Scrapes in fresh dug soil
Jeff29
Posts: 2
Advice please on what causes the problem below and any preventative measures.
We have an urban garden. Yesterday a border was weeded, some plants removed and the soil loosened up.
This morning there are scrapes about three inches deep and a couple of feet long. There are four of them. Some small recently planted plants have been pushed to one side out of the soil.
Similar happened a couple of weeks ago.
Any ideas what the cause is ? My thoughts are an urban fox searching for grubs. But would a rat do the same - house extensions in the houses behind us seem to have disturbed rats and I caught one in a trap placed next to an obvious path under the fence.
Any advice about how to stop the uprooting of small plants by this animal will be gratefully received - moth balls, ultrasonic noise device, traps or anything.
Cheers
Jeff
Posts
Not having a picture to guide I suspect from your description it could be either badgers or foxes. It seems far too big for a rat.
Thanks for reply.
Any idea what to do please?
Cheers
Jeff
Sounds more like a fox looking for worms. A badger would uproot a much bigger area and dig in several places . Rats tend to make a round hole leading into a tunnel and seem to prefer banks to tunnel into.
Small wooden stakes knocked firmly into the soil around vulnerable new plants should prevent it.