[Community_garden] Rodent problems

Thu Mar 29 12:06:33 EDT 2007

This is absolutely excellent.
                                                ---McG

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jack Hale" <jackh at knoxparks.org>
To: "ACGA Listserv" <community_garden at list.communitygarden.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 2:51 PM
Subject: Re: [Community_garden] Rodent problems

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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out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org

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