Rats

[Pompeylottie]

Hi, does anyone know an effective poison for rats. They eat my carrots and beetroot last year and today I went to the plot and they have eaten most of my seed potatoes put out to chit - I thought I had put them out of reach!

Or does anyone have a spare shot gun!

[cyllo]

I heard they don't like mints. You can try to plant some mints around the garden.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Most rat poisons are based on warfarin. Thins the blood. Rats cannot vomit I'm told so once ingested it can't get rid of it. Most agricultural stockists have it but I'm not sure it can be sold to Joe Public

[veggiechicken]

I used the Council man.

[Pompeylottie]

I will try the council on Monday, although not sure if that service is still going, with council funding cuts. I bought some poison last year for the mice, who eat the peas sown in the greenhouse, they came back every day for more, I probably had the fattest mice on the plot.

[veggiechicken]

There was a charge but your council may have other arrangements. If the rats are on the allotments you may be able to have the whole area treated as one.- possibly share the costs.

[hollychap]

baited traps will help to sort your problem

[Pompeylottie]

what sort of traps are best, I didn't have any luck with traps when I had them before - standard spring type traps? and what bait is best please?

[Scarlet]

Your local farmstore should have a supply of rat poison - I use poison set in boxes with a small entry hole so 'nothing' else can take it, usually set alongside a wall. I have neosorexa poison at the moment but I never use the same one in a row! Rat traps do work very well, set them up with chocolate., again always enclosed in some sort of box or housing so birds aren't caught. I also use a humane rat trap - these can then be shot when caught! Ferrets are brilliant if you know someone who has any.

Here some my kids found...

[Ananke]

Quite a few of us on our site are having problems with rats. The idea of poisoning them doesn't bother me too much but the thought of dealing with a corpse is giving me the heebie jeebies.

[sowitgrowit]

Not wanting to sound like a John Rambo wannabee, but we back on to a river so have loads of the things - I have shot loads over the last two years.

They come for bird food (maybe even baby birds) as well as whatever's growing. Nothing more off putting than a dirty great rat crawling over the courgettes.

[hollychap]

i bait with chunks of mars bar it sticks on the trap firmly but my prefered method is the air rifle

[Snadger]

They seem to favour my swedes this year for some reason! What was annoying was that I'd finally figured out how to grow a decent crop............and they scoffed the lot!

Tried poisoning and trapping to no avail. Have to try caging my swedes this year, but with what, I'm not sure.