Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Information and discussion regarding garden diseases, insects and other unwelcome critters.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old October 15, 2017   #1
bower
Tomatovillian™
 
bower's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,794
Default Worst advice ever.... RATS!!!

This past spring I was the lucky recipient of a pickup load of horse manure that was not rotted enough to use - it was full of clumps of grassy bedding. A friend advised to do as he does - cover it with a tarp and let the summer heat rot the weed seeds and grass. And that is what I did.

This morning I pulled off the tarp to start shovelling this material into the garlic beds.
THREE startled rats leaped out and ran away. A fourth sat peeping at me from a hole. There are several holes visible in the little mound of nicely rotted material which is nothing more nor less than a RAT HOTEL.
I spotted rats twice this summer in the garden and wondered why they are staying around. I stopped putting eggshells in the compost, then stopped composting at all put scraps in the garbage instead. I thought it was my fault for growing tomatoes. I dragged my old tomato plants way off into the woods instead of building a proper compost with them. I thought I will have to stop trying to grow more veggies because it is attracting these pests. And maybe those thoughts have some truth, but NOTHING compares to making a manure hotel for them.
So now before I can put the manure to use, I will have to drive the rats out of it.
Just absolutely thrilled with this prospect.
bower is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #2
MissS
Tomatovillian™
 
MissS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin
Posts: 3,149
Default

Bower I am so sorry to hear this. Rats can become a huge problem in a short time. Many people would try to control their numbers before they tried to run them off.
__________________
~ Patti ~
MissS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #3
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

Do fat country rats bother you that much?
Here is what you did.
You created the best warm place for rats in the winter and on top of that a food source, the seeds in the manure.
You might even call it the Rat Radisson.

Just the other day at the office I never go to a woman came in and asked a man to remove a dead roach from her office.
There is no way I am going to remove a dead roach for anyone, they can do it themselves.
Worth
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #4
Labradors2
Tomatovillian™
 
Labradors2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Ontario
Posts: 3,895
Default

Oh no Bower! So sorry to hear about the Rat Radisson (good one Worth) .

Do you know anyone with a Jack Russell Terrier that you could borrow for a while? They are excellent ratters I hear. Wish you lived closer as I have a friend who would be delighted to lend you hers for some fun exercise.

Guess you need to toss the horse manure in the woods along with the discarded tomato debris It might help it to degrade faster. Ugh!

Hang in there!
Linda
Labradors2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #5
ddsack
Tomatovillian™
 
ddsack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3
Posts: 3,231
Default

I probably would blame the tarp, not the manure! It provided a rainproof cover for them to set up housekeeping. Without it, the manure pile would have just sat open to the elements like any other mulch pile. I suppose rats will be attracted to undigested oats and corn kernels passing through the horse gut, or oats left attached on bedding straw.

I wonder if using clear plastic instead of an opaque tarp would have made any difference? If it was in full sun, it might have heated up the pile to the point of discomfort? In shade it would not have made any difference.
__________________
Dee

**************
ddsack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #6
AlittleSalt
BANNED FOR LIFE
 
AlittleSalt's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 13,333
Default

I can send you some cats.

Our cats have a sudden fascination with our barns because the mice and rats are getting ready for winter.
AlittleSalt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #7
bower
Tomatovillian™
 
bower's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,794
Default

Yes indeed. Deluxe Ratisson Hotel I made. Warm as toast and riddled with food. And right near to my house as well.
Nice thought Miss S, I did worry 'where will they run to', but there is no way I'm letting them set in that pile any longer or try to 'reduce their numbers' myself. I am not cut out for the business of killing vermin or of instigating a long and endless war between me and them. As the fellow who gave me the advice about the tarp, so happens to be still engaged in a decades long war with the rats. If he expected a nest in the pile he certainly didn't say so, or if he has seen such nests it may not have occurred to him that it is a primo way to create a rat problem and a bad practice for that reason.
In any case it is true, there are fat country rats around wherever there's any serious attempt to grow food. The closer you are to water, the better they like it. There are plenty of ditches and marshes in the area, a river also, but these features are far enough from my house to make it less appealing as a place to nest. Or so I thought.
There has been a huge amount of construction on the hillside above the river, and a swath of forest now is housing. Dunno if that displaced some country rats or attracted them.

I took a long pole and poked and broke away the holes in the pile and have now seen a total of ten animals leaving the pile. The smallest were no bigger than mice, the largest one the size of a cat and a medium brown color while all the lesser and small sized ones were grey.
I will have to be on my game and make sure I have routed them out of the area and not taking up residence somewhere else on my property.
bower is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #8
bower
Tomatovillian™
 
bower's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,794
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlittleSalt View Post
I can send you some cats.

Our cats have a sudden fascination with our barns because the mice and rats are getting ready for winter.
Bring em on!!
And Linda, my thoughts as well... the right dog would be a very welcome guest!!!

Last edited by bower; October 15, 2017 at 10:58 AM. Reason: add
bower is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #9
bower
Tomatovillian™
 
bower's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,794
Default

Dee, very interesting thought about using clear plastic instead.
Could of course end up with a "Rodent Observatory" or "Rattarium"
bower is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #10
ddsack
Tomatovillian™
 
ddsack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3
Posts: 3,231
Default

Or a solarium for them to work on their tans in!
__________________
Dee

**************
ddsack is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #11
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

It's called an atrium or rattrium I'll have you know.
Worth
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #12
ChiliPeppa
Tomatovillian™
 
ChiliPeppa's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Mojave Desert - California
Posts: 368
Default

Wow, sorry to hear this. There is no need to cover a horse manure pile (unless you get horrendously high winds), it will heat up very well on its own. If the the air moisture is very low then you can spray it a tiny bit with the hose. But manure piles (unless you are in the desert like me) heat up and rot quickly without any help. You can even see steam rising from it on a cool morning. If you have chickens they do a great job of getting rid of bugs, weed seeds and anything that would dare to sprout. At least this has been my experience with decades of horse manure.
ChiliPeppa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #13
MikeInCypress
Tomatovillian™
 
MikeInCypress's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Cypress, TX
Posts: 963
Default

Just remember Farm Rats are just Squirrels with Bald Tails!!!!!!!

MikeInCypress
__________________
"Growing older, not up"
MikeInCypress is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #14
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/index.htm

http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/cookingrats.htm

Last edited by Worth1; October 15, 2017 at 01:46 PM.
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old October 15, 2017   #15
bower
Tomatovillian™
 
bower's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,794
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiliPeppa View Post
Wow, sorry to hear this. There is no need to cover a horse manure pile (unless you get horrendously high winds), it will heat up very well on its own. If the the air moisture is very low then you can spray it a tiny bit with the hose. But manure piles (unless you are in the desert like me) heat up and rot quickly without any help. You can even see steam rising from it on a cool morning. If you have chickens they do a great job of getting rid of bugs, weed seeds and anything that would dare to sprout. At least this has been my experience with decades of horse manure.
So true! I think the judgement is unanimous... the tarp is to blame, not the manure.
I doubt the rats will return to try to live in that nest, now that the tarp is off.
Project 'move the manure' will happen in the near future, anyway.
Dang I never hope to see another rat.
bower is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:38 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★