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Here be monsters!
I have little monsters in my potting shed.
They only come out at night, and they cause utter mayhem. Due to space considerations, I sometimes keep some of my houseplants in there; specifically Aloe and Spider plants. The wee monsters seem to really have it in for the Spider plants. They don't eat them, but what they do is quite bizarre. They dig all the earth out of the pot, scatter the earth all over the shed, then dig up the gravel (drainage) at the bottom, and carry it off with them - up to the top shelf. We're talking 1cm granite chips, in some cases. They also chew through any plastic or Hessian bags, and make little piles of it in a separate location (still in the shed). They completely destroyed my entire collection of fertilizers - bone meal, fish bone and blood, slow release nitrogen, etc. - all of it. Seems like very unusual behaviour for, say, mice. What would mice do with granite chips? So what are these little monsters? - [H]omer |
#2
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[H]omer wrote:
:: I have little monsters in my potting shed. :: :: They only come out at night, and they cause utter mayhem. :: :: Due to space considerations, I sometimes keep some of my :: houseplants in there; specifically Aloe and Spider plants. The wee :: monsters seem to really have it in for the Spider plants. They :: don't eat them, but what they do is quite bizarre. :: :: They dig all the earth out of the pot, scatter the earth all over :: the shed, then dig up the gravel (drainage) at the bottom, and :: carry it off with them - up to the top shelf. We're talking 1cm :: granite chips, in some cases. :: :: They also chew through any plastic or Hessian bags, and make little :: piles of it in a separate location (still in the shed). :: :: They completely destroyed my entire collection of fertilizers - :: bone meal, fish bone and blood, slow release nitrogen, etc. - all :: of it. :: :: Seems like very unusual behaviour for, say, mice. What would mice :: do with granite chips? :: :: So what are these little monsters? It can't be anything other than mice (or possibly rats)...the fish, blood and bone speaks for itself - it's organic, IE food, the other bags may have smelled similar and so they were ransacked, the hessian is a new bed, the stone chips don't make sense unless there is water impregnated in them? - if there is no other source of moisture in there (and no escape), maybe they were trying to get a drink? At a best guess I would say it's mice, not rats, rats are ravenous creatures and need lots of food, mice are more easily satisfied and 'stash' better (you may find some or all of your FB&B and bonemeal if you do a thorough search) mice are very determined and will toil all night to get one thing to another place for no apparent reason...maybe they are building a mini rockery? :-p -- "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." - George W. Bush, 5.8.2004 |
#3
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Phil L wrote:
[H]omer wrote: :: I have little monsters in my potting shed. :: They dig all the earth out of the pot, scatter the earth all over :: the shed, then dig up the gravel (drainage) at the bottom, and :: carry it off with them - up to the top shelf. We're talking 1cm :: granite chips, in some cases. :: Seems like very unusual behaviour for, say, mice. What would mice :: do with granite chips? the stone chips don't make sense unless there is water impregnated in them? ...maybe they are building a mini rockery? The 'water' explanation is plausible, I suppose; weird though. It did, in fact, look like a case of 'mini-gardening'. Maybe it was the mice out of Bagpuss? "We will fix it, we will stitch it, we will make it new, new, new" Perhaps I should leave out some butterbeans in the potting shed ... I quite fancy a chocolate biscuit. - [H]omer |
#4
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On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 23:42:48 +0100, [H]omer wrote:
Phil L wrote: [H]omer wrote: :: I have little monsters in my potting shed. :: They dig all the earth out of the pot, scatter the earth all over :: the shed, then dig up the gravel (drainage) at the bottom, and :: carry it off with them - up to the top shelf. We're talking 1cm :: granite chips, in some cases. :: Seems like very unusual behaviour for, say, mice. What would mice :: do with granite chips? the stone chips don't make sense unless there is water impregnated in them? ...maybe they are building a mini rockery? The 'water' explanation is plausible, I suppose; weird though. It did, in fact, look like a case of 'mini-gardening'. Maybe they thought they were hard seeds and were hoarding them, as they do? -- Tim C. |
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