Ghost squirrel pest mystery, recurring plant damage

[squarel]

My outdoor plants are tightly contained in mesh. What pest keeps getting in and how??? Thanks for your ideas

Last year my vertical watermelon was safe in the open. This year some elusive pest keeps digging up my pots and decapitating my seedlings. Each time, I protect them more. This happened four times over two months. My plants are now tightly encapsulated in wire mesh. And it happened again today.

vertical honeydew ; today's damage ; mesh clips


Today's damage was minor. Typically my mystery pest kills half of the smaller plants. Fortunately it has not harmed the

The mesh openings are 1cm and secured tightly and released with temporary clips. It is not easy to wiggle past, and no signs of people unclipping.

How does this happen? Do I have to get an electric fence power supply, or set up video monitoring? I'd rather not. My garden is insecure and and I'm frustrated.

Thanks for your thoughts!
Do you have a pest story?

 

[Michigan Tree Murderer]

There's plenty of insects/caterpillars, that will decapitating seedlings, but that doesn't explain the soil being disturbed. Not sure where you live but a squirrel or chipmunk could climb down the mesh and dig in the pots. I'd go with a video camera, because I'd forget to shut the electric fence off & start watering away.

 

[rockm]

Please put your location info in your avatar space to the left. It is crucial to ANY advice we can provide, including topics like this one. Without knowing your location, this could be hundreds of different pests, from insects to rodents to birds or even larger mammals.

Doesn't make any difference if you've noted your location in other posts. There are thousands of members. We can't memorize where everyone is from.

I've got a hundred pest stories...all similar to this. Grow stuff outside -- expect nature to mess with it. That's just the way it is.

So, this is probably either chipmunk or mouse damage if you're in the U.S. There is more than enough give in the mesh at the joints for a chipmunk, or mouse, to squeeze through. mice need only 1/4" of space and they're in.

If you have persistent rodents, fueled by tempting fruits, veggies and whatever is mucking about in the garden soil--worms, etc.-they won't be easy to deter. You can hang old CD--shiny things can scare rodents/birds (but only for a while), cats can help, as can dogs, but that can lead to more unintentional destruction. Motion sensor tied to a water sprinkler--anything that moves and makes noise can put rodents off (for a while--if there are no actual consequences to that noise, motion, they get used to it) Poisons, traps, etc. are out if you're using them outdoors, unless you're using enclosed mouse traps It's pretty irresponsible to use rodent poison outdoors, And forget the electrification thing if you're serious. Video monitoring can help ID the culprit but not much else, unless you have larger vermin like human thieves.

I have found, however, that nature can take care of itself. Whenever I've had a chipmunk problem, a solution slithers in. Snakes are your friends in situations like this.

 

[crab apple]

You can get a cheap game camera at walmarts, they used to have some around $30, probably not anymore, the cheap one don't do well out in the woods cuz their range is limited but for a fixed item like a specific plant they work great. If there's no tree nearby to attach it to you can use a stake in the ground.