Dealing with Garden Pests in Cape Town: Cape Dune Mole Rats, Porcupines, Snails and More
I may not be as clever as the mole rats, but I will outlast them.
We grow our beds lined with welded mesh to keep the Cape dune mole rats out. For a while I felt like a genius. Then the mole rats learned to tunnel directly under the beds and collapse the roots down through the wire to reach them. Over the years we have faced mole rats, porcupines, baboons, cabbage moth and snails, and slowly built an approach that lets us keep growing through all of them. Here is how we think about garden pests.
Observe and be curious about the creature
Before you fight a pest, watch it. See what it dislikes, how it travels, and what time of year it visits. Our mole rat tunnels, for instance, run much higher in winter, because the animals want to stay above the water table. The more you understand a pest’s habits, the better your chances of outlasting it.
Favour exclusion over confrontation
If a pest is smarter, faster or more motivated than you, do not face it head-on. Change the environment instead. Welded mesh makes it harder for mole rats to reach your veg, high raised boxes slow porcupines, and netting keeps off birds, moths and butterflies. Each small barrier gradually tips the advantage back to you.
If something is irresistible, rethink what you grow
Some things simply cannot be protected. For us, maize and sweetcorn are guaranteed to summon baboons, who spot it at the exact moment before harvest. So we grow only a quick, token block and do not worry if it gets eaten. Choosing what not to grow is a legitimate pest strategy.
Physical removal, and letting nature help
For smaller or slower creatures, a little regular effort goes a long way. Snails come through to eat our seedlings, but if we find them a couple of times a week we usually manage, and we let the ducks forage in the shade house too. Much damage is done by large numbers of small creatures, so curbing the population is often enough to get a good harvest. We rarely spray, even organic mixes, because we want an environment that can manage itself. Give it time and predators usually move in to do the work for you.
Observe first. Learn the pest’s timing and habits.
Exclude, don’t battle. Mesh, raised boxes and netting.
Rethink the irresistible. Grow less of what you cannot protect.
Remove by hand and build habitat for predators.
A resilient, no-dig soil and a diverse planting make all of this easier. See food forests in Cape Town for more on building an environment that largely looks after itself, and early spring planting for keeping beds full through the season.
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