Get Rid of Rats in your Garden - Three Tips | West Coast Garden 2021 | PNW
2021 ж. 20 Нау.
20 226 Рет қаралды
Rats are a fact of life in my West Coast garden, they live in the same urban Vancouver neighbourhood as me. They too like the mild weather, proximity to the ocean and produce in my garden. In this video I show you how I am prevailing in the battle for my produce.
Oregon Master Gardener Series extension.oregonstate.edu/vid...
Totally agree, we need to realize they will never be erradicated. Learn to live with them.
Thanks for the post. We live on west coast of California and near a harbor and stream with open fields behind our property. We trap year round too. It is a constant chore to keep the garden from being infested. So I understand exactly how you feel.
Great video with great content, as usual. Rats are a big issue in the interior of BC, as well. Keeping sheds and other structures tidy can help with deterring them from settling in. Talking to your neighbours can help getting everyone on the same page. I have learned a few things from mine.
Thanks Christine. What tips have you learned from your neighbours? Also, check out the video/podcast I link to. It has really useful info if you have the time to watch it.
I would have liked a few hints other than traps and keeping yard tidy.
Excellent video! Will check out that podcast! Thank you!!
Glad you liked it...the video is linked below mine ...here is the link extension.oregonstate.edu/video/oh-rats-dealing-non-native-rodents-garden
Thanks for the video. I too live in East Van. A neighbour across the alley tore down an old house/garage and now I have a rat problem in my raised beds!! I am beside myself.
I use the wooden traps once. I tie them in a large milk carton so they can’t get away, and set with peanut butter. Once it catches a rat, the entire carton, rat, and trap goes into the trash. To add: at one house I lived the field at the back of the property had not been tended to for 12 years. So after cutting down trees and clearing brush, I had to set traps. After killing 50 rats, I stopped counting. You could hear the traps going off all night. The traps finally took care of the rat population. Oh, I am in SoCal.
Can you please explain more about milk cartons? Whst type and how exactly? thanks
@@encouragementgal8041 Hi, I use Minute Maid juice or milk cartons (half gallon paper cartons) that the traps will fit in and allow the mouse to walk in. I smear peanut butter on the bait section. I put a twist tie from sandwich bags through a hold on the trap. It is on the side that holds down the spring mechanism. I put a hole in the bottom of the carton and slide the sandwich tie that is attached to the trap through the hole. You have to be real gentle to it will spring the trap. Once the tie is through the hole in the bottom of the trap, then I twist the sandwich tie so the mouse cannot pull it out. I set the carton in a place where mice frequent. Once the trap catches a mouse, I throw away the entire set up, milk/juice carton with the spring trap and hopefully dead mouse inside in the trash. The reason why I put the trap inside a carton is so the the mouse has no where to go to escape once the trap is spring. Without the carton, mice would spring the trap and escape. For rats which are much larger than mice, it requires a much larger container, as the trap is too big for a half gallon milk carton. The same principle works though. For some traps, I have used a plastic milk jug or box I saved. I use cartons or boxes for both types of traps as I do not want to touch dead mice or rats, or risk getting bit by ones that are not dead yet. I also use Rat X.. You sprinkle this food item around a rat infested area, it is safe to use around other animals. The formulation of this product is not digestible by rats so it kills them. Keep away sources of water or it will not work. This year is a particularly bad year for rats, mice, etc. so I have gone through many kinds of traps and bait stations. The simple traps seem to be the most effective. Mice are easier to catch. Rats seem to be much harder; maybe they are smarter. Some of the varieties of rats here are larger than my indoor cats. The challenge is to find large enough containers to put the larger rat traps in. My cats are indoors only because of the number of predators: owls, coyotes, Bobcats, mountain lions, etc. in my housing tract. Otherwise, I would let the cats take care of the mice. I think my cats would be afraid of the rats as they are so large, plus they carry diseases, fleas, etc. No one in my area let’s their cats or dogs be unattended while they are outside as they become food for the preditors. Good luck with this project!
Easy to post pictures. Even without a caption, viewer could figure how it’s done. The best is homemade ….but all of it, any of it…it’s not 100%. Nothing works. But lots of things work a little. Do lots. Most people don’t like the traps because of the handling and disposal. The walk the plank -five gallon drywall- mud bucket is a good idea. To buy one, be prepared to heavy it up because the plastic is light. Use Gorilla duct tape to thicken with support. Keep away from children. Common fatality because the sides are rigid, a kid can’t get out. My neighbor didn’t like the bucket because the peanut butter fell through the plank flap. It made terrible smell with the water. On the vids, a guy covers the top with see -through that has a hole on the middle to hold can open on both ends, it’s a chute. They can’t get back out. The bottom of the tub is sunflower seeds, make a trail so they follow it to the tub and fall in. It’s not an instant kill without a small amount of antifreeze or oil in water. Anyway it’s done, it needs yucky servicing. And there’s the problem of poisons getting to owls and the like………which is how we got here here in the first place. Killing predators is how we got here. Attract owls. Improve their habitat. Install boxes, but think of where, they have to be cleaned out. Outdoor Motion lights would scare them off. Take care as to placement.
Found another way without a trap. Put about a half a cup of Jiffy cornmeal mix (from the 99 cents store) and about the same of baking soda mixed together in a dish and set out in mice/rat areas. Rats go after the cornmeal. It turns out that rats and mice cannot fart or burp so they end up dying. I no longer have a rat/mice problem.
@@leopardwoman38 Thanks for the tip and I hope you`re still rat free in your parts.
Certain Terrier dogs are bred to kill rats Once they chase a few rats in your yard the rest will flee The smell of a dog - fox etc will deter them Oddly i have a cat and that didn't deter them For me i have a small back garden ( im in the uk and things can be smaller than you guys across the pond ) For me ,i have to walk out of my garden and through the gate I have a condition which causes me balance problems and i did take a fall last year To which i could smell this barn yarn musky urine ( i had no idear ) I also wondered what the damage was to an outer building ( concrete) - they were where they had been knawing ) Closer inspection i saw rat droppings I also have a condition that affects my immune system So to people who say we have to live alongside them i disagree But i thought your video was brilliant Im already in the process of making my garden as open plan and rat unfriendly as possible They are really clever and they are like us when we view a home lol If they dont like the garden they do go elsewhere I don't own a terrier dog, but they are really good - just put the search in on KZhead and see. If my problem doesn't get sorted i will have to move I live nextdoor to a shop that doesn't always clean the litter up 🤷🏼 : ). I do still have to use bait boxes etc
Great video. They are a big problem in Kamloops now - just in the last decade. they are destroying my tomatoes and beans and now they are feasting on the plums.
I hear you!! They have eaten well over 30 lbs of my beets, some potatoes and all of our strawberries, now Onto my carrots and tomatoes!! We only catch very minimal with the traps. We’ve gotten rid of our composter. Out cat is useless. I’m in tears 😭😫
Thanks for your videos. Consider watching videos that show how to kill rats with baking soda as well. I'm a big proponent of old fashioned Victor traps for rats and mice.
Thankyou , wonderful advice, I too think that rats are super disgusting.
Install a Barn Owl nest box.
OMGoodnesse. I've said those exact words for the past several years. Especially wearing disposable gloves. LOL We moved around a lot over the years. I thought I had cute squirrls taking bites from my tomatoes and didn't mind sharing, WRONG Everytime we lived by water we would find rats. We now live in the mid-west on a hobby farm. I found a rat trap at our big box store called, Jawz. Because rats are smart and don't trust anything new I would bait the trap every night with Nutella but not set it. After a week I would set the traps and viola. Do you want to know whats really gross? Finding a trap that's been set off but no rat only to find the head and the body gone. These traps are the only ones I have found that actually work. It's easy to set and easier to dispose the body without touching the rat. I really hate rats.
Thanks for sharing. I live in California San Diego county behind a junior college where the fields are full of these nasty pests. I’m currently using poison but I need to stop because of the wild life that feast on them. I do container gardening and use netting and tulle that’s been helpful in protecting the fruit but I want to control the population as well.
Rats hate peppermint and citronella, if you could also incorporate those into your garden it could help deter rats as well
Very interesting, need to try this tip 😊
I live in San Diego... I poured that peppermint rat repellant under our garden furniture and they don't mind it. Which one did you use?
What about cat urine? Would that deter rats?
thank you! IN PNW, and ... UGH! Just a super huge challenging challenge!! Watch the video for details 1. control the population.- traps, accept that it's yuck - plastic is easiest, battery didn't work. 2. reduce habitat that protects them in the yard (where they can sneak around) 3. introduce predators - dogs, cats, bird of prey (induces happy dance)
Hey, okay so a year late but just saw your video 👍. I totally agree with you about how disgusting rats are. I also live in east van, but haven't yet seen, noticed ... acknowledged ... them in my garden. But we did have roof rats! So very gross and disgusting. Apparently there were more summer '22 than the past few years. One reason I heard was because more people were gardening, so more snacks. We just got a polycarbonate greenhouse kit, so I'm hoping to have more veggie success. Must remember to keep the door closed to keep the vermin out. Keep posting videos. The ones I've seen have been really relevant.
I use the wood traps with success!
Use Reuse the Traps?
I wash and reuse the plastic ones, but i havent had any luck reusing the wooden ones, even when I handle them with gloves so they don’t have my scent on them.
I have rat, mouse and racoon problems, here on Vancouver Island
I heard Big Foot are in your parts also.
Surprisingly they haven’t messed with my tomatoes. this year I saw a big azz fat outside and called an exterminator. I know they’re out there cause they’re digging in the area. I am bout to spray with mint and plant thousands of plants. terminex bout to deal with the rest
Hi there, I am just a bit south of you in the San Juan's. This has been the worst year ever for rats. They ruined my entire corn patch and every beet. Now I am on offense, and it does seem to be helping. I have been diligent about changing things up a lot and putting lots of scary things in the garden. I found out that they hate change, so I rearrange things often. I have also been picking my larger tomatoes green and ripening them in the house. I think the zucchinis just out paced them or they got sick of them. I am like you that the thought of the furries licking and nibbling on all of the produce grosses me out. Not to mention the time, effort and money that went into growing them. I am used to sharing a bit of produce with wildlife and until it got hot, I deal with a hoard of slugs that are like unrelenting zombies. But there is something just something a little worse about rats. They have their place in the world but at a manageable level.
Thanks Valerie.
My comment keeps getting erased?
I just bought a house I haven't even move there, last time I went I found a death ra in the yard, that was disgusting but the worst part it is that I have to live with it for some years till I self the house or move out. I just wash a video with she with a list of ways to control rats. Smoke bombs, dry ice and pellet gun are some of the ones I will try
I just lost my winter greens to rats over a couple of cold nights.
That’s so sad.
I put out ONE trap by the house -a rat trap, It disappeared, I have yet to solve the mystery. So afraid I will kill other animals. pretty horrified with the rat problem I have now in my yard since gardening with veggies. looking frantically for solutions I haven't tried
Try Ferrell cats. Go to the Shelter and ask for them. Domesticated won't work. Ferell cats are taught by their Mother to Hunt. Good Luck & Don't let them in house.
How do you keep the Ferrell Cats to stay in your yard?
Really good vid, the guy on YT has good tips..
A user says…you feed a small amount of food at a certain time in the morning.that’s in case it was a bad night. it will establish home base, the cat will come back.
Believe or not, in my rat research, none of it said to clear up ground cover. Just common sense told me to do it. I’m presently destroying my flower garden ). So thanks for confirming that. BUT I’m your next video, please cut to the chase. It took to about 4 minutes in before you gave info. A sincere thanks
50/50 baking soda and peanut butter bye bye rats but does hurt any other animals
Didn't work for us
You can't get the baking soda OR plaster of paris wet - so don't mix with peanut butter. Mix with dry oats and white sugar and keep the mixture dry. No water added.