Late summer and autumn are the periods when garden pests reach their peak, wreaking real havoc on ornamental and cultivated plants.If we do not effectively start encouraging small mammals to move out of our garden early enough, after some time we will see more and more bitten shoots and bark, gnawed beds and disfigured lawns.Half of the success in fighting garden pests is determining who the intruder really is and what methods or tools should be used to fight or chase him away.
A proven method of getting rid of pests is to create conditions in which they will not feel safe. The most ecological solution is to bring natural enemies of rodents, e.g. owls, buzzards, martens, weasels, cowards, foxes, hedgehogs, and dogs and cats.
The easiest way to get rid of mice is to remove plant debris from the garden and store them in composters, regularly mow and remove weeds surrounding our area, plant plants whose scent deters rodents (garlic, imperial chessboard, spurge), not using mulches but antifreeze covers for sensitive plants only when there is a risk of frost.
The field mouse never builds mounds on the surface of the ground, but only digs shallow underground corridors that are circular in cross-section and have a diameter of 3 to 4 cm.The burrows are connected by numerous vertical exits to the surface. The animal feeds on grains, green parts of plants, vegetables, fruits, insects, nibbles on flower bulbs and bulbs, and eagerly gnaws the bark of young trees and shrubs in winter.
The brush mouse is approximately the size of a field mouse. It digs deep burrows with 2-3 exit holes in front of which you can find mounds of earth.Prefers thickets on the edge of forests, parks, fields.In winter he moves to buildings. He can make jumps of 30-80 cm.
Her food is dominated by seeds of grasses, herbs and trees. In the gardens, he eats the bulbs of tulips, hyacinths, crocuses and lilies.In winter, he uses stocks and supplements his diet with plant shoots and tree bark.
Common Pests
Most of our rodents can be found mainly at night, others are active around the clock.They live above-ground, underground and often above-water.Many of them hide in man-made buildings .
Amphibious grub Arvicola terrestris
The destructive activity of the grubber is most often confused with a mole job.The grubber is a large gray-brown animal, with a body length of up to 20 cm. Its characteristic features are a broad head with a blunt muzzle and small ears hidden in the hair.Like the mole, it leads an underground life, digging long and branched burrows with a nest, pantries and multi-level corridors, preferably in moist and uncultivated soil .The soil from them is thrown out in the form of flat mounds, definitely smaller than the molehills and located 10-30 cm from the burrow inlet. The tunnels dug by the grubber, compared to the moles, have an ovoid cross-section and are wider, 5 cm in diameter.
In order to be absolutely sure which animals are in the garden, you can dig around a meter long section of the corridor. After a few hours, the condition of the damaged tunnel should be checked. If it was rebuilt, it must have been done by the grubber, because the mole never recreates the damaged pavement. In winter, rodents build similar corridors under the snow. The grubber feeds mainly on grasses, aquatic plants, buds, shoots, fruits and, worst of all, plant roots.It was this food specialization that made this rodent one of the most frequently combated pests living in gardens. During the long winter and the low availability of food, the grubber can destroy several trees within one garden.
Several ways, one goal
Rodent control can be carried out on several levels.Mechanical methods rely on the use of catch traps.They are used in open areas, but the best results are when fighting rodents indoors.
Physical methods are to scare away rodents through, for example, the use of electrical devices that generate ultrasound. Other noises may also be emitted, which is supposed to keep rodents under stress and discourage them from being close to households.Chemical methods - in this form of combat we have quite a large assortment of agents available in stores.
European Mole Talpa europaea
It is a small animal that, apart from velvety black fur, has characteristic spade-shaped forelimbs, an elongated snout and a short tail. Its burrow consists of a nest, pantries, living, running and feeding corridors. The nest is usually located under the roots of a tree or under stones. The mole is carnivorous, and its food consists mainly of earthworms.The most bothersome symptom of this animal's presence in the garden are mounds of soil pushed out of tunnels, called molehills.Mounds on lawns, it is best to sprinkle them evenly over the nearby area, which does not deform the surface as much as if it is stepped on.
Peregrine rat Rattus norvegicus
The brown rat is a relatively large animal with a body length of up to 30 cm. Almost twice as much, more than 20 cm, is the tail.Outside the buildings, rats build deep burrows, in front of which there are no mounds of earth. A rat adapts to any food, depending on its habitat. It most willingly lives in cellars, sewage systems, landfills, and warehouses. He is a good swimmer. In order to get food, a rat can travel up to several kilometers per day. It can spread many diseases, the most dangerous of which is rabies.
Field Vole Microtus arvalis
Mice are often mistaken for voles. However, they have smaller ears, shorter tail and legs. The vole reaches a length of 12 cm, is yellow-gray on the back and light gray on the belly. There are also almost black individuals. Unlike mice, voles feed mainly on grass, and in winter they eagerly nibble on rhizomes, bark, and even the roots of fruit trees.These mammals live in small colonies, digging holes in sunny places overgrown with plants. The methods of deterring voles are the same as for mice.
The vole appears in large numbers on sandy loam soils.He builds his burrows in sunny places, and around the exit holes of the burrows, the plants are gnawed squarely. It is a dangerous pest of fruit trees, causing the greatest damage in autumn and winter.Voles eat the shoots, rhizomes and bulbs of many ornamental plants.They accumulate large supplies of food in their burrows.
