[Community_garden] Rodent problems

[Jack Hale]

Here is some information we put together years ago.

Jack N. Hale
Executive Director
Knox Parks Foundation
75 Laurel Street
Hartford, CT 06106
860/951-7694

RATS IN YOUR GARDEN


	Rats have come to be an unfortunately common pest in some gardens.  They scare people.  They destroy or damage our crops.  Further, rats are often associated with disease and death, topics we don't like to associate with our gardens.


You Should Know

	In order to cope with them, here are some things we need to understand about rats:
	Rats require four things:
Food
Water
Cover, a place to hide or travel undisturbed
Harborage or living space
Rats tend to go from places that don't provide all of these things to places that do. A freshly plowed garden provides only a place to burrow.  A fully-grown garden can provide everything. A poorly cared for garden in the fall or winter can provide almost as well as a summer garden.

	*	Rats don't like people; they like the places that people provide for them - houses and other buildings, poorly maintained dumpsters, garbage dumps, messy gardens, etc. If you find yourself confronted by a rat, make sure it knows you are there by making noises (they don't see well), and it will probably go away. Don't bother trying to chase it or kill it; it is probably faster than you are and killing one rat isn't accomplishing much.

	*	If you haven't seen any rats but think you might have them in your garden, one thing that suggests rats is small amounts of damage on fruits like cucumber, tomato, or squash. Rats prefer them to leaves, stems, and roots. Also, rats would not be just in your garden. If nobody knows of rats in the neighborhood around the garden, there probably aren't any in the garden either. Rats normally travel no more than 50 yards from their burrows in search of food.

	*	If you want an idea how many rats are out there, multiply what you see by at least 10. Just because you don't see rats doesn't mean there aren't any. They mostly feed at night (bright lights bother them) and they really do avoid contact with people.  If you find rat burrows, assume 6 rats per burrow.

	*	Rats have to come from somewhere. If you have rats in your garden, it means that somewhere nearby is a place that harbors rats and for some reason (overpopulation, lack of food, destruction of burrows, etc.) one or more of them had to leave. This also means that rats can be made to leave your garden.

	*	You can't get rid of rats entirely. There are as many of than as there are of us. You may be able to eliminate the ones that are bothering you at a particular time by killing them or chasing than away, but there are always more. They begin breeding at 3 to 5 months of age, and each female produces 20 or so young in a year. The best strategy seems to be to try to keep the population down and to keep rats out of our living and gardening areas.

	*	Rats prefer to run along vertical surfaces like fences and walls, brushing their whiskers against them, probably because of their poor eyesight. Such a surface with weeds or other materials a couple of inches away provides a perfect runway.


So How Do I Get Them to Go Away?

	Remember the four things that rats need: food, water, harborage, and cover.  If you eliminate one or more of those things, rats will tend to go elsewhere to find it.
	Also remember that gardens don't produce rats. During most of the year, well-kept gardens should be open with no food and water available and only low cover.  During those times, rats will go elsewhere seeking better accommodations. Rats only come to gardens if people maintain excellent places for them to live and find food.  A good garden isn't a good place for rats.


What About Poisons?

	Poisons can help to reduce rat populations, but there is no way to eliminate a rat population in an open area using only poisons. Some pest control experts have recommended killing rats with poison bait in the gardens. They suggest using heavily secured bait boxes or waiting until the growing season is over and putting bait in the burrows. Nobody recommends scattering rat poison in gardens. Rat poisons are dangerous, although modern "anticoagulants" are not as dangerous as some of the older poisons like strychnine. Anyway, it's best to leave that kind of work to trained technicians. In the garden there is too much danger of children, pets, or other animals getting into bait, and there is even a possibility of poison getting into your food.


Things to Do

	*	Harvest your crops, particularly fruit-type crops, as soon as they are ripe. (food)
	*	Pick up fruit that has fallen from the vine and carry it home or bury it.  Rats aren't likely to burrow for rotting food if there is fresh food around. (food)
	*	Stake up tomatoes and grow cucumbers, squash, and other such crops on supports. This holds the food up out of reach (food), and eliminates the cover under which rats like to hide. (cover)
	*	Keep clear.  Try to keep the area outside your garden clear.   Mow tall weeds regularly and keep trash picked up in the areas within 100 feet of the garden. (harborage, cover)
	*	Store high.  If you have to store things like tomato stakes at your garden, don't leave them on the ground.  Rodent control experts recommend keeping them at least 18 inches off the ground.  (cover, harborage)
	*	No water.  Don't leave shallow containers (or even plastic jugs) in your garden where they can collect water for rats to drink. Make sure water is shut off and not collecting in puddles in or near the garden. If you need to leave watering cans or buckets in your garden, turn them upside down over a stake driven into the ground so all water drains out. (water)
	*	Don't pile old plants or weeds in your garden. Bury them or take them home. Rats like to burrow under them. (harborage)
	*	Go ahead and use mulch. It keeps weeds down. (cover) Just make sure it is well compacted so rats won't be tempted to burrow under it. If you use sheets of plastic or landscape fabric, secure all edges to the ground (harborage)
	*	Cultivate your garden carefully. Weeds between rows and particularly along fence lines make good shelter for rat runaways. (cover)
	*	Talk to other gardeners and property owners around your garden to get them to help discourage rats. Woodpiles, uncovered garbage, lattice porches, leaky dumpsters, and piles of junk near your garden will make it very difficult to get rid of rats.
	*	If rats burrow in your garden or near it, destroy their burrows with a spade or stick. They would rather move than fight, so they will probably go away. (harborage)
	*	When installing a fence, leave a gap of 3 to 5 inches between the fence fabric and the ground.  This makes it easier to remove or cut weeds and eliminates that vertical surface along which rats like to run.


Can I Make Compost?

Making compost is a great way to dispose of waste material from your garden.  It is also a great way to improve your soil.  Unfortunately, even well managed composting may attract rats or other pests.  Here are some suggestions for reducing risk.
	*	Elevate your compost 12 to 18 inches off the ground.  This makes it less likely rats will hide under it.
	*	Chop or grind material before adding it to your compost.  This speeds up composting.
	*	Avoid animal products (meat, milk eggs, etc.).  They are very attractive to many pests.
	*	Turn your compost often.  This speeds composting and destroys 
burrows.
	*	Learn to compost.  Frequently turned compost with proper mix of ingredients, water, and air, is not as attractive to pests as a neglected pile of weeds and spoiled vegetables.
	*	Consider a metal composter or one covered completely (top, bottom, and sides) with ¼ inch wire mesh.  This is particularly necessary if there are rats in the area that are beyond your control.


Can I Get Sick From Rats?

	Rats carry several diseases that affect humans.  They include Plague, Rat Bite Fever, Leptospirosis, and Salmonellosis.  The good news is that there have been almost no cases of any of these diseases related to rats in Connecticut.
There is essentially no danger to gardeners' health from rats in gardens. As a precaution, wash all food taken from your garden (you should do that anyway). Officials at the National Center for Environmental Health say, "Although (vegetables damaged by rats) may possibly be safe to eat, aesthetics are such that the vegetables should be considered undesirable for human consumption."


What About Traps?

You can kill rats with traps, but there is real skill involved in setting them so rats can hardly avoid them.  Besides the fact that you may catch something other than rats in your traps, just scattering traps around your garden won't help much.  The other problem with traps is also a problem with poison baits.  You can't just leave them there and go away.  They have to be maintained.  A trap that is sprung is useless until it is cleaned up and reset.


What About Repellants?

All the research indicates that if rats want something badly enough, no amount of repellant of any kind will keep them away.

People have been trying high frequency sound that we can't hear to repel rats.  Some people say it is great.  Other people say it works alright in some indoor situations but probably not outdoors, particularly with a lot of plants around to deaden the sound.  Still others don't think it works at all.  Everybody agrees that it costs money.


Dogs and Cats?

Dogs and cats may kill a few rats, but once they reduce the population by killing the weakest and slowest rats, they probably won't be able to catch any more and will go someplace where it is easier to find something to eat.  If anything, having animals around to kill weak rats tends to strengthen the population of rats.  Rats find food and water dishes of pets handy places to eat and drink while the pet is asleep or off chasing rats.  

-----Original Message-----
From: community_garden-bounces at list.communitygarden.org [mailto:community_garden-bounces at list.communitygarden.org] On Behalf Of James Kuhns
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 3:21 PM
To: ACGA Listserv
Subject: [Community_garden] Rodent problems

Could anyone help me and Moira was this one?
Thanks

Hi all,

Our urban garden is in the midst of a rat infestation.  I'm wondering if anyone out there has had any successes with rodent control in a city environment that they might be able to share.  Any suggestions at all are welcome - the more humane the better.

Thanks for helping us out,
The Green Teen Community Gardening Program Poughkeepsie, NY
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