greentapestry : Whodunit?

Sunday 22 May 2011

Whodunit?



Whilst I am looking forward to another episode of 'Vera' (a television detective series based on the novels of Ann Cleeves and set in Northumberland) tonight there have been rum goings on nearer to home earlier today.

The Scene - in the recesses of my greenhouse.

When? -  between 10.30 am and 2.00pm.

The Crime - some creature unknown has pulled out some of my climbing French beans which had just germinated and left them like amok as you can see in the above photo. 

Who Could Be Doing Time?
  • A bird perhaps deciding to have a bit of a nibble - so why did it turn its beak up at such fine fare?
  • Mr or Mrs Duck who occasionally venture into the garden. No - they are much too sweet to do anything so dastardly.
  • Big Ginge - the cat who treats our garden and its contents as his own. I have seen Ginge in the greenhouse before but I think that he just sees it as somewhere warm and cosy for a nap. Surely he would turn his nose up at my French beans. Besides which both himself and I have a soft spot for this regular visitor and I like to think kindly of him.
  • Could it be the rat which I spotted recently which may be taking revenge on me for contacting the pest control officer?
  • Top of my short list though is one of the squirrels which are constant pests in the garden. I am also blaming them for chewing off the top of one of my tree lily bulbs. This also happened quite recently. I have never seen a squirrel in the greenhouse but I suppose there's always a first time. I am just hoping that this is a one off incident rather than the start of serial crime.
The Verdict 
There will be murder should I catch the culprit! 

10 comments:

  1. Hmmm, what about mice? They usually get the blame for all crime greenhouse related.

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  2. I reckon it was a bird digging around for invertebrate which uprooted the seedlings.

    Really enjoying Vera - the huge Northern skies are a real bonus

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  3. Oh how very frustrating for you! Hope it doesn't happen again.

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  4. Hi Anna,

    Sorry to hear that something's been at the seedlings... My vote goes for a bird such as a Wren or a Robin looking for insects such as flies that lay eggs in the soil.
    I've seen them pulling things up before such as sticks, twigs and labels in the soil to seemingly get at slugs and other bugs.

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  5. Hi Anna - it's not the squirrel as not enough damage done (one such critter just dug out one of my begonias in full leaf)Could be bees collecting water as they sometimes leave small holes in my pots where they sucked up the water. But more likely birds - those look like beak holes. Awaiting the verdict...
    Laura

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  6. I would go for birds too. Squirrels would have eaten the tray :-)

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  7. and once you sort out that little squirrel problem you'll the title the blog post "Murder she wrote".

    I hope it's greys giving you the bother and not those lovely little red ones.

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  8. Grrr... I hope you catch the culprit and quick before any more damage is done. With all the varmints out there it seems our gardening efforts are often a lesson in futility.

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  9. Mice perhaps. I thought mice straight away, but I guess they'd have eaten the seedlings.

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All your comments are much appreciated and treasured. I wil try to reply to everyone who leaves a comment, but it may take me a few days, especially when I start spending more time in the garden and at the lottie. I know that you will understand :) I am sure that I will also visit your blog if I have not already done so. If you have any specific questions I will either reply to them here or you can email me at : thegreentapestry@gmail.com

Namasté

- Anna.