Rats, Rats, Rats!

Nyboy

Garden Master
Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
21,365
Reaction score
16,240
Points
437
Location
White Plains NY,weekends Lagrange NY.

ninnymary

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 7, 2009
Messages
12,560
Reaction score
12,352
Points
437
Location
San Francisco East Bay
That Bonide Rat Magic has 4 oils that supposedly repel rats. You make a 2 ft wide perimeter around your entire yard. We tried it but then it rained lightly. You're supposed to reapply after heavy rains. Still debating if I want to spend another $20 on another container. :\ I can't remember if mint was listed. I do remember cedar was.

Mary
 

waretrop

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Sep 25, 2014
Messages
275
Reaction score
345
Points
157
Wow what damage..... I can't even believe it's a rat. You can get that tree saver tape until you get rid of them. That will stop them from chewing completely around the trunk. Once that happens the tree will die... There is no saving it....so the tape is a temporary fix.
 

seedcorn

Garden Master
Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
9,627
Reaction score
9,882
Points
397
Location
NE IN
It's a rat poison that many rats have built up immunity to it. Check out rat baits for active ingredients.
 

Nyboy

Garden Master
Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
21,365
Reaction score
16,240
Points
437
Location
White Plains NY,weekends Lagrange NY.
Mary I would plant mint in container with tree. Warning some mints can be invasive. Really pack the mint in and move tree where they can't jump on it from some where else. They would have to cross mint to get to trunk of tree.
 

buckabucka

Garden Addicted
Joined
Apr 19, 2011
Messages
698
Reaction score
712
Points
253
Location
Fairfield, ME zone 3/4
I've been fighting a losing battle with rats here for quite some time.
I might try wrapping the bottom of the trunk in hardware cloth, and then try fashioning some kind of metal bell-shaped barrier right above it (like what people use to keep squirrels from climbing the bird feeder pole). I'm putting hardware cloth barriers all through the dirt floor of my chicken coop.

Meanwhile, I've resorted to poison outside. I want to make sure other animals won't access it, so I had to put it in a cage that only rodents can access, and it was never touched. Then I tried putting blocks of poison in the rat tunnels, and they still ignored it.

This winter, I had a rat tunnel through the snow bank that led to my chicken fence, which was a perfect inaccessible-to-other-animals place to put poison. I chopped the poison blocks into fine pieces and mixed it with peanut butter, and then molded the concoction around a stick, like a corn dog. I was able to slide the corn dog through the fence and into the tunnel, and it disappeared over night. I think they've gone through 4 corn dogs so far, and I still have rats, but I'm hopeful that it might help.
Good luck with your poor fig tree!
 

Latest posts

Top