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[sporehead]

This has been so frustrating. There were quite a lot of tomatoes but the rats have reduced them by at least 50%. They are eaten or at least mauled daily. These crazy rats don't discriminate between red or green and, at times, only have a few bites leaving what's left to rot. They ate part of a cabbage, the sunflower before it even opened and the brussels sprouts leaves. I wouldn't put it past them to move on to the melons, okra and tomatillos sometime soon.

I've tried a few things so far in an effort to deter them. I spread ground up chili peppers over the whole site, poured two gallons of chili water on a huge stick pile where I believe a lot of them live. We used a spray but it went really fast. It had fox urine and ghost pepper and mint and such. We also got a rat poison box thing and put it in the garden and pruned a lot of foliage out of the tomatoes around it. I hoped it would discourage them if it would leave them more visible.

I heard about some barn Barn cat program. I don't think that's really feasible in my living situation but it sounds like a good option. I'm in favor of a predator after all of this. These rats don't seem to care and at this point I almost want the eliminated. Deterrents are tough, because these critters are so smart and are cautious of new things. Since, overall nothing else has worked, why not? I'm picking the nearly ripe tomatoes for windowsill ripening but fresh is what I deserve after all this hard work. If it's not dealt with they will eat all of our food.

Any other suggestions? I'll try all of the things.

[Ian Morris]

Similar situation with tree rats in an old suburb of giant oaks.  I tried to reason, warn or otherwise deter but they were just assholes.

Chop up a wine cork and cover it in peanut butter, place in high traffic areas.  Works like a charm, repeat as needed.

[sporehead]

Ya I saw that one but haven't gotten there yet. Also heard about bacon covered steel wool. Both are pretty ruthless but that's where I'm at. I'll try corks out soon. Any and everything must be done.

[fairdinkumseeds]

50/50 concrete powder and custard powder, mix the powder and put in a takeaway container.
Kills rodents by bowel constriction, and is nontoxic to large critters as the bowel is too big, so it can't set, so it can't cause harm.
Unlike the blood thinning toxic poisons, it desiccates and mummifies them instead of turning to slush, so no stink when they die in your wall cavities, and if the native critters like hawks, owls, snakes etc eat them it isn't an issue.
Pet and kiddie safe too.
Best solution for feral rodent infestation(besides removal of the food source).

Sounds harsh, and I never use it here as we have too many snakes to need to, but in stockfeed stores and hay stacks it works better than the commercial stuff and is safer and cheaper too.

2 Likes Mangrove and chamomeleon like this.

[bosqueberg]

Great ideas and info. I'v been trying to go the peaceful route, and it has not been working out so well for me either. Has anyone tried bringing in a few ratsnakes or other native snake species to deal with rodents? Other predators? Seems like that could be a good way to go. Saw some burrowing owls around the corner not too long ago, was thinking of digging them some nice holes.

[kykeion]

Cats.  There are drawbacks for sure (lease stipulations, go after everything (birds, lizzards, rodents, snakes, etc), have to be fed), but I am amazed at the number of mice/rodents that our cats catch.  I am pretty sure one of our cats mostly survives on what she catches as she rarely comes in to eat.  The other cat began hunting in earnest after having her litter of kittens, often bringing in two to three mice a day.  Now that the kittens are gone she still catches at least one every day. TBH I am surprised there are still rodents for them to catch.