Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Oliver on April 28, 2009, 12:01
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Does anyone have experience of Muntjacs (not the kind that build bean frames)? We have one(?) patrolling the allotments - I have seen its footprints. It has inspected the winter lettuce, the emerging broad beans and the leeks - it obviously does not like any of these because it has not eaten them (yet). I am told they love sweetcorn and runner beans. So - what should I do?
I propose putting stout Plasnet around my corn, but what else might it eat? Or how else might I deter them? Lion poo? Flashing CDs?
I look forward to your replies with interest.
Oliver
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put deer netting round the whole plot?
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put deer netting round the whole plot?
The thought had crossed our minds .. but our pockets are not that deep! Thanks for the thought
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shoot and bbq it for you and the other plotholders ;)
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did you know muntjac are a chinese delicacy
they originally came from china .
but are very rare there now as they keep getting eaten when found.
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shoot and bbq it for you and the other plotholders ;)
unfortunately one is not allowed to use a weapon in a residential area - and as we border a recreation ground/children's playground, chances are we would shoot a kid and then where would we be
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[it seems to me that Munjac eat anything young so I shall just have to hope for the best and be sad if the best is not to be
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I am told if you can get lion or tiger excreta or urine froma local zoo that is a good deterrent. !! Perhaps someone has some to swap on this forum.Even human urine will repel some animals. Long shot perhaps
R
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shoot and bbq it for you and the other plotholders ;)
chances are we would shoot a kid and then where would we be?
I believe bbq'ed goat is very tasty! :D
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I can just imagine watching the news and seeing someone shot a kid by mistake because they were trying to save there veggies from a muntjac!! :wacko:
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I think i must be stupid but what is a muntjac
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Just a reminder to everyone that there are many animal lovers on this forum, so please keep the shooting posts out of this thread
Thanks
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I think i must be stupid but what is a muntjac
It's a very small deer, we get lots in the woods where I walk Poo. There are mums with babies at the moment, which are very tiny and very cute.
Oliver, they are small but quite heavy. I know because I stopped to help one a few weeks ago that was staggering along the side of the road, whilst everyone else drove by.. ::) >:( Sadly he died, but I lifted him off the road as best can, he wasn't half a lump...so you're going to need to put something fairly substantial up to stop them I'd have thought .. ???
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[it seems to me that Munjac eat anything young so I shall just have to hope for the best and be sad if the best is not to be
:ohmy: I hope they don't come to school .. that could be difficult to explain to parents at the end of the day --- Ooops your child was eaten by a muntjac.
(Sorry couldn't resist :D)
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Hopefully the shooting comment was said in jest :blink:
I was just reading in one of the gardening magazines you can get something called 'Grazers' which stops animals going near the crops - have no idea if it works though
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[quote blackcat] something called 'Grazers' [/quote]
Thank you for this info. Will do some research. If I use it, will report back in due course.
O
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Human hair in some old tights, ask your hairdresser to save you some, or a smelly dogs blanket.
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Human hair in some old tights, ask your hairdresser to save you some, or a smelly dogs blanket.
Thank you. I have made a 'model' of a muntjac-sized dog out of chickenwire and a video tape (threaded like a fluffy rug). The tape glints in the light and the hair can go in the hollow 'body'. So perhaps the wind will help by wafting the smell around for the creatures to smell. Perhaps pigeons will also take note.
I made a cat last year and this worked well on pigeons, but two legged pests came and jumped on it ...
O
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The problem with deer is that they are very strong, they can do immense damage by grazing, and as there are no longer any predators left in the wild in this country, (I suppose there is the odd puma or two according to local news), the only control option is s*******. A method people seem happy enough with if used on pumas.
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Human hair in some old tights, ask your hairdresser to save you some, or a smelly dogs blanket.
Thank you. I have made a 'model' of a muntjac-sized dog out of chickenwire and a video tape (threaded like a fluffy rug). The tape glints in the light and the hair can go in the hollow 'body'. So perhaps the wind will help by wafting the smell around for the creatures to smell. Perhaps pigeons will also take note.
I made a cat last year and this worked well on pigeons, but two legged pests came and jumped on it ...
O
You've just got to post pics of that Oliver....... :D
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Hee hee, OK parsnip, will do, but - typical this - the battery in the camera is flat and I can't find the charger ... as soon as I do, I will
Oliver
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photos of some critter deterrents
Hello Parsnip: here are some pictures -
Hector the cat, useful for scarring pigeons, but not proof against the two-footed pest who jumped on him, so now he is Hector the Flatcat. I am in the process of fattening him up.
The Dork. It started life at a Hawk but finished up looking like a duck, hence Dork. It was made in 2005 but now has seen better days and its feathers have fallen off its wings. I have made some new wings for it and when it has learned to fly again, perhaps he will fly on here.
Camera still sans battery, so dog hoping to scare muntjacs will have to wait.
Oliver
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Hopefully the shooting comment was said in jest :blink:
I was just reading in one of the gardening magazines you can get something called 'Grazers' which stops animals going near the crops - have no idea if it works though
Guess that you dont eat meat then?
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while I appreciate that many people are animal lovers, me included, If something needs to be dispatched to prevent damage then so long as it goes into the food chain, I really cant see the problem.
To be fair although munties are quite shy think you may find they over come most scarers with familiarity. might get you a repreve though? maybe see if you can get a large sturdy mesh cage to protect stuff as it is coming on?
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.. they overcome most scarers with familiarity. might get you a repreve though? maybe see if you can get a large sturdy mesh cage to protect stuff as it is coming on?
A plotholder along the way from me came across a dead munjac and he took it home to his mate the butcher who sorted it out. they ate it, and the family says it was very nice -
As for a large cage - I have caged the brassicas against the pigeons and they are now doing very well. When they get a bit bigger and there is other stuff for the birds to eat I will take the cage off and re-erect it over something else, perhaps. Thanks.
Meanwhile, for corn, I will try the dog-and-hair stunt, and perhaps change the position of the dog if there is evidence of the mj. I know we must all eat, but there is no harm in taking simple precautions
Oliver
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Sounds like someone dispatched your muntjac after all then Oliver... ;)
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Maybe the British Deer Society would be of help.
http://www.bds.org.uk/
SS
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Where there is one there are usually others, they are a non indigenous species that is fast spreading throughout the uk. They are the same as rabbits ( the doe is almost continually pregnant). They are by no stretch of the imagination remotely endagered or in risk of becoming so.
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A plotholder along the way from me came across a dead munjac and he took it home to his mate the butcher who sorted it out. they ate it, and the family says it was very nice -
I wouldn't do that with any animal unless I knew how it had died. It could have been poisoned or diseased.
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We also have marauding munjacs on our allotment - as I found out the first year when it scoffed all my broadbeans! We used chicken wire over everything or deer netting - not cheap but does the job!
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I just got my first plot. The local council just allocated a complete field to new plots and within 2 days found deer tracks across it. There are lots of muntjac near here. There's also a rabbit warren just outside the field gate! So I figured the plot was doomed unless I took action first.
So first thing I did was put up rabbit wire to 3ft. A muntjac can jump this if they can be bothered, hopefull the other plots look easier prey. If not then the fence posts are taller and I can add a strand of wire / tape.
I've started planting and no tracks lately.
Grazers was mentiond - I've seen it on the Harrods site. Lots of garden centres sell Lion Roar (lion poo) which may help too, but I haven't tried either.
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The local council just allocated a complete field to new plots ...
Thank you for your post Sue. 'Jacanoodledo, chicken-wire and video tape' for me.
This is not quite the place for this, but I am delighted to see the Council has allocated some new plots for you. This makes such a change from councils selling plots as fast as they can go. We have lost so many plots since the 70s because people were not using them. Now everyone wants them ... (allotment law states that is 6 parish residents want plots the council must oblige. Does the council own the site or it is just renting it on your behalf? Our parish council wanted to sell one of our allotment sites for housing (our sites are 'statutory' having been granted by act of parliament in 1845 at the time of the enclosures so they have charitable status) and we launched a vigorous campaign to prevent the sale. We won and both sites are now 100% rented.)
Very gratifying to see the fantastic work people have done on bramble-covered overgrown plots.
Good luck with your plot - I am sure you will enjoy it.
Oliver
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The council has an obligation to consider providing allotments and powers to acquire, but that's not really very strong obligation. Have to keep fighting.
We're lucky - last year the parish council responded to the waiting list with an area for 12 plots, really nothing they wanted to do with it so it was a small money maker. These were popular so with a waiting list built up again and the horses moved off the council field, they created another 30 plots. 6 still waiting for owners. We also have a large private allotment area. Not bad for a village.
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they created another 30 plots. 6 still waiting for owners. We also have a large private allotment area. Not bad for a village.
Keep up the good fight
Oliver
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Fence round the corn, lion poo sprinkled around important things, and sprayed some unfenced corn with 'grazers'. Jackanoodle stuffed with human hair. (Pigeons not phased by any of this it appears, but they have not eaten my cauliflowers ...)
edit 18 June - Just got back from 2 and a half weeks in the USA - HOT and HUMID (33-37° and 98% humidity) Georgia and S Carolina. Back here weeds on the plot have been having a whale of a time while my back has been turned - they are 2 ft high in places. Everything else still growing well. Lettuces fantastic!
BUT no sign of the muntjac, so either my precautions worked or someone has eaten it, or it has moved on to better things. The latter I hope.
Oliver
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get help collecting old bean type tins paint em with the kids in any colour thats loud ..... then suspend by drilling a small hole in iether side .....fill with a trio of marbles .. tie baler twine through each hole with tins about 2ft apart ..... tie string to posts about 2ft from the ground around affected area .tins should be about 2ft apart.... i come along bump into string .tins make a ratte noise ... i * off with my tail in the air ........ : :wacko:///// werks for me :tongue2:
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Quote Richard:
"... human urine will repel some animals. Long shot perhaps"
The mind boggles
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Depends how far away the animal is really
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can't you make friends with the muntjac?
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get help collecting old bean type tins paint em with the kids in any colour thats loud ..... then suspend by drilling a small hole in iether side .....fill with a trio of marbles .. tie baler twine through each hole with tins about 2ft apart ..... tie string to posts about 2ft from the ground around affected area .tins should be about 2ft apart.... i come along bump into string .tins make a ratte noise ... i * off with my tail in the air ........ : :wacko:///// werks for me :tongue2:
Huh!!!!! Listen to him....have roe deer grazing on the veggie patch as we speak!!!! :tongue2: :tongue2: :tongue2: