Talkback: Unwelcome wildlife

The neighbours cats are my allies against mice, Adam. They are all well fed at home but just love scouting round my garden and jump up on the manger and through the open window into the garage which is my potting shed and store. I do have to put netting over my tulip bulbs to deter the squirrels and pull out loads of oak and hazel saplings where they have buried food and forgotten about it, but I love the company of the wildlife in my garden. You are so right, however, so many people confuse wildlife gardening with the wild garden which is quite different. We "Wildlife friendly gardeners " are choosing to share our garden with wildlife but, being true gardeners, we are subjugating nature to suit our needs as homo sapiens.

The neighbours cats are my allies against mice, Adam. They are all well fed at home but just love scouting round my garden and jump up on the manger and through the open window into the garage which is my potting shed and store. I do have to put netting over my tulip bulbs to deter the squirrels and pull out loads of oak and hazel saplings where they have buried food and forgotten about it, but I love the company of the wildlife in my garden. You are so right, however, so many people confuse wildlife gardening with the wild garden which is quite different. We "Wildlife friendly gardeners " are choosing to share our garden with wildlife but, being true gardeners, we are subjugating nature to suit our needs as homo sapiens.

It's not squirrel's digging hole's in my grass but crow's and magpie's looking for food ,I only hope it's grub's they are looking for we had a large amount of crane-fly last year.

I really could have written your article Adam...I feel just the same about many things, well except for the slugs and snails, who are welcome to stay in the wild part of my garden, to encourage hedgehogs and thrushes to the banquet they provide, but I have been watching our 'squirrel free' bird table this afternoon, and three starlings dessimated the food we'd put out in just a few seconds. Then a woodpigeon found the holly berries I had left for the fieldfare and such-like. At the end of the day we are only keepers of our little plots, and in the same way that we nurture flowers and pull the 'weeds' which are only flowers in the wrong place,so we try and form our space into havens for wildlife and h'e'aven for us. Keep up the good work.

Thanks Jumbo 56. Another mouse caught in the shed at the weekend! How many more are there?

The trouble with wildlife in the lotty is, they haven't read the script ! I did find that making a sillhouette of a stalking cat, with threatening devilish eyes, works a treat with CATS ! Birds  can do what they please. I welcome them as long as they swing around on the feeder areas. Keep 'em happy there, and I'm happy. Butterflies can flutter by, as they seem to be totally unaware of the netting so carefully spread out over the cabbages 'n' whatnot. If a butterfly can outwit me, then ANYTHING can !  They are all there for a purpose. Perhaps a higher purpose than we know. I am just a servant to provide for them. At least, that's what my cat tells me !

We had a real problem with rats.We have a forestry behind us,we were also feeding the birds.I thought that the birds were right greedy so and so's untill we saw the pesky vermin eating it all! We have unfortunately had to stop feeding the birds,boo.But on the plus side the rats have disappeared,hurrah!