Somethings eaten my

Blackbirds
Woodlice
Slugs

take your pick!

I suppose slugs/snails are the obvious, if they weren't netted I'd say birds tho as they had most of mine last year - is the netting secure?

If they are well netted I'd say slugs. They eat mine if they get the chance!

If the netting is secure and it's definately not birds, could well be mice they can be a real problem helping themselves to fruit just as it comes ripe. Hrd to know what to suggest to stop them, cats or Kestrels !

Hi,
I am planting strawberries as well and we had a bird eat our VERY FIRST strawberry, how bad is that???

We think it was a bird, even though there is netting on the strawbs we reckon that the weight of thebird was enough to lower the net so it could get through and eat the strawb have now raised the net up by using canes underneath.

Hope that helps.
Sylvia

? mice??

I'd blame slugs - but then I'd blame them for everything.

definately mice. my strawbs netted, had 2 this year and I actually watched a mouse get one the other day! I chased it n it ran into the peas to finish the destruction there, then came back to the strawbs! I'm now making a stronger cage with small mesh metal wiring that will go INTO the ground aroud them and gonne try planting artemisia nxt yr as they're supposed to hate it. In meantime, trying traps today

just remember ..... mice can get through a 1cm square hole ..... just to make things complicated

From a link from a poster on this site, I heard that peepermint or eucalyptus oil may put off the mice. If I knew how to post a link (help, anyone pls!) I would send you there. But In essence, it said that to keep mice out of your house, place pads of cotton wool or rags soaked in peppermint or eucalyptus oil around the entry points to keep them out.
I went a few steps further, as the crafty b------s avoid even the traps that I set with the strawbs they're after. It may seem extreme, and a lot o faf, but I have lifted my fruiting runners and tied them to small (orchid type) canes. They are now above the ground so (hopefully out of the reach of slugs, who prefer the brassicas anyway at the moment) But I used natural twine below each lowest fruit, (and then to support the highest fruit), but I soaked all of the canes and All of the ties in peppermint oil. I have since watched the little blighters, and they want to get that strawberry that they had already had a chew at. (the ripest!) But it seems they are not as keen to get there, and keep jumping off the canes before they get near the fruit. I have yet to discover how long the peppermint scent lasts (1 wk so far to my sense of smell), and whether the mice will get used to it. I think that the thin canes are too narrow for the big fat slugs I keep finding (and feeding to the wild birds and mt ferrets) but maybe small slugs coulg get up there. So far they haven't, but I'll keep you posted.

I currently have 5 fruits nearly ready to pick. before this experiment, they would have been gone before they were ready. The ripest fruit that they have already nibbled, and would normally have gone by now, they don't seem to want.. I will let you know whether this works within the next fortnight, but so far, it finally looks as tho we will get some strawbs ourselves. At last!

Mice and Strawbs.

I found that peppermint, Olbas Oil, eucalyptus oil, peppermint oil, all kept the mice (and poss other little blighters) away from my strawbs. Just dotted around the plants on top of the mulch. and on canes inserted around it seened to keep the birds away, although this could have just been because they were nr the back door and birds here seem to be more wary than the mice. Even the slugs seemed to be deterred, and did a little less damage when the oil was fresh. But I did find that the oils worked for a lot longer than I thought they would. Even after heavy rain, I found that I was able to harvest strawbs from the treated plants, while the untreated ones were still stolen b4 we could get nr them. Whether the scent confuses the mice or repels them I do not know, but since I put Olbas oil around all of the places I've found mice in the house, I have never seen any signs of them, and the last time I renewed it was end of Nov. Last yr we regularly caught 2 or 3 a wk in traps. This yr I haven't even found any droppings in the house, or caught any in traps. I'm now going to try it around all the crops that the rabbits usually get and see if it works against them too. Will keep you all posted, and any feedback would be gratefully recieved.

I would blame mice and/or slugs, as I hate them equally.

This thread was started in June ... so I would suspect

1) blackbirds
2) slugs

If it was started yesterday I would suspect polar bears.