What's Eating My Wheat?!

[Jim Neal]

That's a question I've pondered ever since I've been involved in looking after things during the last few years. I've learned a HELL of a lot in a short space of time!

 

I found it incredible that blokes who've been into their shooting for many years still walk up to an empty feeder with a carpet of wheat under it and somehow appear delighted that apparently 300 pheasants have come along in the night to feed.

 

I've emptied out a freshly shot cock pheasant's crop, stuffed full of wheat, and it is quite surprising how much they can jam in there. But even so I'd estimate that the average pheasant couldn't consume more than a large handful of wheat in one day, probably significantly less.

 

I've also never seen a pheasant walk up to a feeder with loads of fresh wheat sitting under it and peck at the spring. It's quicker and easier to peck it up off the floor. Neither do they bash it out all over the floor and walk away. They don't really waste it.

 

Around our shoot you simply can't put a feeder out without an effective fence to keep the deer off it. We're plagued with them. They knock feeders over, pull the springs and they will very quickly eat their way through your annual wheat budget if you ignore the problem. I've got about 25 feeders out in the drives on my patch so you can imagine what a poop-load of work that lot has been to get effectively fenced off! As with everything, you learn as you go, so several incarnations of deer-proofing later I've pretty much kept them out of the equation now.

 

But something's still ransacking my feeders

 

It seems to be happening mostly at night, but sometimes in the day. I know this from checking the feeders last thing, then first thing next day, and then again last thing before sunset.

 

Top 3 on my suspect list are badgers, squirrels and rabbits but without catching them in the act it's just guessing really. I wanted to know exactly what's doing the most damage and exactly HOW so I can either fence it out, deter it or kill it accordingly. Obviously the badgers and rabbits are nocturnal which is when the worst damage is done, but the only thing I've had to go on so far has been a bit of detective work and looking at tracks in the mud around the feeders.

 

So, I bought myself a trail cam last week and set it up by one of the worst-hit feeders. After a few days of trial and error I've managed to get some interesting initial results. It's amazing how many different creatures we feed as well as our pheasants!

 

Over just a couple of days I've recorded the following animals either foraging under the feeders or getting wheat directly from the springs:

 

Badger

Rabbit

Lots of small rodents (mice/voles)

Magpies

Jay

Plenty of grey squirrels

Various small songbirds

Even some pheasants!

 

It's easy to just say "well of course all those things are going to be there" but observing it is very interesting, even if the species caught on camera are not a surprise. (I forgot to set the date/time correctly on the camera so ignore that)

 

The squirrels were there pretty much all daylight hours.

 

 

The rabbit only seemed to make a brief visit, and wasn't as intent as I'd presumed at getting a decent meal (although something could have spooked it of course). I'll be interested to see how much more rabbit action I get.

 

 

I captured a very interesting photo of a cock pheasant happily pecking away under the feeder whilst a deer literally stood right over it only a few feet away. I was amazed the bird wasn't scared off, so they are obviously used to seeing the deer around all the time. Then I watched the corresponding video - the bird pecking the spring actually spooked the deer!

 

 

The most revealing capture was the video footage of a badger getting wheat out of the feeder spring. I had it in my mind that they would bat the spring, knocking the wheat out, and then hoover it up off the floor but in actual fact what they do is push the spring with one front paw to bend the coils apart and then simply nibble and lick it out. The detail on the night vision isn't clear enough to see exactly how much they're taking, and how much is being strewn onto the floor but with the sound turned up you can actually hear it hitting the ground, and it's falling at a pretty hefty rate. Looking at the time stamps it took one badger about 10 minutes to empty out about 1/4 of a bucketful of wheat.

 

 

This was as I'd suspected, so no surprise that the badger was doing the most damage. I was surprised though that the squirrels didn't attack the spring more. The rabbit had travelled a fairly long way past two other feeders if it came from the nearest warren I know - and after all that way it didn't make any real effort to obtain food, which was surprising

 

I've moved the camera to the next feeder along in the woods now, so I'll have another couple of days' pics and videos to go through tomorrow!.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Jim Neal

[Walker570]

No rats!!! Your lucky

[scolopax]

brilliant post , thankfuly wheat is cheap so i find it more the incovenience of having to fill feeders up more frequently than planned than the actual expense

 

my biggest feed thieves are roe deer, squirrels, rats and rabbits in pretty much that order. when the feeders are move down hedgerows after the shooting season rooks can be a particular pain and will empty a feeder very quickly.

[Jim Neal]

Compared to the bit I manage you must either have fewer deer, fewer feeders or a very cheap supply of wheat not to be concerned! At a varying price of between £100 and £200 per tonne depending on the usual factors, until I get a lid on this we're investing a lot of money in the local badger population!

 

We do get a lot of rats in certain parts of the shoot, but they mainly hang around the pens for obvious reasons. I occasionally used to get them in the fenn traps closest to the feed storage shed, until I strung the trap boxes to tree trunks, to avoid the bait being eaten by the smaller rodents which stopped me catching the squirrels!

 

Rooks live locally in fair abundance but aren't a major concern to me except when the covers are drilled. However, I'm yet to get cast iron evidence but I think the woodpigeon have learned to use spring feeders! They certainly take advantage of the manolas at the partridge pens, and in the pheasant pens when the birds first arrive.

 

I'll share any more fascinating facts from the trail cam if they happen!

[UKPoacher]

When the weather gets really hard you can get some good air rifle sport on feeders. Squirrels and pigeons especially.

[Jim Neal]

Post edited above, I've put the videos on youtube instead due to the other hosting sites beign a bit rubbish.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Jim Neal

[Paul223]

Wright feeders and screw them in place

[Tomo-1]

We have stopped using the springs for all of the reasons stated above. When the springs get old they dump lots of wheat in a pile without having to be moved much at all. We now use what I would call green bean can

 

feeders. Easy to replace the springs. Drill out the rivets. Cut the correct size hole, insert bean can and rivet. Sorted. With a portable drill this can (no pun intended) be done on site. I empty the wheat into a large garden type

 

square sack and then refill without much spillage. I believe they are called wright feeders as mentioned by Paul223. If you cut the legs down then partridge can reach too.

 

Get up before sun up, setup a hide 15m from the feeder and have a morning shooting squirrels (I use pcp .22) very efficient way of virmin control. The squirrels have serious problems with the bean cans.

[Paul223]

If you're replacing the spring for Wrights then push spring out and fit wright from underneath and use 3 tek screws to hold in place, nice easy mid season temp job done

Edited December 13, 2016 by Paul223

[hyflier]

I appreciate it's a bother to you, but I loved the Badger video. I'm 57 years old and I saw my first ever live Badger a few weeks ago, it crossed the road in front of my car. I was thrilled (I know there's going to be people on here who won't understand that)

[Kev1gun]

We Had this problem, with no sign of Rats etc,but i went out one night and parked up about 35yards from the feeder we were having a problem with, switched over to NV and there must have been 150 + rats on the floor with 2 or 3 shaking the spring and they emptied a 25 litre feeder over night with no signs of them being there, so are you sure it's not Rats or a Big 2 legged Rat from next door we've had that as well.

 

Kev1gun

[Jim Neal]

Tried wright feeders and also the slotted tubes, they leak more wheat than springs when the vermin get stuck into them.

 

Not caught any rats on my trail cam so far. Haven't had time to use it much in the last week or so but will it's out at the moment, I'll have a few days' of footage from a different location to go through!

[Paul223]

You must have very small grain your way!

[paulnix]

I appreciate it's a bother to you, but I loved the Badger video. I'm 57 years old and I saw my first ever live Badger a few weeks ago, it crossed the road in front of my car. I was thrilled (I know there's going to be people on here who won't understand that)

I'm amazed you not seen one before but I guess I see so many because I have a reason to be out at the time they are in the right area's ( out checking cows and calves, out with the NV etc ) I will see one or two most nights in around the fields with calves in especially the creep feeders or in winter about the yards, wouldn't mind if not for the obvious problems they cause us.

[Vince Green]

 

Can't you shoot the deer?

Edited December 23, 2016 by Vince Green

[Jim Neal]

Our syndicate rents part of an estate, so they basically get the say-so on deer shooting.

 

Frustratingly, rather than allow people keen to shoot deer on the land they have HIRED a "deer control contractor"! We've never even seen them on our part of the estate, and apparently the bloke in charge won't shoot fallow as he has a soft spot for them!

 

Madness.