Far from pouring scorn on the snake idea, because everything is worth at least a try, but I have quite a healthy natural population of grass snakes on the plot but the rats are unrelenting and don't really congregate where the snakes live. I do not get any problems from rats with any on my vegetable areas. I no longer keep poultry because they are great attractants (but I am considering keeping a few this year) but I use EradiRat (no superseded by EradiBait) around the barns and out houses and certainly this has helped to reduce numbers quite significantly.
Prior to baiting, rats were an everyday fact of life, but are now only an unpleasant surprise. I must admit that I live extremely rurally and have no sewers or other places where they tend to congregate but I do have a lot of composting going on and grain is stored in the barns. The barns are protected by quite a feral population of cats which keep them almost totally at bay.
Rats are simply a fact of life and they are a problem that will never end
but they are very unlikely to do that much damage to living crops. Certainly the one crop they may have a crack at is sweet corn but cobs can easily be protected with the use of plastic milk cartons doctored to fit over the cobs but apart from sweet corn I feel there is very little to worry about. They may have the odd chew on your compost and may make a home underneath the compost but they are relatively harmless there and move them out if you prefer but if you leave them there at least you know where they are and you can then take steps to eradicate them.
JB.
rats
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
Hi everybody,
I have just purchased 9 plastic wavy colourful snakes from ebay for £3.79.
I will let you know how I get on!! Maybe this could be a new line to sell in allotment shops all over the country.
Tracie
I have just purchased 9 plastic wavy colourful snakes from ebay for £3.79.
I will let you know how I get on!! Maybe this could be a new line to sell in allotment shops all over the country.
Tracie
who needs the gym when you have an allotment
Johnboy, would you please elaborate on your 'milk carton protection for sweet corn' idea.
This year, for the first time, we had extensive rat damage to sweet corn. The rats were actually seen consuming the crop and damage occurred on almost every plot.
This year, for the first time, we had extensive rat damage to sweet corn. The rats were actually seen consuming the crop and damage occurred on almost every plot.
david71
We had the same problem on our site.
The rats ate everybodys sweetcorn and were seen doing so in broad daylight, munching away. This is the first time the rats have done this on our site too.
If they have started eating the sweetcorn, I wonder what they will eat next !!.
Tracie
The rats ate everybodys sweetcorn and were seen doing so in broad daylight, munching away. This is the first time the rats have done this on our site too.
If they have started eating the sweetcorn, I wonder what they will eat next !!.
Tracie
who needs the gym when you have an allotment
We have an outbuilding which we use as as food store among other things - tins, jars, packets of pasta etc. A rat has chewed its way in via the ceiling which I suspect is just chipboard. We bought something similar to Eradibait - it's corn husks and they can't digest it. We put it out on its own and it was not touched. So we tried with raisins and JB suggested and Roland ate the raisins and left the pellets. So I put peanut butter in the dish and wedged the pellets into it and it got eaten.
Coming to the main point now. I bought a new jar of peanut butter and left it out there unopened. This morning the plastic lid had been practically chewed through. Other jars such as Marmite with exactly the same sort of lid had been left alone. So how did it know this was peanut butter when it hadn't ever been opened and Roland couldn't possibly have smelt anything.
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Granny
Coming to the main point now. I bought a new jar of peanut butter and left it out there unopened. This morning the plastic lid had been practically chewed through. Other jars such as Marmite with exactly the same sort of lid had been left alone. So how did it know this was peanut butter when it hadn't ever been opened and Roland couldn't possibly have smelt anything.
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Granny
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I suspect the rat problem will only get worse. It was reported in the paper yesterday that this problem is being fuelled by those local councils who have now instituted fortnightly rubbish collections instead of weekly.
Hi, folks
Yesterday's Daily Mail had an amusing cartoon featuring rats:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/coffeebreak/cartoons/mac.html
(hope the link works - not really sure how to do these things)
Yesterday's Daily Mail had an amusing cartoon featuring rats:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/coffeebreak/cartoons/mac.html
(hope the link works - not really sure how to do these things)
Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.
Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Well I’m only really qualified to talk on one subject and as I would like to contribute to what to me is a new forum , my chosen topic as a one time professional pest controller, has got to be that of vermin. I must also point out that one of my main interests is poultry keeping.
In my work I use a veritable arsenal of rodenticide, pesticide, gas and traps against the constant menace of a seemingly ever growing throng of pests.
We as chicken keepers are in the frontline when it comes to the number one pest species. The Rat! We owe it to our neighbours, families and to our birds to wage a 365 days of the year all out war against the rat. I shouldn’t have to tell you of the dangers they pose but if you’d seen some of the sights that I have, then you would understand why I say that even one rat on your place is unacceptable.
Ugh! Rats! I hate them.
The number one tool against rat has got to be poison. A good dog or a trap will catch rats but it will never get them all. The right poison put down in the right way often will.
When I turn out to an infestation I split the job into two definite halves. The first is to get rid of the rats and then just as importantly to try and prevent re-infestation .
Rats need two things to survive – that’s food and harbourage. If you can deny one or both of them, then you are on to a winner.
Most of the measures which need to be taken are just sheer common sense but if you are anything like me then you are an expert at putting off the blatantly obvious.
Firstly, do get yourself secure food bins with tight fitting lids. Don’t leave food in paper sacks and expect rats and mice to find the paper impenetrable.
Do try to feed your birds the right amount of food so that they clean up pretty quickly. Don’t leave great amounts at the bottom of runs especially after the birds have gone to roost.
Now onto harbourage. Harbourage is pest control jargon for somewhere to live. Unless you are fortunate enough to have tailor-made accommodation, the chances are that your bird houses will have inherent design faults that will encourage rats to stay for bed and breakfast with you. However if you keep your place tidy then you are on the right track.
By tidy, I mean get the scrap man in to remove that rusting pile of old junk and put a match to that pile of old wood or rubbish and generally get rid of that rat hotel!
Two things that I would suggest that you try and do whenever possible is to raise your existing sheds up off the floor and try to get 18 -24 inches clearance so that you can see if you have got unwanted visitors beneath your buildings.
Secondly, you can save all the tin sheet you can get and get it nailed flush to the bottom of all your doors and even consider using it to clad vulnerable areas
Now down to poison. The number one rule with poison is don’t skimp. Being ‘tight’ with your poison could mean that the rats get a sub-lethal dose and encourage resistance or bait shyness.
Warfarin has been on the market for 30-40 years and is known as a first generation anti-coagulant. You can still get it but it really has come to the end of its shelf life. With Warfarin you have to get the rats to eat an amount of poison over a period of time. Warfarin is what is known as a multi dose poison.
In the past ten years we have had the advent of a number of so called second generation anti-coagulants. They still use the same methodology to kill the rats but are single-dose poisons. The rats have to consume a lot less of the poison and only have to have one feed on the bait to get a good kill rate.
Down to practicalities. You need to keep poison down in the form of bait stations all year round and in that way you’ll never get a build up of vermin.
Bait stations can take the form of lengths of plastic or clay pipes placed in strategic positions. If you have the pipes about 3 foot long you can spoon the bait into the middle of it so that only rats can get at it.
Rat poison is now also sold in the form of wax blocks. These are excellent, if a bit expensive. They are weather resistant and can be nailed to the sides of sheds on rat runs and are less likely to attract the chickens.
One thing that I would advise against is the use of scatter bags. Although they might appear handy they aren’t as good as they are cracked up to be. Rat colonies have a definite hierarchy and the dominant rats often carry the bags away to keep them from their lesser brethren, hide them and forget where they put them so the poison is lost and therefore wasted.
Yeah! When it comes to pests I’m a mine of information and could literally go on and on, and if any of you members need advice on rodents or insects etc, then just PM me !
In my work I use a veritable arsenal of rodenticide, pesticide, gas and traps against the constant menace of a seemingly ever growing throng of pests.
We as chicken keepers are in the frontline when it comes to the number one pest species. The Rat! We owe it to our neighbours, families and to our birds to wage a 365 days of the year all out war against the rat. I shouldn’t have to tell you of the dangers they pose but if you’d seen some of the sights that I have, then you would understand why I say that even one rat on your place is unacceptable.
Ugh! Rats! I hate them.
The number one tool against rat has got to be poison. A good dog or a trap will catch rats but it will never get them all. The right poison put down in the right way often will.
When I turn out to an infestation I split the job into two definite halves. The first is to get rid of the rats and then just as importantly to try and prevent re-infestation .
Rats need two things to survive – that’s food and harbourage. If you can deny one or both of them, then you are on to a winner.
Most of the measures which need to be taken are just sheer common sense but if you are anything like me then you are an expert at putting off the blatantly obvious.
Firstly, do get yourself secure food bins with tight fitting lids. Don’t leave food in paper sacks and expect rats and mice to find the paper impenetrable.
Do try to feed your birds the right amount of food so that they clean up pretty quickly. Don’t leave great amounts at the bottom of runs especially after the birds have gone to roost.
Now onto harbourage. Harbourage is pest control jargon for somewhere to live. Unless you are fortunate enough to have tailor-made accommodation, the chances are that your bird houses will have inherent design faults that will encourage rats to stay for bed and breakfast with you. However if you keep your place tidy then you are on the right track.
By tidy, I mean get the scrap man in to remove that rusting pile of old junk and put a match to that pile of old wood or rubbish and generally get rid of that rat hotel!
Two things that I would suggest that you try and do whenever possible is to raise your existing sheds up off the floor and try to get 18 -24 inches clearance so that you can see if you have got unwanted visitors beneath your buildings.
Secondly, you can save all the tin sheet you can get and get it nailed flush to the bottom of all your doors and even consider using it to clad vulnerable areas
Now down to poison. The number one rule with poison is don’t skimp. Being ‘tight’ with your poison could mean that the rats get a sub-lethal dose and encourage resistance or bait shyness.
Warfarin has been on the market for 30-40 years and is known as a first generation anti-coagulant. You can still get it but it really has come to the end of its shelf life. With Warfarin you have to get the rats to eat an amount of poison over a period of time. Warfarin is what is known as a multi dose poison.
In the past ten years we have had the advent of a number of so called second generation anti-coagulants. They still use the same methodology to kill the rats but are single-dose poisons. The rats have to consume a lot less of the poison and only have to have one feed on the bait to get a good kill rate.
Down to practicalities. You need to keep poison down in the form of bait stations all year round and in that way you’ll never get a build up of vermin.
Bait stations can take the form of lengths of plastic or clay pipes placed in strategic positions. If you have the pipes about 3 foot long you can spoon the bait into the middle of it so that only rats can get at it.
Rat poison is now also sold in the form of wax blocks. These are excellent, if a bit expensive. They are weather resistant and can be nailed to the sides of sheds on rat runs and are less likely to attract the chickens.
One thing that I would advise against is the use of scatter bags. Although they might appear handy they aren’t as good as they are cracked up to be. Rat colonies have a definite hierarchy and the dominant rats often carry the bags away to keep them from their lesser brethren, hide them and forget where they put them so the poison is lost and therefore wasted.
Yeah! When it comes to pests I’m a mine of information and could literally go on and on, and if any of you members need advice on rodents or insects etc, then just PM me !
No Johnboy I havent.
What is important, is the actual name of the poisonous agent used and the type of bait the company has used to mix it with. Have a look at the small print on the ingredients list, there are a number of poisons that the company could be using.
What is important, is the actual name of the poisonous agent used and the type of bait the company has used to mix it with. Have a look at the small print on the ingredients list, there are a number of poisons that the company could be using.