Get Rid of Rats in the Garden Now! - Part 4

(This is the continuation of Part 3)

In the preceding article, I mentioned how hopeful I was to killing rats in the coming days. For two days, I've been replenishing the the rat poison bait. This is because every morning, I would find the bait holders empty. I was quite sure the rats had a field day stuffing themselves with the bait.

Well, just three days after initially setting the rat poison bait, I was pleasantly surprised with this not so pretty sight outside near the water cistern.

The first thing I thought was "Well, one down! How many more to go?" This, actually, was an adult rat. It probably became prey too from my dog whose activities include running after mice and rats that are have become sluggish.

The dead rat already had flies hovering around it. It would start to smell bad soon. Well, the bait package label didn't guarantee no unpleasant odor. It just mentioned the bait minimizes the foul odor.


Controlling the Rats Effectively

The fact that an adult full-grown rat was killed tells me that the rats can be outsmarted. Rats have the ability to make use of experience acquired in the past. For example, some rat poisons are quickly recognized as dangerous and are thus avoided by the rodents. This is what "bait shyness" means.

Eradicating the Rat Population or Colony

Are there more rats out there? Or was it just the rat above that gobbled up all the bait? I have the feeling that there are more but not as large as the one that got killed by the bait. How about the smaller younger rats? Will they feed on the bait?

Most probably. I do know that even the smaller rats are able to climb the garden arbor. I was able to see this for myself when my homemade bird trap was able to catch a rat. I actually didn't expect the homemade bird trap to catch sparrows by the day and rats by night.


Preventing Rat Re-infestation

The rat poison bait package label suggests that to prevent rat reinfestation, replenish the bait always. Lay the bait constantly even if the rats seem to have been eradicated.

I would take a step further and put additional poison bait feeding stations in other places too. Rat droppings are telltale signs of rat activity. Shown below is how rat dropping look like and how they compare in size.

Gnawed objects like cables and other items are also sure signs of rat infestation although it may be difficult to assess if this is fairly recent.

To avoid any further potential rat problems here are other practical suggestions:

• Don't put out your household garbage until the day of collection.
  
• Always keep kitchen wastes in a garbage bin which has a well fitting lid.
  
• Don't let your garden get overgrown.
  
• Don't provide rats a home by keeping stacks of material lying about that you will not use in the foreseeable future.
  
• Only compost food waste in a properly designed rat proof bin.
  
• If you feed birds, clear away any uneaten food every evening.