Mice and orchids
 

I live on a farm and sometimes have mice invading. I moved all my plants to another table and noticed a lot of droppings around the pots. Then I noticed one Phil with a bite out of one leaf and a two inch strip out of another leaf. Otherwise it looks healthy.
Anyone else live in a farming area that have a problem with mice and orchids?:blushing:

I keep my orchids indoors, and thankfully have only had mice in the attic, and in the greenhouses & barn at work. String cheese makes good bait for traps. It’s soft enough to put on the bait barb and it’s still very attractive to them when it’s dried out. If you don’t want to kill them, make sure the table legs are made of, or wrapped with, smooth metal so they can’t climb up, and keep the table away from other objects they could jump from.

I don't have a problem with mice, but occasionally an issue with squirrels and raccoons. I have a tree fern that unfortunately gives access to my Draculas. I arranged bird spikes, fastened with zip ties, around the trunk and have had no more problems. On a low bench, I had the perfect spot for Paphs, and had a raccoon find the best ones delicious. I no longer put much on that bench. Other than that I mostly have to deal with cats running across benches and knocking things over. So I have no advice for small things like mice that wouldn't be deterred by bird spikes.

[QUOTE=Dimples;992712]I keep my orchids indoors, and thankfully have only had mice in the attic, and in the greenhouses & barn at work. String cheese makes good bait for traps. It’s soft enough to put on the bait barb and it’s still very attractive to them when it’s dried out. /QUOTE]

Mine are all indoors also. String cheese is a great idea. Peanut butter works but is so messy and some times they just steal it without springing. I have tried cooked/dried cranberries and that seems to work and easy to get into bait hole.
Off subject but I am in an adobe flat roof home and I had roof rats and mice in the insulation and were very annoying. Two exterminators did not work, but I got landlord to put very fine steelwool in any roof entry places. I am going to try baking soda, sugar and dry flour for my out building.

I guess my first question was do mice chew on orchids
?

---------- Post added at 04:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:04 PM ----------

I have 2 doggy doors and a raccoon came into a screenin porch. I heard what I thought was one of my dogs screaming, and both barking. I quickly got out of bed and saw my 14 lb terrier chasing it round and round some boxes stored there. I cracked the sliding door a bit an grabbed an empty box and when he circled near me, I hit him on the nose. This goes on for 40 mins, finally he figured out how to get back out the doggy door to the yard, with my Bingo chased him up a tree. He stayed outside for another 3 hrs barking and finally came back in to sleep. Glad the coon did not find the doggy door that comes into my house. What a messs that would be.

With regard to mice... I would not be surprised. They likely don't differentiate between orchids and lettuce. I do know that rats love pollen - and will steal it from blooming flowers. I haven't had the problem, but a friend with a greenhouse and big, floofy Catts definitely did. With no pets around he used d-CON bait to solve the problem. You would not want that stuff anywhere near pets. Or the house for that matter.. you don't want them dying in the walls.

I avoid poison for the reason Roberta mentioned. We had a rat die in the wall of my work office (converted barn stall with large wall voids) and it smelled like death for 5-6 weeks and regular-level-gross for months! Traps and blocking access points are the best options, unless you’re in the position to adopt a cat? Adding a feral cat to the farm eliminated the majority of our rodent problem. They were still around, but they didn’t venture into the buildings nearly as much.

You might have pack rats too. Bigger than mice, more destructive. Ears are rounder than European rats. Tails are a little shorter and have some fuzz. They're mostly plant eaters, and easy to trap with small pieces of apple.

Peanut butter is an excellent rodent bait; better than almost any cheese and certainly sticks to the trap trigger paddle well.

You might consider smearing a wide swath of Tree Tanglefoot around the legs. It was originally designed as a bird repellent, but is now also sold as an insect repellent and I have used to to keep slugs off the greenhouse benches. I’m guessing it could be effective as a mouse barrier, as well.

I grow my Cymbidiums outdoors for 6+ months each year, ion benches in an open field. I use copper strips to keep slugs/snails away, but mice readily climb the benches. They often attack developing flower spikes.

Indoors (in hoop style greenhouse, it is impossible to keep invaders out), I have seen both mice and southern lemmings. I use traps, both snap traps baited with peanut butter, and drop trap buckets, but with limited success.

I can definitively state that Yes, mice eat orchids. Here's an old rant of mine from 2019 regarding the little heathens...

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...ighlight=mouse