Mice or voles, they are small rodents. I've had them eat holes in pumpkins and melons and COMPLETELY hollow out the interiors. They eat ripe tomatoes - don't leave them in the garden past the first blush. They will eat the tips off every green bean they can reach - but often, only the tip. Piles of boards become homes for rodents. Compost needs to be turned and I'm no fan of deep mulch in the vegetable garden because of the willingness of mice to live under it. This year I was greatly assisted in pest control by other wildlife. Owls moved into the neighbor's hay barn. I was VERY pleased. Not only were there "owl pellets" with mice remains in them but some evidence of their eating the rabbits. A coyote left "evidence" near and in the garden this Summer and I saw him once race thru very early in the morning. Apparently one night, he found a mouse nest in the peas and dug it out after I had removed the trellis. Yay! I've frequently seen a red-tail hawk sitting on a high post at the end of the neighbor's grapes. He will be out there for a little while even when we are just 50 - 100 feet away. The other day, he was eating something (and I'm absolutely certain it wasn't a ripe grape ;o). I stayed out of the garden until he'd finished every "mousel" and flew away. I have a good relationship with the neighbor's dachshunds but they don't venture off the lawn other than to explore the nearby hay field. I've never seen them in the garden altho' I'd welcome them there. They get very busy trying to dig the voles out of the field - I think they sometimes succeed. A few weeks ago, one of the dachshunds attacked a marmot (that's an oversized groundhog for you Easterners). The little dog needed first aid after the marmot turned and bit her in the throat. She was rescued by her owner or she probably would have been killed. The marmot and its mate had decided to take up residence in a rockpile near the garden. They are now permanently underground and pushing up mint plants in my Marmot Memorial Planter. I've had MAJOR problems with marmots and ground squirrels before. Left alone, they will find a way into any garden and they will learn to eat any crop. If they live near your garden, they can, and often will, destroy it. I've been quite successful in either drowning or forcing mice to move after I put a hose into their burrows. Running water slowly and over a couple of hours seems to have done the job. The word origins for "garden" and "guard" are related. If you are a gardener, it makes sense that you guard your crops from rodents. But, there's some help out there. Steve

So, here's a related question: Has anybody ever had an issue with a mouse or similar rodent killing their just planted seedlings? This spring, I planted my seedlings and within or day or two they started to get cut off at the stem. Since this has NEVER happened to me, and I had cutworm protection on the stems (the seedlings were getting cut off right above the standard 2-3 inch wrapping) so I assumed it was a rabbit. Just to be sure, I later replaced the wrappings with 4 inch lengths of vinyl tubing, which just moved the knawing-off problem higher on the stem. If it had been a groundhog, I would have noticed a large hole in the garden fence, not to mention, groundhogs generally don't eat one or two at a time. So, I wrapped up the cages (I have them in Concrete Wire cages) with a 1 inch plastic rabbit fence two feet up each cage. I kept loosing seedlings. So now I was completely baffled but thought perhaps this small rabbit was able to squeeze under my cages because there was an inch or two of straw mulch that perhaps created a way for them to get in. I sprayed the plants with the absolutely disgusting rabbit/deer spray. The very next morning, two more seedlings were gone, although one was just laying next to where it was cut off. I reapplied, hoping that maybe the animal finally got the idea that the plants were distasteful. The next morning, two more gone, but this time I found something strange. I found that the seedling had been cut off and dragged halfway under the straw mulch next to where it had been cut off. So, whatever it was that was killing my seedlings was actually coming up from under the mulch. When I posted this story earlier this year in the pest forum, it was suggested that it is probably a mouse. Has anybody else ever experienced something like this, and if so, how on earth should I sheild my plants from this problem next year? My dad suggested cutting off soda cans and sticking them into the ground around the seedlings. I think that might work, but I also think the mouse could just go right over it. Then again, the freak mouse that did it this year will almost certainly be dead by this time next year. They just don't live that long.

Like you i am also a clean freak. I also have a child aged 2 and knowing how messy kids can be i hoover at least once a day, pots are never left, clothes are washed straight of the back kitchen floor is swept and mopped maybe every other day (although i dont move my fridge, lol) Anyway my story is i was lay in bed about a fortnight ago and i was just lay watching telly and i heard this pitta patter on the floor and just assumed it was the dog. I shouted the dog and he was still downstairs in his bed. So i turned of the telly and listened and after a couple of minutes there t was again. So i shouted my husband who was watching tv downstairs and he came up and lifted the bed and there it was i lil tiny mouse under the bed. Well iscreamed and then he screamed (puff) and we shut the door and slept downstairs. Three night we kept it up until on the fourth night we went upstairs with the garden spade in flipped the bed to get the lil sucker but there was nothing there apart from dropping, so we decided to stay at my mum's house until we had the situation under control. Two weeks on we havent caught anything we have found the way there coming in by smudge marks in a storage cupboard at the top of my stairs. So we blocked of this hole and set traps in there and have a couple in every room in the house. We called our local council and they came and said we had took the right precautions by getting rid of clutter in cupboards and laying traps and there was nothing more he could do. So to this date we have only caught one in the bedroom and 2 babies in the cupboard. We are still staying with my mum until we are 100% certain they have gone. We are currently saving to move home because i know i will constantly be listening and watching for them. So you are definately not alone. From one clean freak to another lol.

i use to get these magazines also and noticed a lot of some of the things on pinterest. i have a question i really hope someone can answer is there a book or magazine that has some of the bathroom sets that pinterest has pictured like the owl and etc.and the toilet tissue covers that hang on the wall. also some of the weird shaped doily patterns all to crochet i have looked but they don' t have any around here. i sure would like to know to order and make some for christmas. if you can let me know i sure would apprecite it my email is diannemccoy2@aol.com