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Posted by HarveyMushman on August 28, 2008, 12:18 pm
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dyogi;812939 Wrote:
> On Aug 27, 1:27 pm, HarveyMushman HarveyMushman.
> 32b6...@gardenbanter.co.uk wrote:-
> Hello everybody.
>
> Every evening I close the window and door to my greenhouse after
> watering up, and every morning when I return, several of the (usually
> ripened) tomatoes on the lowest stems have been half eaten by some
> sort
> of mini-critter with a large appetite and sharp teeth.
>
> Whatever it is seems to be able to reach upto five or six inches high
> from the compost level in the pot, and can shift several tomato
> halves
> in one sitting.
>
> What baffles me is that the greenhouse is sealed. I can see only the
> tiniest gaps at the base where anything could possibly get in.
> Whatever
> it is is certainly not in there during the daytime - I check every
> day,
> and the greenhouse is very small.
>
> This has happened every single night now for the past three weeks at
> least and it's bugging me like crazy now.
>
> Any suggestions or similar experiences?
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> HarveyMushman-
>
> Any chance you trapped something in there when you set up the
> greenhouse? Or, something slipped in when you had the door open? Six
> inches is pretty high for a mouse, but a field mouse can slip through
> a hole the diameter of a pencil... so that would be my vote for a
> critter that comes and goes as it wishes. But a six-inch field mouse?
> Is there a nuclear power plant nearby?
>
> I've seen it suggested on other forums or threads that rodents
> probably won't each tomatoes if there is enough water around to drink.
> So, maybe leaving a low dish of water near the base of your greenhouse
> would satisfy your pest and stop the tomato-mauling.
>
> I posted a blog entry about harvesting tomatoes that might protect
> your fruits even if you never figure out what's eating them. In a
> controlled greenhouse environment, there should be no need to take my
> approach (except to beat rodents), but please check it out and let me
> know what you think:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/6msbya
>
> Good luck.
Thanks for taking the time to reply - sorry I didn't get your name.
The greenhouse has been there for 30 years or more and is c. 5' x 6'.
Just big
enough for one man to stand and about eight tomato plants. I
have checked and
re-checked and apart from there being nowhere for an
animal to hide, I simply
cannot find anything but the tiniest of gaps
around the base and none anywhere
else.
I have measured the distance from the compost to the very top of the
highest
tomato which has been chewed (almost stripped, in fact), right
upto the stem. It
is just over six inches - which means that fully
stretched on its hind legs this
thing must be big - that is only to its
teeth, of course.
And yet it comes every night without fail. I have started leaving bread
and
peanut butter out for it, and that all disappears. He still has a
tomato or two
as a snack, but not as many as before. I have absolutely
no idea how this thing
is getting in and out.
Tonight I intend to set a humane trap baited with the bread and
peanut.
I'll see what happens and let you know.
Thanks again.
--
HarveyMushman
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