Grow Your Own Magazine

Did a bit of pottering about in the garden yesterday then started to dig my way into the shed,

you know how it is, right mess, stuff pushed in, bit tight...

So i started pulling stuff out whilst looking for my root trainers, stuff coming out such as wheel barrow, old gas fire, bag of compost bags, all the while noticing the bad smell, well I thought its an old shed and its quite rotten in the corners will save up for one next year, too much trouble this year.... pulled out a box of bits towards the back and the floor is covered in about 10-20 mutilated frogs, blood and guts all over the floor, body parts, legs, bones, heads and frogspawn covering quite an area... and..... Rat droppings.

The smell was awful, a strong ammonia smell above all else. It was really upsetting, and i was only wondering last week why i had seen so few frogs this year.

The rats have obviously been all over the garden collecting the frogs and taking them in through holes under the shed to eat them, I didn't even know they ate them. I was nearly sick.

Any how I'm now looking for a new shed, Poison is down along with some environmentally friendly pellet stuff that damages the digestion system 'apparently'. And a watering can of Jeys Fluid used inside and outside to deaden the smell of rat wee.

I'm still shaken by what I found, quite upsetting, and even the boyfriend is now refusing the get the mower out of the shed to do the lawn on his day off. I've got to leave it out for him..!

All this ruined my Sunday. How was yours...?

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I wish i could make a yo-yo work.
http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

BIG yuk. I hated finding rats in our Derbyshire garden. We got the council in to put poison down, and fortunately we had a brick-built outhouse.

What are you going to do with your shed, is it on a wooden base?

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

Seriously gross seasprout. Can understand why you feel really shaken. Hope you get your new shed soon so you can sort things out and put this behind you.

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Bright Blessings
Earthbabe
If at first you don't succeed, open a bottle of wine.

Aw! That's really horrible for you. I would have been the same. It's a shame for the frogs you lost, but fingers crossed there's enough spawn around for you to bring the numbers back up for next year.
Seriously gross! Hope you're feeling a little better now.

Yeuch! Sorry to hear of the frog loss and the mess, I'd have been pushing Mr D in to clear it all up for me!

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Blessings
Suzanne (aka Mrs Dobby)

'Garden naked - get some colour in your cheeks'!

The Dobby's Pumpkin Patch - a blogspot work in progress!
Last updated 5th November2008 - new piccies!

how horrid for you.
hope the frog population recovers.

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Yo an' Bob
Walk lightly on the earth
take only what you need
give all you can
and your produce will be bountifull

Sorry to hear that distressing news Seasprout : (
I opened up my shed the other week and found bits of a pigeon everywhere, which no doubt the allotment cat had either dragged in there or surprised in there. At least she controls the rat problem, but then again, I've been told she eats frogs too, so I told the couple in my pond to keep their heads down - albeit after my daughter had accidentally scooped one up in a bucket and dumped it on the broad beans !

How awful for you (and the frogs). Bloody rats are my one big hatred. I know everything has to be somewhere, but why can't they be somewhere else?

We used to get them coming up from the river when I lived in the village some years ago, but now I think we might have them in town as one of our neighbours leaves rubbish in her garden. One of the cats brought a 'baby' rat to the door the other day.

Hope the poison works quickly and things get sorted. Positive thoughts coming at you. X

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Regards, Jane
What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? The creative adult is the child who has survived.
Ursula LeGuin
http://www.etribes.com/madderbat

Sorry to hear about the frog loss I'm going to be putting rat poision down under my shed maybe you should too get your own back
hope the you have lots of frog sporn if not we have some in our pond if you are in the area you can have some

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Some things in their natural state have the most VIVID colors
Dobby

Thanks for your comfort guys...

I'm sure there is a family of them under the shed, some of the bodies have vanished and they have messed the poison about but not appeared to eat any... so much for highly palatable..!!

Shed stinks.
The previous owner dug out a small pond and left the soil up against the back of the shed, hence not much back left, or sides, and the door dont fit. I'm doomed really, it will have to go. Another job on the 'to do before autumn list.'

Although the frogs have left me some new spawn in the bird's water. (Moved to safety now.!)

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I wish i could make a yo-yo work.
http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

Oh dear, I remember having this problem a few years back. I was heavily pegnant with my twins so feeling a little vulnerable and I found myself staring at the biggest rat I have ever seen, right on my patio. At first, I didn't even believe it was a rat it was so big. But there were bits of ripped up frogs in my compost bin and that was it. I rang the council and they were there at the speed of light (yes, honestly), they put down poison, I never saw a rat again...and it didn't cost me anything at all. In fact, I didn't see any dead rats either until we took our shed down at the end of last year and there was a mummified one under it.
Hope you get rid of them soon!
Jools

I had rats under my shed. Apparently it the base was too close to the ground (common problem - you need to hoick it up on blocks). They were dragging my sweetcorn underneath to feast on. The little blighters chewed a hole in the shed floor but I disturbed them before they could make nests in my shed.
Rats are horrid, but domestic cats do far more damage to small wildlife...and they don't even need the extra calories! But because they're "cute" we let them off for it.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

Sorry to hear about your gruesome find

I've never found the environmentally friendly poison successful - they don't take it, on the other hand the lovely blue/green one - yummy - they love it, so I keep all my vermin well fed (Occupational hazard of owning chickens)

I read somewhere that with some poisons, and I think the environmentally friendly ones are included in this, that you need to remove other food sources before putting the poison down. It may be highly palatable but maybe not as much as other foods. Clean up the frog mess (sorry!) and try again with the poison, is my advice.

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Dwell simply ~ love richly