Anthony Stokes wrote:
:: "jane" wrote in message
::: It's probably squirrels. They destroyed all my croci the first
::: year I was in the current house, and since then I've grown them
::: in pots under an inch-wide aluminium mesh. They don't get through
::: that. Ditto for tulips.
::: The pots of exhaused corms which I've buried in the garden to
::: recover in the past don't get noticed. I think they see freshly
::: moved soil and wonder what's buried there.
::
:: I do suffer predation by grey squirrels. They strip over 99% of my
:: walnuts while still green and growing in late summer and - more
:: amusingly - after the crows (jays) plant acorns in my lawns in
:: early autumn - often grey squirrels will come within minutes to a
:: few hours afterwards and remove many of the acorns recently
:: planted by the jays ( thankfully reducing the number I have to
:: root out myself ).
:: However , the squirrels round here do not seem to appear at
:: night-time and certainly wouldn't get bulbs that have been buried
:: under a 3ft x 4ft steel sheet with 50+ lbs weight on top !
::
:: Although I have heard and seen badgers raiding my patio pots for
:: tasty extras, the current problem with crocus theft is evidently
:: attributable to small mice.
::
:: Last night I put a mouse trap in the most theft-prone area and was
:: surprised to find one dead mouse this morning. I would much
:: rather train the mice not to take my bulbs, but they seem
:: undeterred by 'scent off pellets' mustard powder or other
:: deterrants so far tried.
::
:: Anthony

If you know someone who has a pet rat, get the droppings off them and
scatter these around the bulbs and in the area of planting, rats prey on
mice, failing that, get a plastic owl and mount it on a post nearby, both of
these should be enough to deter even the hungriest of mice.