Mysterious "diggings" in vegetable garden

daigo75 · Rank attained: Hawthorn Tree Joined: 23 Feb 2009 Posts: 63

Hi all,
I recently started my nightly "slug patrols" and I discovered something unusual in the beds I prepared for the vegetables: it seems that "somebody" has been digging into them, as I found small "trenches", large as one hand and long approximately 50 cm. First time I thought it could have been me doing it by mistake, so I re-distributed the soil and made it a regular surface. Today, again these diggings. It would not be a big deal, if not that whoever is doing it is digging where I put my onions and the spinach, thus breaking the rows (that I cannot "repair", as everything is messed up). Mad

Does anybody know what animal could be doing it? I'd exclude cats, as I dug around the area and I didn't find any excrement or similar, and I'd exclude rabbits as there are no plants to eat, just seeds (and garlic, which is untouched). I'm not expert on the topic, but I hope they are not rats... Shocked

Also, how do I keep them away from my patches? Nothing against nature, but I can't sow the same seeds 50 times... Confused

ormondsview · Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:12 pm Post subject: moles, voles and shrews

All of the above eat seeds, but also insects in the soil. They leave mounds of dirt as they dig trenches or tunnels. Try covering the seeds with something before they sprout or putting something non toxic or smelly along the rows - garlic, onions, mint.

cathd · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 10:52 am Post subject:

The soil has been so slow to warm up this year that worms are only now beginning to come to the surface in serious numbers. I've noticed alot of small holes dug in my local park, mainly on grass pitches, or where there's been sun during the day- and the dog goes beserk around them. I reckon in her case it's foxes, as she often tries to 'roll' in the soil dug out. Foxes are notorious for digging up worms, so it could be that. The way your trenches are longer than wider is also typical of something chasing a worm back into the ground. (As I have found to my cost if the dog spots a worm on the wet lawn...)

A few sticks of different lengths and sticking out of soil pointing in different directions can be enough to repel foxes from a patch- just be careful not to poke your own eye out with them!