Night Assassin(s)!

OK so I'm pee'd off!

Judging by the footprints, I have foxes running amock in my freshly prepared raised beds, I can deal with that with my Dalmatian dog or .22 rifle.

Worse still though, something/one raided my tomato seedlings last night, they were tucked up snuggly in their heated propogator, in my fastened shed but all 24 seedlings disappeared from one of my seed trays, the cover had been moved!

Mice or my teenage daughter dislodging the cover and letting the cold air in? :(

 

Hmmm.

If the seedlings have disappeared completely, that would indeed suggest they've been carried off by mice. But it surprises me because I thought mice only took big seeds like peas and beans. Oh, and I once lost some young sweetcorn seedlings to mice.

And it's odd that they took all 24 - which suggest one very busy mouse or a whole tribe of them. Are there droppings or footprints in the compost?

I'd suggest buying a few traps and see what you can catch.

By the way, I hope your .22 is a rimfire or an FC rated air rifle because foxes take quite a bit of stopping.

 

My .22 is quite capable of stopping a fox but I wasn't intending on shooting them quite at the moment. would try scaring them with it first, actually shooting them as a last resort.

Only the leaves were taken from the(very small) seedlings but I've discounted slugs or snails unless we have herculean ones here in London :|

I've re-sown the varieties destroyed so hopefully just a minor setback

 

London foxes aren't scared of humans anymore.

If you are shooting them (to cull) make sure you get it the first time. I'm no fox lover (few chicken keepers are) but its not only cruel to injure but not kill a living creature, but also illegal I believe.

If you're trapping them, remember its also illegal to release them either on site or to take them elsewhere and do it. They have to be culled.

Good luck

 

The foxes are no longer a problem, it's the blighters raiding my tomato plants!

 

No. I haven't shot all the foxes, the dogs frightened them off!