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Voles ate Our Daffodils !!
Hello All,
Have you ever met a vole, not the water vole but the more common bank vole ? It's not that I dislike voles, but an old friend of my wife gave her 1,200 daffodil bulbs. Over a period of 3 - 4 years they have all vanished. We can only assume that our plague of voles have done the damage. Not having come across massed hordes of these creatures before, I looked at them with mild interest. I am a great animal lover, you see. However, we began to notice their holes everywhere and they got quite cheeky, peeking at us during the day ! When our daffodils began diminishing rapidly, I happened to notice that, over our acre or so, there were neat holes drilled in the ground about every 2 ft. No vole hills or anything like that, just masses and masses of holes and under and overground tunnels where the grass in the field had been a bit long over winter. What to do about them ? They are not considered to be pests, and we were quoted 60 uk pounds per hole !! Without doing an exact calculation I think that it would cost us a cool 500,000 or so. Nor do I really want to harm them too much. Anyway, we do have a kestrel and an owl about, and a bombardment of buzzards. Jeyes fluid is a comparatively simple and "natural" chemical - phenols, that break down in the soil - I am thinking of stopping up each hole with soil and pouring in diluted Jeyes fluid in the hope that it will drive them away. Any other ideas ? They will all be welcome. John N. -- __ __ __ __ __ ___ _____________________________________________ |__||__)/ __/ \|\ ||_ | / | || \\__/\__/| \||__ | /...Internet access for all Acorn RISC machines ___________________________/ |
#2
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Voles ate Our Daffodils !!
We can only assume that our plague of voles have done the damage
Most likely not, daffodils are somewhat toxic. |
#3
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Voles ate Our Daffodils !!
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#4
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Voles ate Our Daffodils !!
Hello Janet,
Many thanks for your contribution. In article , Janet Baraclough wrote: The message from (IntarsiaCo) contains these words: We can only assume that our plague of voles have done the damage Most likely not, daffodils are somewhat toxic. I agree. Our last garden had zillions of both voles I wonder. Have you done anything about your voles ? Ours looks as thought they are about to take off and multiply further this year. I am sure that it will not help our vegetables, seedlings etc. A few voles, OK, but a plague. No ! and multiplying daffodils, and I never saw a chewed bulb, so I don't think it's the voles killing yours. On the toxicity of daffodils, things that are toxic to some mammals may not be so toxic to others. But, obviously, if you had a plague of voles, also, that would not explain why your experiences were so different. I am just wondering if depth of planting could have had an effect. Diseases and infestations such as narcissus fly can ruin daffodil plantings; Well, we certainly did not noaice anything except holes nearby. Does the narcissus fly over winter I wonder. At present, it is a sad mysetery. if you bought a cheap job-lot from a market, that might be the answer. These were from Parkers of Manchester, who I think, are some of the most reputable of suppliers. They were a gift to my wife, from an old lady, Elsie Widdowson, who was a top scientist and unlikely to go in for job lots. -- __ __ __ __ __ ___ _____________________________________________ |__||__)/ __/ \|\ ||_ | / | || \\__/\__/| \||__ | /...Internet access for all Acorn RISC machines ___________________________/ |
#5
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Voles ate Our Daffodils !!
The message
from John Nolan contains these words: In article , Janet Baraclough wrote: Our last garden had zillions of both voles I wonder. Have you done anything about your voles ? Ours looks as thought they are about to take off and multiply further this year. I am sure that it will not help our vegetables, seedlings etc. It was a large garden surrounded by miles of moorland; so there was nothing to be done about vole numbers :-), despite the constant efforts of birds of prey and one of our cats. I only once had vole trouble in the veg garden, when I'd planted leeks in a block hoping they would shelter each other in cold winters. Voles took advantage of the cosy shelter to eat the lot from the inside out. They could also be a nuisance ring-barking young trees in snowy weather, but that can be prevented by keeping long sheltering grass cleared away from trees, and using a plastic stem protector. I am just wondering if depth of planting could have had an effect. Hmmmm...I was growing daffodils there for over 18 years, so there was a wide range of bulb-depths from new ones just planted by me (deep), to old ones which had multiplied and forced themselves up to the soil surface, and self-seeded ones also near the surface. Diseases and infestations such as narcissus fly can ruin daffodil plantings; Well, we certainly did not noaice anything except holes nearby. Does the narcissus fly over winter I wonder. Yes..inside bulbs, istr.You usually see signs in spring/summer, such as streaky discoloured leaves. Have you allowed the bulbs' leaves to die back naturally? Janet. |
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