What's eating my strawberries?

[OrganicTexasMama]

I was so looking forward to this season, with my four plants from last year spawning a zillion daughter plants. But, even though my plants are doing better than last year, my yield is as bad or worse - I.e., nothing. Every time we get a berry that's nice and red, something has eaten it from UNDERNEATH. We're not talking birds, as far as I can tell - these are often berries resting on the soil/whatever under the plants. The holes in them are generally conical. Could it lizards? We have a lot of them here.

Ah, meant to say - these are container berries. I've got two good-sized pots next to each other (one has the original 4, one has the daughter plants), and I'm losing them in each. I have definitely had lizards in/around the pots. I tried putting moss down last year, under the berries, but took it out for some reason - now I can't remember why? I thought it was having a negative effect, but last year was our first year so who knows.

Anyway, what could it be? And what can I do about it? I'm not sure how much longer they'll be blooming. They started in January!

[Kisal]

It could be any kind of smallish animal, including lizards, turtles if you have any around (I guess they're technically tortoises in arid areas), mice, and so on. It might even be ants. I wouldn't be too quick to condemn the lizards, though. Don't they eat a lot of insects? They might actually be helping to protect your plants.

It's not a good idea to allow any fruit to lie on the ground. That's true of melons, tomatoes, squash, etc. A piece of cardboard under the fruit, or in the case of your berries, just propping the container up off the ground by setting it on a cement block or some scrap wood might be sufficient.

If your property is arid, setting out small containers of water for the wildlife in areas away from the plants you're growing might be helpful, too. I used to buy large terra cotta saucers for this purpose. They were just the kind you put under a flower pot, but I didn't need the pots. (I actually glazed mine blue on the inside, but I realize not everyone has a kiln out in their garage. ) It was a simple thing for me to do, and the saucers are quite attractive. Plastic would certainly be equally effective, and you wouldn't have to worry about them losing water as quickly as unglazed clay.

I guess my point in all my rambling here is that whatever is chomping into your strawberries might only be looking for a way to quench their thirst.

[applestar]

If they are resting on or near the ground, then most likely culprits are slugs at least in my garden. I'm losing majority of uncovered strawberries to birds though.

Bird bites show the sharp beak marks, though tortoises/turtles could leave a similar bite. Our Mr. T (Eastern Painted Box Turtle) used to do that while he stayed in the enclosed garden with a strawberry jar planted with strawberries.