All greenhouse owners have experienced it at one time or another, munched on plants, missing leaves, and more.
There are more than just bugs in my greenhouse.
Over the years I抳e seen a whole menagerie of creatures setting up home in my greenhouse. For years I had a huge warty toad that helped despatch slugs and snails fro the nooks and crannies inside my greenhouse. Sadly he died this summer, but I抳e seen lots of tiny toads crawling about the garden and I抦 hoping one or more may take over where he left off.
There抯 a comfy chair in my greenhouse, the idea was to occasionally sit and read and escape the phone, but the reality was that one of my cats found it and claimed it as her own. Now I very occasionally get me chair back but to be honest I rarely have time to simply sit in the greenhouse, more抯 the pity.
On very hot days in the summer I leave my greenhouse door open, there haven抰 been too many very hot days for a while now, but back in June when we had what was probably the hottest day of the year I found a large snake basking in the sun just inside the door. It had distinctive markings and at first I thought it was an adder, but in fact it was a grass snake, perfectly harmless, but scary nevertheless. Hopefully it is still around munching on the many slugs and snails that still frequent my garden, but I抎 rather not see it too often and I really hope it never sets up home in my greenhouse.
But more recently there抯 been some other creatures munching on my vegetables and herbs. I抳e spotted the caterpillars on the beans and tomatoes and picked them off where possible. I抳e had to barricade the greenhouse door to keep my hens out after they ate the seedlings I was growing for a photo shoot and I抳e collected up the slugs that I抳e found slithering around in damp corners and put them outside for the hens to investigate. But something is still lingering and eating my plants. The chopped off young courgette plants should have been a giveaway. And the holes chewed in a cotton hammock under the potting bench. There抯 a mouse in the house and it抯 set up home. This would send many people into total panic, but actually I like mice. But there抯 so much food in the garden that I抎 rather not share my home-grown produce with it and I don抰 want everything else in the greenhouse being chewed up for nesting material. Even so, I don抰 wish it any harm.
Wouldn抰 you think the cat that languishes on the comfy chair would actually put off the furry little fiend? Or that maybe the cat might get off her haunches and chase the little mouse around a bit, like a scene from Tom & Jerry? Fat chance of that it seems. And so in my quest to keep at least some of the greenhouse bounty for the family and to yet again avoid killing, maiming or poisoning anything, I set up a couple of live (humane) mouse traps; baited with peanut butter and chocolate, I placed them within what is now pretty established cucumber undergrowth near where much of the damage seemed to be. And then I waited and I watched, first with excitement that I might capture the mouse and put a stop to the damage and then after a few days the novelty wore off, but still I checked and watched. The thing about live mouse traps is that you need to keep a close eye on them, if you catch a mouse, there抯 not much room and it can get very hot in there very quickly. There抯 no point of a humane trap if you then leave it in the trap to die slowly.
For days and days I checked the little traps for signs of brown, furry creatures, to no avail. Each morning the greenhouse pilgrimage included watering, picking ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and chillies and checking the mousetraps. Each evening it was the same. The mouse was obviously immune to the scents of chocolate (it was quality chocolate too) and peanut butter, but it was still feasting on my plants.
Then one morning I had to leave very early and was going to get in the car and just go. On a whim I poked my head into the greenhouse just to check all was well and lo and behold I saw that one of the traps had sprung and a fat little mouse had gorged itself on peanut butter and chocolate and now sat terrified in the little box that was now its prison. Once you抳e caught a mouse, you are supposed to then take the mouse a few miles away to release it, but I was already running late, and it looked so pretty. So I rushed out into the woods behind the house and let the little creature run free, feeling really glad I hadn抰 resorted to its death and destruction. I haven抰 seen any sign of it since and so perhaps it抯 safe to say that the mouse in the house is gone, for now anyway and my plants can continue growing without being pruned by that set of rodent teeth.
