Oh Rats - They Are At It Again
If you have come here for some inspiring tidbits in a who moved my cheese kind of way, I hate to disappoint you!
Lately I have been smelling a rat, or rather I have been seeing the destruction of their path.
With the continuation of the drought on our door, rodents are moving closer to residential areas in search of food, my little plant nursery seems to have become the perfect haven for these pesky creatures to feast at night. They have been getting into my newly rooted plants chewing them off at the stem, not to mention the animal food storage and I am just out of ideas on how to keep them at bay.
I know that leaving the rats long enough will also call for constant visits from very unwelcome guests such as snakes. On the farm we deal with snakes on a regular basis, but do I want an excess of snakes in and around the house and chicken coups; NO. The majority of snakes large enough to take on these humongous rats, and are not shy to intrude into the dwellings of us mere mortals, are the kind of snakes that you would commonly not want around your house. Black Mamba, Rinkhals and Spitting Cobras are three of the most likely suspects in this regards, and they just so happen to be some of the deadliest.
For me poison is not really an option, as poisoned rats often gets caught by owls and other wild creatures. A poisoned rat becomes weak and slow before death making them easier prey, this means that whatever ends up eating the rats also ingest the poison, and this had a severe impact on the delicate ecosystem.
So what is left to do?
I have tried setting out traps, from the common snapping type to fnakes and cage traps and then I even scooted on to pretty much every DIY trap that I could find on youtube, and despite the fact that I have caught quite a few, I am fully convinced that they are multiplying at 5 times the success rate of any trap that I can possibly put out for them.
I even went as far as pulling out the pellet gun from the cupboard, and as much fun as it has been shooting these pests I simply can not seem to get ahead of them...
Honestly at the point of considering something slightly more drastic;
But lets hope it doesn't come to that :D
Here not experienced with traps, but i recently saw a perfect contraption device. A large, round container as usually used to collect/store water. Over it, a rod that is fasted on both ends to the bin. A couple of large coke bottles through which the rod leads through the middle, making them spin. Some bait on top of bottles. Rat goes on bottle to reach bait, bottle spins, animal falls into container.
I have made some of those, they managed to get all the bait and not a single rat fell in, I still set them up, I then tried it with larger containers so that the rats couldn't stretch over from the sides, but it still didn't work, then I started oiling the bottle that spins, still nothing, I figured that they might be getting out after falling in, so I oiled the sides of the capturing container and added oil and a water to the bottom of the container - but alas NOTHING LOL
Oh well - it was worth a try...
I love rats but yes if they take over it can be a problem. What I do to keep them away is peppermint oil they hate it. Soak cloth , flax or cotton with the oil and place it in places they come through . If you have holes where they come into the house nail down steel mesh then a layer of cloth or cotton or ect douse it with peppermint oil and nail another sheet of steal mesh over it . plant peppermint around your home and the barn . Make sure the peppermint oil is the real thing or it is not going to work . i have cleaned out infested houses like this but you need to be consistent and refresh periodically. Also adopting a cat or two can help a lot too ...
Oh wow, I am going to try the oils for sure. As for the plants the rats ate off my peppermint and spearmint plants LOL
I would love to adopt cats, but my mother hates cats with a deep seated passion, so keeping them on the farm is not the best idea. (she would probably prefer eradicating them in stead of the rats :( )
:(
there are also ultrasonic plugins that scare off rats but i would only put them in the barn and you need to test how the other animals react to them. You could also try to get that contraceptive stuff cities use on pigeons who know if it works on rats too ...basically it just makes them infertile so there are just no future generations , but i don't know if one can do that with rats its just a wild idea ...
Oh wow, I was reading up on rat contraceptives - its a thing LOL
well there you go the cute little rats get to live out their lives but there are no babies after :D
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I live in dairy country, and no better environment for rodents exists. Every dairy has a predatory herd of cats. There is a reason cats were domesticated, and crop preservation is that reason. They may not eliminate the rodents, but enough cats will keep the population of rodents to a survivable number. It's a proven method of rodent control.
My best wishes for your success.
Thanks!
Well cats are a good way to control rats, but sadly, my mom despises the stuff and refuses to have them on the farm :(
Hmmm... Other predators then, like rat terriers, or imported non-poisonous snakes. King Snakes aren't poisonous, and primarily feed on rats. If they keep the rat numbers down, they'll help keep poisonous snakes away too. The rats will bring the locals to the feast, if you can't reduce their numbers.