tomato leaves eaten....

[Rez]

LOL! Not me, I've had enough stuff destroyed by rats, mice, and rabbits, that it doesn't bother me one bit to watch 'em suffer :)

Works for me :)

Probably as good a control method as any.

Fortunately where I am now, there don't seem to be any rats, tho there are mice in droves (they demolished my cauliflower, and those were BIG plants, almost 3 feet tall) and of course the Starving Attack Rabbits. I encourage "safe" snakes (tho I've got 14 rattlers in my trophy box, in just two years time!) and just picked up a couple feral cats who both have litters, hopefully enough kittens will not get eaten by owls to grow up and become good mousers. You can't grow cats fast enough around here... :(

Tho beware of snakes around chickens, I have personally SEEN gopher snakes rob nests for eggs, and even fight the hen for the eggs! and snakes can CLIMB!

~REZ~

[Rez]

We have two real live owls in residence, and they don't seem to discourage the starlings much! :(

~REZ~

[Rez]

That sounds like a good idea. You might try the pinch traps for gophers with a bait that take some work to get (to make sure the trap is triggered), and put it inside a piece of 4" sewer pipe -- it's cheap, durable, yet easy to cut (try a heavy old serrated knife, the kind they advertise as being able to cut frozen stuff and tin cans).

~REZ~

[Rez]

That's why I mentioned the gopher traps, they don't need anywhere near as much room.

~REZ~

[Rez]

Try a livetrap, baited with dog food (put the dog food into a glass jar with a metal lid with holes punched in it, so the rats can smell it real well but can't eat it), the kind that can catch several rats per load. The smell of rats attracts more rats, especially if one dies and the rest start eating it. (Same goes for mice.)

You can get livetraps made of sheet metal which removes temptation from birds (since they can't see into it). Tomahawk Trap Co. might make some, not sure. I have some of their wire traps that I use for pest rabbits.

~REZ~

[Katra]

They are indeed quite sturdy! The cats adore them...

He died in my arms this morning. :-( It was time, but I'm still sad!

Thanks! K.

[Glenna Rose]

A good reason to stay where I am!

Like most people, I've never been fond of spiders. Gardening now, and knowing how valuable they are to the environment, I have a better tolerance for them and am trying to teach my granddaughters that certain spiders (refer to them as garden spiders) are helpers so they don't freak out every time they see a bug. My own mother was so terrified of spiders that she would run from them. My grandmother said she was shocked when she saw my mother actually step on one when I was a baby crawling on the floor. Her fear is why I had the chore of going into the pump house; amazing how that protective instinct disappeared after I could walk! I so hated going there as there were always at least a dozen spiders in sight, no easy task to not disturb them. I just cannot imagine living with them all over like you have them!

I saved the link you sent but it's early morning and haven't had my breakfast yet so will wait until later to look since I'm about to go out and work in the yard for a short time before leaving for work.

Thank you for the information.

Glenna

[Glenna Rose]

{{{ Hugs to you. }}}

Glenna

[Glenna Rose]

A pruning saw works well also as does a saber saw with a medium blade (drill a large hole first to start the blade).

Glenna

[Linda Barsalou]

The mice kept getting into stuff in our garage. After getting a couple with a regular trap they got too smart and avoided them, so I tried a water trap and it worked very well.

I used a 5 gallon bucket with a shallow pot saucer filled with seeds floating on the top of the water. We made a way for them to get to the top of the bucket and we kept the water at a level that was just a bit to deep for them to climb out. It worked very efficiently and a dead mouse in the bottom of the water did not keep others from trying. One day I found three of them dead in it. They just couldn't resist trying for that seed. We got rid of the whole family apparently, because I have not seen any for quite a while now.

L>

[Katra]

That would be nice...

[Katra]

Here is my cat furniture. :-) Suitable for multiple cats, easy assembly, and not that expensive:

love it, and you can get additional hammocks and houses for it.

Kewl.

I'll probably use the classic p-nut butter and oatmeal bait. Works very well, keeps well and is easy to manipulate.

K.

[Katra]

That's mean!

I love my pigeons, and not just for lunch. Mine are free-range.

K.

[Katra]

I hate rats, but I can't stand to watch any animal suffer...

Quick too.

Keeping tabs on nesting areas is imperative! They mature quickly too, but I let a nest be used before I clear it out, so that way I can kill the babies rather than having them have them someplace I'd not be able to access.

You are lucky!

Texas rat snakes do that too. ;-)

K.

[Frogleg]

Of course it is. The happy memories will eventurally crowd out the sadness, but that's little comfort now. My thoughts, etc.

[Katra]

They sleep in the trees during the day. ;-)

Owl decoys are out in the open, and you are supposed to make sure that they cast a shadow. That is how the local wildlife rescue folks told me to use them.

K.

[Katra]

I'm going to have to look in to gopher traps... The rats have dug a series of tunnels under the rocks in the dog kennel. :-( I can't really get to them without tearing out the rocks and they will just all run away.

I could put gopher traps at the entrances of the burrows! I never thought of that.

Thanks! :-)

Those are also less likely to catch pigeons if I choose to use them out in the open.

K.

[Katra]

Live traps don't work well for Norway rats...

They are too smart. Been there, done that, caught a few youngsters but no adults. :-(

K.

[Katra]

Thanks... He will be missed but at least he did not suffer much towards the end.

K.

[Katra]

Yet another excellent idea... :-)

K.