[shokkyy]

Last year I lost every one of my strawberries to mice, so this year I want to build a cage to protect them. I'm planning to use 4mm wire mesh on a wooden frame, but there's two things I'm not quite sure about.

Firstly, I'm thinking about having a wooden frame that's just the uprights and top frame, but with no rail around the bottom. My thinking is that I can then push the upright timbers and edges of the wire mesh into the soil. If I put wooden battons around the bottom and sit that on top of the soil (or the ground around the raised bed), I just have a suspicion that somewhere there'll be a half inch gap that the mice will use to get in. If I do this, will it be strong and stable enough, do you think? I'm only planning to make it about 12 inches high, because that should be enough for strawberries.

Secondly, I'm a bit worried that if I make the whole thing in one piece (the bed is 8 foot X 4 foot) it will be big and cumbersome to move every time I want to weed or pick fruit. But if I make it in two pieces, I don't know how I could make sure there's absolutely no gaps between the two pieces when they're in place.

Can anybody offer any suggestions/advice with this? I have a huge local mouse population, and they've clearly got a taste for my strawberries, so if there's any way they can get in they will.

[sunshineband]

I am taking a different tack

I have some blue water pipe and am making a standard arched netted tunnel, but

1. The mesh is half inch size

2. There are earthed up boards around the edge of the net, held upright with bricks, and at the ends

You could think about the boards maybe for yours 

[shokkyy]

Yes, I see what you mean. I'm not sure they couldn't chew through netting though, and mice are supposed to be able to get through a half inch gap. Last year I had netting over my strawberries and the squirrels were chewing holes in it to get at the fruit. At least I assumed it was the squirrels because it was quite high up, but with nothing for a bird to perch on. If you've got earthed up boards all round the edge of the net, how are you going to get in for weeding/picking?

[grinling]

I've attched debris/scaffolding netting to some wooden stakes to go around fruit patch,leaving the back for now as still need to trim fir hedge. Haven't covered top yet, but will prob use normal netting as the fruit grows. Helps to keep the chooks off.
I have mouse traps baited with peanut butter which is effective.

[shokkyy]

Yes, I always have traps down too, but if you've got a big local population catching a few is just a drop in the ocean

[grinling]

farmer hasn't planted the local fields this year so hungry mice, rats and pigeons.