Information and discussion regarding garden diseases, insects and other unwelcome critters.
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June 2, 2017 | #1 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2008
Location: DFW, Texas
Posts: 1,212
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Know your enemy...looks like a job for:
Seriously, I agree they are smart! I have put the 2 hole stations right along their paths. They work on some, because I've been disposing of dead ones. Others seem to prefer tomatoes! Multi front war! Quote:
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June 2, 2017 | #2 |
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a
Posts: 21,169
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And here's a story about just one rat that might show you that rats can bond with humans as well
http://honesttopaws.com/farmer-saves-rat/ With the above link you have to see it stop loading before you go to the next page. At home on the farm my father insisted in throwing all the refuse down an abandoned well,and the rats came running. My mother said, no more and signed up for a refuse truck to pick up the garbge. Where I am now there was a rat problem ,they came over the hill from a large dairy farm on the other side, got inside the tool shed and ate the black oil seed stored in there, they came under the floor of the tool shed and got in that way. So my brother put up heavy metal mesh facing inside to hopefully stop them,then they tore a hole in the one window that was in the tool shed which was mesh,so my brother put up two panels of heavy metal mesh over the window and that seemed to stop them. So I guess they went back over the hill to that large dairy farm, where they milked about 500 cows every day. Their milk was and is, picked up by a huge tanker truck, where it is kept cold,and driven to MA where it's used for both Cabot cheeses as well as McCadam ones . And what they ate over there,I don't know, possibly where the grain is stored for the cows. So read the link and just think of at least one rat that bonded with a human. Carolyn, and yes,I do know what happens over there since two brothers own it,Jim and Bobby, and Bobby's wife Kathy is the one who keeps the books and assigns to their many workers what they will be doing each day,etc. Jim is cutting back his hours,and he's the one who picks up my meds from Rite Aid and his wife the school nurse and their son David is one of those who answer 911 calls at the County Center.
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Carolyn |
June 2, 2017 | #3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2015
Location: NC
Posts: 97
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.......and now I've got that Michael Jackson song "Ben" playing in my head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g40WCBaUXR4 |
June 5, 2017 | #4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Southern CA
Posts: 1,714
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How about getting a cat or two?
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June 5, 2017 | #5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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June 5, 2017 | #6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Central Illinois
Posts: 1,836
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June 5, 2017 | #7 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Homestead,Everglades City Fl.
Posts: 2,491
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We have three.
Wife commandeered two females,I got one from Bavaria that was farm raised,rat trained.This little mutt is the equivalent of a Tasmanian Devil in the canine world.His name is Rommel,named after the "the Desert Rat"himself.2grand papers and quarantine total cost.Sleeping at night knowing that no rats dare enter his perimeter run,priceless.Miniature Pinchers work for us.
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KURT |
June 1, 2017 | #8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: kentucky
Posts: 1,116
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Like said, rats are SMART! Snap traps won't kill the big rats, and once they get snapped once they won't go to a trap again. If you set traps for rats they need to be modified rat traps that mean business. The best poison option I know of is a bait called, Havoc. Rats love it, a d it just takes one nibble! Google it.
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June 1, 2017 | #9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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There is a huge infestation of rats in Austin.
It is said the main infestation and nest is in between 15th street 11th street San Jacinto Blvd and Colorado street. Worth |
June 2, 2017 | #10 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: On The Mason Dixon
Posts: 93
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I purchased a high powered pellet rifle and a nice scope to deal with the rats in the chicken coop. A .177 pellet to the head puts them down fast and humanely.
A cheap infrared scope would help to watch the garden at night when they're out and about. |
June 4, 2017 | #11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Southern CA
Posts: 1,714
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If using bait stations with those pellets, be sure there are no pets around that could eat a rodent that dies. One day one of my dogs was trying to sneak into the house with a dead rat in his mouth. I grabbed him and hung him upside down, swinging and yelling until he let go (luckily he was a small dog). Found out later that my next door neighbor had bait out in his garage cuz of his rat problem, as I found another dead rat in an area my dogs could not get too, thankfully. Once I alerted my neighbor, he immediately stopped using the bait, and resorted to traps, thank God he was cooperative.
You just don't know how many rodents ate your bait, and I doubt they all die right then and there. |
June 4, 2017 | #12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2012
Location: massachusetts
Posts: 1,710
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They are bad here at times.
Extermination company baits them, and we stop noticing them. "Get rid of them" is probably not realistic. "Reduce their numbers" is with the right stuff. |
June 4, 2017 | #13 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2007
Location: North County, San Diego
Posts: 419
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You have to be careful with snap traps as they often kill birds, lizards and others. I stopped using them except under the hood of my car and in the garage where I have never had an unwanted kill.
Now I use the Atomic Barbie Rat Trap https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...A2RAG6KSLZNX91 I have caught more rats and mice with this than any other trap. It is very sensitive and will catch the smallest mouse. I have also caught squirrels, lizards, birds and snails with this thing. Just let the critter go if you don't want to send it to a better place. The rat trap has a small mesh so mice can't get in and out to steal the bait. Last edited by zeuspaul; June 4, 2017 at 01:17 PM. Reason: spelling |
June 5, 2017 | #14 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2008
Location: DFW, Texas
Posts: 1,212
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Pretty cool, but, that leaves you with the killing to do by hand I guess? At least the snap traps are quick and do the deed for you.
I've thought about the mouser option, but, am on the fence. In spite of living in Dallas suburbia, we have had a rash of small animals disappearing to a combination of bob cats and coyotes. They don't seem to bother with rats because the rabbits have bread like rabbits these last couple of years and are keeping them well fed (and small domestic animals make an easy mark). Quote:
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June 5, 2017 | #15 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2007
Location: North County, San Diego
Posts: 419
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Quote:
Just today I caught a San Diego Tiger Whiptail lizard. http://www.californiaherps.com/lizar...egerisd508.jpg It was about nine inches long. As I approached the trap I spotted its friend or mate keeping it company just outside the trap. I set it free and they scurried off together. We also have some fine looking Granite Spiny lizards. A few years ago I smashed one in a snap trap baited with cheese. Truly a sad day. |
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