Lady birds

Ladybirds have been very much in evidence over the last month, mostly crowded on to the blackcurrant bushes which they seem to like particularly. 

We have been quite concerned about the continuing increase in the population of the non-native Harlequin ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis); they over-winter inside in great numbers, and seem to have driven out the native ones from the cracks in our metal window frames. There has also been something of a plague of them at my print studio over the winter. Early in April, there seemed to be roughly equal numbers of Harlequins and Seven-spots, and a good number of two spots. Now I can mostly find Harlequins which seem to have a longer breeding period. There are fears that they will have a negative impact on native species by out-competing them.

Ten Spot Ladybird

Two and Seven-spot ladybirds

Squirrel Damage to apples

More squirrel damage, this time on an apple tree, Worcester Pearmain.

Squirrels are probably the worst pest of fruit trees in this country. They can damage fruit at all stages, and the damage is frequently misattributed to birds.

Squirrel damage is very easy to identify. If you look carefully you can see two identical upper incisor marks, with a 'spooned out' mark above made by the lower incisors. Other fruitlets in this cluster just show tooth marks which match. Squirrels rarely eat the whole fruit at this stage, but can fatally damage a large number by 'mouthing' them out of curiousity.

Two year ago I was not at home to monitor the problem at this stage, and lost the entire crop from my 50-odd cultivars. One pear, two apples and no plums, the entire result from a sizeable, mature orchard. The problem is largely due to a particular neighbour who has numerous bird feeders that are not squirrel proof, and the population had grown from a single pair to numerous competing ones over the exact time period that has been excess supply food in the environment. I trapped and disposed of 10 squirrels last year, and this had a very positive effect on the crop which was very large despite a particularly poor growing season.

This is not something I like doing, but it is impossible to get worthwhile results from fruit growing where there are significant numbers of squirrels. 

Moles

My heart sank when I saw the latest eruption of mole hills. We had a particularly destructive one last year that excavated and undermined the main path. I vowed to remove it, only to find it dead during the bitterly frosty weather last winter, having crawled under a bucket lid to shelter. It must have been trapped on the surface, and unable to burrow into the solid, frozen ground.

Moles are a real nuisance in the vegetable garden. Compost heaps are attractive to them, being filled with lots of large, juicy earthworms, but they can mix a large quantity of sub soil into the the compost, rendering it unusable. I line the bottom of my heaps with woven ground cover matting.

They also undermine other structures (like paths), and also find the chicken run attractive as the manure run off probably increases the earthworm population. Unfortunately, their burrows attract rats which can then colonise the space.

Reluctantly, I think I'll have to relocate this one, using a humane trap. I will wait until ground conditions are better, I don't think it would be fair to release one while the ground is so hard.

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