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How paul got rid of some unwelcome
visitors
Paul Tinkler, a laterlife reader, wrote to me recently
with a garden problem that turned into a bit of a saga, so I have made space
for it here..
Paul writes:
 This
time last year, and now even worse this year, something is digging holes all
over my lawn. It's always at night (I've never seen it being done), and they
are circular, 5-6 cms across, and the same dimensions deep, although some
are bigger. I've been told it's foxes after leatherjackets, and I've tried
ultrasonic scaring devices, and chemical sprays, both of which have made no
difference.
The garden is quite open, and we are adjacent to some woodland over the road
Short of sitting up all night with a shotgun, or concreting over the lawn,
have you any solutions ?
My reply:
Squirrels can be a problem this time of year
as they like to bury nuts for the winter months, but they usually choose a
more secluded spot. I wonder if it could be badgers looking for
leatherjackets. Is there any possibility of
setting up a video camera to try and catch them in action?
You could also contact the lawn specialists who will come and see first hand
what the holes are like and hopefully suggest a treatment..
http://www.greenthumb.co.uk
If none of the above measures identify the culprit, you could try sitting
up
all night with a shotgun, or concreting over the lawn !!!
Sorry I couldn`t resist that..
Update from Paul
Having looked out of my window at 03.00 last night I can now say it's
definitely a badger doing this!
Shining a torch on it and banging the window made no difference at all - it
only trundled off when I opened the window with a loud noise.
Any ideas now we know the culprit ?
My reply:
I`m not sure that it is `Better the devil you know` in this case.. Badgers
can be pretty difficult to deter. I have found a `Badger problems page` for
your information:-
http://www.badgers.org.uk/brockwatch/6answers.html#chemical
Scroll down until you come to the chain link fencing part..
Without knowing how big your garden is, I haven`t a clue whether this is
affordable or practical for you..
You could of course try feeding the badgers their own food, or a chemical
deterrent which kills the food they are foraging for, bearing in mind it
will also kill the earthworms which are beneficial to lawns..
Finally from Paul:
I think I have good news !
I have borrowed from my brother a clever gizmo which consists of an infra
red motion sensor (battery powered) combined with a sprayer similar to
that used for crops, which is connected to a hosepipe.
When set up, this activates and shoots water out when movement (ie badgers)
are detected.
Since I've been using this, I've had no more excavations, but my neighbours
now have holes all over their lawns, which implies to me that it does work!
Since this costs £70 to purchase, I think I'll leave it a week or two before
investing in one for myself however - it's certainly better than electrified
fences or Chain link buried fences as detailed in the web site you sent me !
I've also been informed that due the prolonged dry spell we have recently
had, Badgers are having to dig more and deeper holes than usual to get at
the insects which are in shorter supply, and further underground.
Another ploy from someone else with this problem long term, which was also
one of your suggestions, is apparently to feed them with large quantities of
'household scraps and/or bird food, particularly peanuts', which does stop
them digging up the lawn.
I think I'd be reluctant to do this, as I can see that you would attract not
just badgers, but rats and all sorts for the free feed, and of course once
you started something like this, you would have to keep going forever!
I'll let you know in a week or two as to whether I see any badgers in
waterproofs!
* In Paul`s final update he informs me that there are "No
more holes since I started using the 'Scarecrow' water scarer - which I have
since seen on sale in a garden centre near Bristol - but whether it's due to
this or the fact that this a seasonal event (as last year) I'm not quite
sure - I think it may be worthwhile investing in a 'scarecrow' "
* On a recent trip away, I saw
first-hand the mess that badgers had caused to another person`s lawn and
they weren`t aware of what was causing the damage. Thanks to Paul, I was
quite confident in telling them that they `had badgers`!
Previous editions of your gardening queries:
Edition 1
Edition 2
Edition 3
Edition 4
Edition 5
Edition 6
Please e-mail me
with your garden problems, comments, or ideas for this section of
laterlife.
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