I deceided to redesign `the plot`....mice had built nests all along the fencing behind climbers, underneath the shed, underneath shrubs in the borders, in the greenhouse n worst of all in several large pots-that when emptied revealed several families living happily amongst the old compost n roots....n a mum with a baby mouse attached n feeding....I was torn (being a mum myself) between clearing the whole garden of every mouse or ignoring the `problem`. I couldnt bring myself to even look at humane traps or boxes of poison...so I settled for cutting down, emptying and generally desecrating....with a clear conscious....sort of!! ps guess what ive just caught sight o
Mice have eaten the sweetpea seedlings and begonias tips in the greenhouse plus the peas and beans in the raised beds. I have baited several traps but the woodmice are so light they don't get caught. This morning I managed to catch a very small woodmouse which I set free in the field behind us.It looked at me with it's big brown eyes as if to say where do I go now.I have been feeeling guilty alday in case this little mouse had a young family waiting in the nest.I can't help hoping it finds it's way home.
It's so nice to sit in a garden or leafy yard and watch the interactions of nature in the form of trees, plants, flowers, insects, birds - and field mice. We're here to fulfil our role as stewards of the planetary garden and I find it depressing when I see far too many front gardens turned into a family car parks. Nor should we kill your field mice or pull up ALL our weeds. Some of them are surprisingly potent herbs. Take Herb Robert as an example. Delicate feathery foliage and lovely pink flowers too, with a whole lot of medicinal uses.
I recently fitted a birdseed feeder designed to stick onto glass. It's now on the kitchen window, but I soon found that many of the feathered visitors were messy eaters, chaffinches especially, throwing seed around everywhere. So, I fitted a large plastic flowerpot drip tray about an inch beneath it. It's round and I fixed it to the feeder with a nut, bolt and washer, after first drilling a lot of small holes in the tray to let out any rainwater. It works fine, catching all the flung seeds. But the mice aren't so happy as it successfully cuts down on the amount of grain landing on the path beneath the feeder. Now I see them foraging in other parts of the garden. We're part OF Nature, not apart FROM it.
Well said Geenbud, people panic about animals like mice and rats but they are part of nature, if you want to see a destructive dirty aggressive animal that spreads disease and pollutes the environment look in the mirror!
I wasn't referring to you personally of course just trying to point out that human beings in general are a pest! Wonder if mice and rats have their own little forums about these huge creatures who appeared quite recently and think they own the planet. No offence intended i think Gardeners are some of the people in this world who do their very best to make it a better place for everyone and everything.........except slugs!!!
It's ok debs - pansy and I are world weary and cynical - and the 'new' poster has dredged up and old thread, around midnight, probably American (the word yard) and appeared out of nowhere, first post. He/she probably has an agenda, which is why we're taking the mickey out of them - not you
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
They are good at clearing up seed from the bird feeder and table, but I have them half way down the garden near the wildlife wall so the field mice don't come up to the house they have all they need down there...food and shelter and it is nice to see them cleaning up down there for me
I love wildlife n do all I can to encourage it into my small back garden. I had seen the odd mouse out there,but wasnt that bothered....until I deceided to redesign `the plot`....mice had built nests all along the fencing behind climbers, underneath the shed, underneath shrubs in the borders, in the greenhouse n worst of all in several large pots-that when emptied revealed several families living happily amongst the old compost n roots....n a mum with a baby mouse attached n feeding....I was torn (being a mum myself) between clearing the whole garden of every mouse or ignoring the `problem`. I couldnt bring myself to even look at humane traps or boxes of poison...so I settled for cutting down, emptying and generally desecrating....with a clear conscious....sort of!! ps guess what ive just caught sight o
It's so nice to sit in a garden or leafy yard and watch the interactions of nature in the form of trees, plants, flowers, insects, birds - and field mice. We're here to fulfil our role as stewards of the planetary garden and I find it depressing when I see far too many front gardens turned into a family car parks. Nor should we kill your field mice or pull up ALL our weeds. Some of them are surprisingly potent herbs. Take Herb Robert as an example. Delicate feathery foliage and lovely pink flowers too, with a whole lot of medicinal uses.
I recently fitted a birdseed feeder designed to stick onto glass. It's now on the kitchen window, but I soon found that many of the feathered visitors were messy eaters, chaffinches especially, throwing seed around everywhere. So, I fitted a large plastic flowerpot drip tray about an inch beneath it. It's round and I fixed it to the feeder with a nut, bolt and washer, after first drilling a lot of small holes in the tray to let out any rainwater. It works fine, catching all the flung seeds. But the mice aren't so happy as it successfully cuts down on the amount of grain landing on the path beneath the feeder. Now I see them foraging in other parts of the garden. We're part OF Nature, not apart FROM it.
Well said Geenbud, people panic about animals like mice and rats but they are part of nature, if you want to see a destructive dirty aggressive animal that spreads disease and pollutes the environment look in the mirror!
I'm just waiting for Greenbud thingy to trot out his/her advert for summat, pansy....
or have I become cynical....
I have a bath once a year whether I need it or not
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I wasn't referring to you personally of course just trying to point out that human beings in general are a pest! Wonder if mice and rats have their own little forums about these huge creatures who appeared quite recently and think they own the planet. No offence intended i think Gardeners are some of the people in this world who do their very best to make it a better place for everyone and everything.........except slugs!!!
It's ok debs - pansy and I are world weary and cynical - and the 'new' poster has dredged up and old thread, around midnight, probably American (the word yard) and appeared out of nowhere, first post. He/she probably has an agenda, which is why we're taking the mickey out of them - not you
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...