Rat deterrent

[Thornhill]

Anyone have suggestions on ways to deter rats in addition to traps and poison, such spraying the ground near my garden with some kind of chemical or growing a certain kind of plant. Thanks.

[enigma]

"Thornhill" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

get a cat or terrier-type dog. clean up any trash. secure any garbage can lids (& use only metal garbage cans). pick up & dispose of fruit & nut drops in metal containers. make sure you don't have a leaky hose or any standing water source. make sure no bird seed or petfood is left outside. and make sure any neighbors within a half-mile do the same... lee

[dr-solo]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at

up: the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website. I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.

[Thornhill]

I should mention that this a community garden, located next to a river and park, in downtown Philadelphia. And these rats are quite big.

[Doug Kanter]

A cat with an attitude. I'll let you have mine for $3.7 million dollars. :-)

[Suzie-Q]

-> Anyone have suggestions on ways to deter rats in addition to traps and

-> poison, such spraying the ground near my garden with some kind of

-> chemical or growing a certain kind of plant. Thanks.

I'll bet you could get a good answer at news:alt.consumers.pest-control .

[Doug Kanter]

How close can you get to them? For $100, you can get quite a nice pellet rifle that's quiet, and accurate. Check your local ordinances blah blah blah, or just be discreet. There are also handguns that use pellets, but you have to get closer unless you're very good with a handgun.

[simy1]

Anything that smells human repels a number of mammals, and it works reasonably well with deer, mice and rabbit, though I have never tried it with rats. Next time you see your barber, get a trash bag full of hair. If applied thickly near seedlings, they repel slugs too, as they get tangled in the hair.

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) Anything that smells human repels a number of mammals, and it works :) reasonably well with deer, mice and rabbit, though I have never tried :) it with rats. Next time you see your barber, get a trash bag full of :) hair. If applied thickly near seedlings, they repel slugs too, as they :) get tangled in the hair. :)

The rats are commensal animals, where they have evolved around humans for their existance, so will be used to any human smell.

[Devonshire]

On the day of Fri, 17 Mar 2006 15:15:06 GMT... "Doug Kanter" typed these letters:

Agreed! A decent pellet gun would do a great job and pellets are cheap. Putting out poison might kill something else.

Devonshire

[Thornhill]

Not only would I probably receive a citation from the police, but I don't have enough free time to sit out at the garden shooting rats. I need something to keep the rats away without my presence being needed.

[Hal]

I favor a pellet rifle too, but we've had an infestation of roof rats for the last 3 years and the most effective tool for me has been bait stations. They protect the poison rat bait in them from the elements and prevent children and pets from getting to the baits. Today's modern baits are safe and effective. Dogs and cats ignore them and wouldn't die even if they ate a bait station quantity.

This is the type I bought, but the stakes that hold the Ez Klean bait in place are too large for Tom Cat Baits. (Available at Lowe's) so after I ran out of the original bait, I tossed the stakes and drove a nail 1/8" diameter x 3" long (Sorry I don't know the correct nail size.) through the bottom replacing the original holding stakes.

Regards,

Hal

[Doug Kanter]

You already see the rats while you're out there, right? Do you set aside time to sit there looking for them, or are they there while you're doing whatever else you do? We both know the answer. The rest of the issue can be settled by simply asking the next cop you see. Don't say "I wanna use a rifle". Be specific and say "pellet gun". I may be wrong and they might be illegal to use except at a gun range. Or, it might be OK.

[Thornhill]

The rats come out in the mornings, and I almost always garden in the afternoons.

[Doug Kanter]

Well, then how do you know they're there, if you're not outside to see them?

[Thornhill]

The few times I come out in the early morning I've seen them, but more obvious, are the bite marks they leave in vegetables.

[Gary Groundhog]

"Thornhill" wrote in news:1142576780.673427.234410 @p10g2000cwp.googlegroups.com:

The rats will pack up and move to Dallas shortly in order to be with Terrell Owens.

[raycruzer]

You might try a motion detector device with a sprinkler that throws water at whatever passes by. It's harmless and can be left on at night. One such device is called the Scarecrow water sprinkler. They're kind of expensive, but they work pretty well.

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

maybe one of those motion sensing water sprinklers would be sensitive enough to trigger from a rat sized animal? Or perhaps some type of fox or weasel urine-type stuff? Or spray the perimeter veggies with bitter apple?

I dunno