Does anyone else get grief from mice? In my collection they seem to target the most precious of my brood ,biting chunks out of the tops. I've resorted to placing my prize plants in hanging baskets as the pests climb walls. Why are they doing this?, i know i shouldnt take it personally but its soooo annoying knowing it will take years to out grow the scarring. ive stopped making compost out of food scraps which i fear has been attracting them from the neighbourhood, and i have trapped heaps, but its like theve got a vendetta against me because of this and they know where to hit me where it hurts.

Bait them

the missus wont let me, and im also reluctant as we have ferrets which roam freely from time to time, but maybe if i place baits up high in secret hmmm...

Ferrets will kill mice.

^^ hehe. Get/borrow a cat......mice problem solved.

We had a cat, but i think there is a cat hater who traps and disposes of peoples cats as there are alot that go missing in my area. Yeah the mice werent so game when she was here, and so when she went missing we got some ferrets, but they sleep for 18 hours a day and are blind as bats, so theyre not too good for the wee little mice. I miss that cat but i dont miss the way she used to use my lettuces as a toilet ,.........funny thing *if you are able to look at my avatar picture closely, i believe the ghost of said cat {meow,meow} was her name ,can be seen to the left of the echinopsis in the background ,amongst the foliage ,in the exact area where she used to sit in the sun near the catmint...can anyone spot her face in the green? and that picture was taken soon after she disapeared.... {spooky?} thought id share that with yall.

Hmm... I'd suggest siccing the ferrets onto the mice anyway. Anything that has teeth like that has *got* to be good at exterminating vermin.

The little buggers did this to a kabuto and totally devoured a half dozen more. They also ate several thousand (I am not exagerating) seeds including chewing into unripe pods, in the same couple of nights. I have had them eat their way through dozens of lithops in a night and take a nibble on many different species in the past. A friend of mine discovered his Fouquieria purpusii had totally disappeared thanks to them recently and it was not a small plant. Now I am all for non-voilent conflict resolution but I found Talon to be a more efficient and satisfying solution. It's either that or collect non-edible(for a mouse that is) plants with sample nibbles on them.

It seems that astropytums and lithops are on their menu then,as they were among the genera of mine targeted,as well as T.bridgessi v.monstrosus, lobivia backbergii,L.diffusa etc...and even pereskiopsis growing tips. Ive even been hit indoors and lost superkabuto seedlings which were under flouros .But it makes me more determined to succeed and im glad im not the only one ! i would like to post some pics to show the horror but im still ironing out the upload bugs. The ferrets would definitly like to rip into a mouse ,and i was tempted when i caught one by the tail once but ferrets dont need much encourgment to become vicious. If i had a rabbit plague in the backyard it would be sorted though ,as nothing runs faster than a rabbit with a ferret up it's rear .

poor meow ,meow

Sorry I can't make out this pic. What is it?

noooooo it be the ghost of meow meow i tells ya ooooooooooooooooooohhh! hahahahahahahahahahahaz

sorry to hear about meow meow - I still can't see the ghost though, sorry.

find out who is trapping cats and tell RSPCA or someone similar. or if you prefer, leave a pickaxe in their front door with a polite note.