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Destructive Pest #891510

Asked January 13, 2025, 12:20 AM EST

Hello, Last Summer, I had something living/digging in my garden, never saw it, but there was a "tunel" between two squash plants and the most affected one only produced two fruits. I also noticed that a melon, zucchini and other veggies had been munched on. I heard that wire would keep them from going under my garden bed, but chicken wire is not recommended. I'm thinking I need to remove the soil from the most affected bed to add wire at the bottom and perhaps put some wire around the edges of the bed to prevent them from getting in. What is your recommendation for wire? Would my plan work? If so, would you recommend a foot of wire around the bed? My beds are about 2 - 2.5 feet tall. Thank you!

Custer County South Dakota

Expert Response

This sounds like a vertebrate pest. Could be voles, moles, squirrels, rabbits or a combo of all of the above. Squash have a lot of insect and disease pests too, so I would recommend not planting them in the same place as you did in 2024 to help mitigate some of those potential issues.

I would actually focus on trapping in 2025 versus digging up all the soil and trying to line it with metal mesh. Metal will eventually rust and degrade and if you ever wanted to till or otherwise dig, you could have a real safety problem on your hands. Trapping will also tell you what kind of critter you are dealing with, and since it is most likely a vertebrate, there is no guarantee that you will have the same problems in 2025 that you did in 2024.

I would recommend rotating your garden beds, scout in 2025, and then set up traps if needed to catch the culprit.

Amanda Bachmann, PhDPesticide Education and Urban Entomology Field Specialist Replied January 13, 2025, 12:42 PM EST

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