Bandicoot desparation

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by Peter Warne, Apr 16, 2007.

  1. Peter Warne

    Peter Warne Junior Member

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    We are having hell with what we think are bandicoots in our vegi garden. The garden has a 1.2 m fence around it, with the fence connected to a 300 mm (1 ft) underground barrier. Until recently we had an unprotected back entrance, cut out some time later than the building of the fence with its front gate. I have just spent days putting a decent gate in the back entrance, and it is as critter proof as the fence. We are left thinking that the buggers somehow climb over the fence, if so it must be where the geraniums or lemon grass in the weed barrier rise up against the fence. I've eliminated rats as the culprits, by putting rat poison down in PVC piping, in the same way as elsewhere around our place, and in the other places the poison has disappeared quicksmart - but here in the vege garden it hasn't been taken.

    The next measure I am considering is to go higher and put a 1.8 m (6ft) fence around, but before investing the materials, energy and time, I wonder if anyone in the forum has experience of bandicoots and can suggest something simpler.

    Oh, yes, we've tried putting chilli powder down - it works in the place you put it, for one night, but we can't put it down everywhere, every night, across our 60 sq m vege garden compound.

    Any suggestions?

    Peter
     
  2. Nibbler

    Nibbler Junior Member

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    Hi
    I've only had experience with WA bandicoots - ie southern brown - and I have never seen them climb and would be extremely surprised if they can. They are excellent diggers though. We had no problems with them in vege garden though, but they did like to raid the compost heap (more for bugs than vege scraps)
    What sorts of clues have you got to try and work out what animal is responsible? (ie could it be something other than bandicoots? or, what are the things that make you think it IS bandicoots?)
     
  3. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    g'day peter,

    what sort of damage are you experiencing in your garden?

    as fara s i know bandicoots don't climb, they will dig so unless you can see that they ahve dug under the fence then they would need an access like a hole in the netting or a gate something like that.

    now if you have rats they will climb over the fence as will possums.

    so maybe if we can get an idea of the type of damage being done, it might help or change the solution needed.

    len
     
  4. Peter Warne

    Peter Warne Junior Member

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    Thanks Len and Nibbler.

    We are not actually sure that they are bandicoots. Possums are a possibility. The ground is left worked over as if someone'd gone over it with a tiny hoe, and there is the occasional cone shaped hole, going down 4 or 5 inches.

    Last night we went out at about 9 and the buggers had already done a round of soil turning and little holes.

    If it's possums we're really in trouble - they climb anywhere. A roof over the vege garden seems a drastic solution, but if it comes to that ...

    Cheers

    Peter
     
  5. Muddy

    Muddy Junior Member

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    The digging you describe are exactly the kind of damage that bandicoots do. I had the same problem several years ago. If the fence is as secure as you describe than it is likely the bandicoots are living inside the fence. They like to bury themselves in leaf litter, compost heaps, under floors, under iron etc. Bandicoots are protected in NSW so you need to encourage them live somewhere else. I got rid of mine by borrowing a miniature fox terrior from a friend and set about moving everything around in the yard. The foxy found and chased about 20 bandicoots. They were not harmed but decided to move house to a quieter neighbourhood.
     
  6. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    g'day peter,

    you don't have to go as far if it is possums?

    at this stage you maybe need to do a stake out and see hey you know "know thine enemy" sort of thing, otherwise you may end up shadow boxing and taking a lot of action that may or may not be necessary.

    digging doesn't sound like possums they are foliage and fruit destroyers mostly.

    does sound like bandicoots and must be a few of them i'd suggest, so check your fencing make sure you have strong mesh that is attached to the ground all around the area, now just in case they do climb maybe try putting a run of that flat tin app' 20"s wide around the top of the fence and to over lap the wire at least, include the gate put this on the outside of the fence so they can't climb up ast it.

    have you ever seen that tin they run around mesh fences near highways? that stuff comes in plain galv' colour might be too exy'. if the fence is under 2 meters high then the possums will still jump post that barrier, so if you do or think you may get possums then the fence will need to be 2 meters high with top 20"s covered with this tin.

    remove over hanging tree branches for possums they will jump so maybe remove the whole branch? or again pout a tin collar around the tree covering from 1 meter upward so they can't access the tree, unless it is their habitat tree.

    len
     
  7. Peter Warne

    Peter Warne Junior Member

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    Yes, it seems most likely to be bandicoots. We haven't yet been able to check thoroughly if there's a hole in the wire mesh, too much foliage. But that is gradually being cleared, so we will check as we go. Even though nobody has heard of bandicoots climbing, I still suspect that they might be using some of the geraniums or climbing beans vines to clamber in. All to be worked on.

    Tonight we went out at 7:00, and they or it had already been and gone, leaving a mess behind them. That means we don't have to stay out for hours, tomorrow or soon after we will keep a sentry there from 6 to 7 and see if we can catch them red-handed. Not that I've thought what to do with them except yell at them and try to scare them off. We would not be into killing them. But at least having seen the culprit we could avoid the shadow boxing as you called it Len. I'll keep you posted, and thanks for your suggestions.

    Peter
     
  8. greeny

    greeny Junior Member

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    Hi Peter, Bush Turkey is another pest that does similar looking damage at my place. I use urine to deter bandicoots if seedlings are emerging and they are getting in.The best solution I have found with both of these pests is to lay chickenwire flat on the soil and plant in the holes! Mulch can go ontop of the wire. it is a bit of a mess but works and so I will start placing chickenwire more neatly and permanently.
     
  9. richard in manoa

    richard in manoa Junior Member

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    A bandicoot will burrow under a fence won't it?
    It will also taste wonderful having been roasted in the oven with some sweet potatoes and carrots and whatever other root vegetables you can grow once you knock the bandicoot population down a little bit.
     
  10. juhill

    juhill Junior Member

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    It does sound a bit like bandicoots or even rufous bettongs. Bettongs have been know to climb into shrubs to eat.
     
  11. Peter Warne

    Peter Warne Junior Member

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    Well we finally caught the villain redhanded - I went out about 6:30 with a torch, and there he was, pointy nosed and beady eyed, frozen in the beam of the torch. Then he hopped off at a speed, and went behind a lamandra clump we have next to the little pool in the vege garden, and disappeared. I went and inspected and there was a big hole in the wire. I blocked it with a piece of chicken wire, then patched it the next morning, and he hasn't come back since. So that problem is solved. It appears that he didn't climb over the fence, nor did he burrow under it. The only thing that amazes me is that we took so long to find the hole.

    Thanks everyone for your suggestions and advice.

    Peter
     
  12. sweetpea

    sweetpea Junior Member

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    Peter, there's the lesson, we should all stake out our bandits right away, when we spot them, it saves us time hunting for hours for the unknown!

    I try to keep an eye on my fence invaders by not mowing for about 12 inches of .5 meters around my chicken wire fence, then a path will show where they are getting through or under. The tough grass often ties the bottom of the fence down to the ground, vetch works great here, also improving the soil, making them move on to easier territory.

    Also, for the climbers, don't connect the top 10-12 inches (sorry, I need to learn my metrics here) about a hand and a half of the fence to the posts, then when a heavier climber reaches that point, its body weight makes it fall backwards and they can't usually keep climbing. :)
     
  13. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    great one peter,

    nothing beats a good stake out hey?

    len
     
  14. Nibbler

    Nibbler Junior Member

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    happy ending

    Great news - I'm glad the story ended without happily with no damage to our bandicoot friend!
    :wink:
     
  15. Forest Fairy

    Forest Fairy Junior Member

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    Bandicoot Desperation

    I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO there right now. Am thinking of investing in an AK47 to assist.
    Grrrrrrrrrr.
    Those little critters are so destructive. I have spent hundreds of dollars and invested hours of time mulching an area that is 100sqm to put in an orchard and every day without fail when I got out there in the morning there is more holes. Sometimes they are only small, and sometimes they are like tunnels.
    I haven't fenced the area off as yet (was going to be a last resort due to the financial cost), but I think that I will need to look at doing this.
    I wasn't going to sink the fence down into the soil and was wondering if I could just place it on top of the mulch or whether it is imperative that it goes into the ground.
    Also, what would be the most cost effective and best material to use as fencing. Was thinking chicken wire, but would appreciate other views.

    Cheers
    FF
     
  16. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    g'day ff,

    they are more likley to look for a way inder than over the fence.

    instead of trying to bury the wire a bit or anything like that think about this one, might be a little less labor intensive not sure about cost but then you may source some second hand fencing wire?

    i see a chain wire fence say 4 or 5' tall, galv' star pickets will do for posts you can make corner strainer posts using extra star pickets as bracers, hard to explain.

    once the fence is up then run a lay of chain wire to attach to the bottom of the fence wire and lay on the ground out to about a meter around the parameter, you should still be able to at least brush cut the grass that grows through this wire, it must be well attached to fence wire you can get those stainless steel staple thingie and a specail tool to apply them with be invaluable for all other fencing ie.,. vege patch chook run etc.,.

    this then stops them from digging under works with foxes, dogs, goannas (they climb as well) and rabbits, as they tend to want to dig under when they encounter a fence then hey presto stopped in their tracks, should be a lifetime before you need to replace the wire on the ground, oh galv tent pegs to hold down the outer parameter of this wire.

    hope that's a bit clearer than mud?? chuckle.

    len
     
  17. Forest Fairy

    Forest Fairy Junior Member

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    Hi Len,

    It is really hard to imagine without pictures but what I am seeing is kind of a right angle with the star picket the vertical piece in the equation and then about half way down the star picket a fence of dog fence which then is maybe kind of bent somehow to travel along the ground horizontally out to about a metre???
    Am I on the right track or way off how you were picturing it??

    Cheers

    FF
     
  18. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    ok ff,

    close so lets try this you have a fence already up with mesh wire not dog wire it is too large holed for bandicoots the best would be chain mesh or chain link wire it is very strong.

    so you have a fence up now around the outside of the fence you unroll a roll of chain wire to lay flat on the ground, you do this so it goes all round the parameter, this would mean cutting each run and overlapping to go around corners how' that sound? guess it would look like a fence laying down. like the letter 'L' the upright 'l' being the fence the '_' being what is on the ground.

    so if you already ahve a fence of dog wire you will need to run meshed wire around the bottom so this idea will work, might also pay to run a plain bull wire strand around te bottom to fixe the verticle and horizontal mesh to?

    hows that huh chuckle

    len
     
  19. Forest Fairy

    Forest Fairy Junior Member

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    OK. Now I am on your planet. Will give it ago.

    Cheers

    FF
     
  20. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    ok ff,

    hey just quietly which planet are we on?? i got oldtimers hey lol.

    that style of fence will work especially good to keep foxes etc.,. out of chook houses, you could lay some logs down around the fence fist and attach both wires to that with fencing staples.

    to take it one step further if you made the fence 2 meters high then surrounded the top on the outside with that 20" wide flat tin then possums can't get in either.

    len
     

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