What could be eating my strawberries?

I could really do with some help if anyone knows the answer. Something is eating every darn strawberry as soon as it ripens. I found some whitefly on the plants last month and treated them, so I don't think it is that. I also can't see any there now. Slugs I've rulled out because I put some pellets around the base of the strawberry urn and haven't found any dead ones, which there would be as they would have to go across the circle to get to the planter. Birds are ruled out as I have constructed a square covered in bird using pipe and joints, so there is no way for them to get at them. I can't find any caterpillars etc on the leaves, and no leaves have been munched also the plants are really healthy and green.



Any help with this would be so gratefully received as I'm at a loss to work out what is eating them. :(

Many, many thanks in advance,
Oraya

 

Hello and welcome Oraya.
The way the strawberry has been hollowed out looks like the work of woodlice but they only usually finish the job the slugs have started. Are you sure about the slugs ? Could they be living in the pot ?

 

Hello Oraya,
It is the saddest thing when you see a lovely big juicey strawberry then, on picking it, find it has been half devoured by garden pests...
I have lost plenty a decent strawberry this year (more than last year) and have found everything from slugs, snails, earwigs, woodlice and even ants having a good old feast at my expence.
I have tried to combat this menace with night-time slug and snail hunts along with beer filled slug traps which have both produced possitive results. Unforyunately i can do nothing to stop the woodlice, which i have found most common after slugs/snails.
The garden is, after all, for everyones enjoyment, even the pests, and as i do not use chemicals in my garden i just put it down to the great taste of my strawberries which has to be taken as a compliment !

 

Not sure if this will be of any help.
I have a small strawberry patch with pickings every day and I have not lost a single one to pests.
I have the fruit supported by barley straw and I have a little pond with frogs within a few feet away and I often find a frog amongst the strawberries.
Maybe thats part of the secret. (straw and frogs)

Having said all that.. whats the betting there wont be a single fruit out there tomorrow morning.

 

I think the straw and frogs are an excellent idea, unfortunately my girlfriend hates frogs (we did sneek one in the patch the other day when she wasnt looking).
Hope your strawberries are fine tomorrow !

 

My small strawberry patch this morning produced a few fruits for tea time.
Interesting to see no damage to any fruit at all.
Maybe straw and the frogs are the best answer.

 

I used a Brinno TLC timelapse camera to catch what was eating mine, as soon as they start turning red - a cockroach! I caught it on film and posted it on YouTube (search for "Strawberry Horror"). I would come back every few nights till the ripened strawberry was totally eaten.

I ended up putting fruit protection bags around each stem that only had ripening fruit (no flowers). That did the job. If you want to make your own protection bag, I've put together a video on that too (search for "Fruit Protection Bag" on YouTube).