[simonwatson]

I grow strawberries in the back garden as I treat them as something to pick on a semi-continuous basis rather than harvesting the lot in one go like I would with gooseberries.

The trouble I have is that they get massacred by the birds and slugs. I net and put pellets down but I still lose a lot of my crop.

I was at the allotment over the weekend looking at some really nice looking strawberries that weren't netted and they looked great and were completely untouched by birds or slugs. Is this a common experience or just a quirk of our site?

[kentishlad]

We have to net ours here in Kent, that stopped the birds eating them just as they turned ripe, we are very lucky in our garden as we don't suffer with slugs at all, yet I know in bordering towns they suffer with them.
Last year we moved the strawberry bed up off the ground into a raised bed on legs, still net it but discovered mice get in there and eat them now! I haven't had one strawberry this year as the mice are getting them and I haven't had the heart to use the traps on them this year. Bumper crop of blackcurrants though :-D

[mumofstig]

My strawbs on the allotment seem fairly safe from snugs but have to net them or the birds get them.

In the garden the slugs get them, but the sparrers leave them alone  I can't really win ...............

[allotmentann]

I think it must be mostly down to luck and what the local wildlife like. Birds never touched my garden or allotment strawberries. A few slugs got the lotty ones but in my garden l lost very few. I think wildlife adapts to whatever is easiest to come by in the area. Here nearly all the birds love to eat the rosemary blossoms (rosemary grows prolifically) yet l never saw a bird eat rosemary blooms in the UK even where it was abundant. It's annoying when they take a fancy to your favourite crops though!

[JayG]

I think it's safe to say that wood pigeons and slugs/snails are fairly predictable and consistent in their feeding habits, but that's not necessarily the case with other wildlife.

There have always been lots of sparrows round here, but it's only in the past few years they've taken to pecking my runner bean shoots if they can get to them - perhaps one individual 'discovered' the habit and then showed it to its offspring and relatives, 

Any autumn raspberries reckless enough to appear early get eaten by sparrows, but they ignore the ones actually produced in autumn.

Squirrels and badgers have been reported as responsible for eating sweetcorn cobs, but I've got both here and up to now they've not touched them (there was a badger toilet right next to my ripening sweetcorn last year!)

Netting should protect your strawberries from birds, but it needs to be supported clear of the plants - I use simple hoops made from galvanised wire which seems to do the trick. Slug pellets take care of the slugs (mostly!)

[LottyLouis]

I grow my strawbs in a large (and ever-growing) collection of pots in the garden at home. They are not netted and  totally untouched by beasties of any kind.
I haven't grown any on the lotty but everyone at the lotty tries to protect their strawbs from badgers. Simple netting apparently doesn't stop them - they're big and very determined!