Rodents & Vehicles

[ericm979]

Poisoned rodents get eaten by predators including your cats and dogs. The poison can kill them too. I want the coyotes and bobcats to take as many rats as possible.

I have tried just about everything for pocket gophers. Even a cat- she got bored and hunted rabbits instead. The only thing that works for me is cinch traps. I have to be diligent setting and checking them twice a day. It sometimes takes a few sets before I get a gopher but I always get them.

 

[oosik]

Eric - that was my big concern on poison. Secondary killing of pets and valued predators. Until this last month I've NEVER had the coyotes come into the yard. So while I had no pet for about two years - I used poison.

However - an old fart, like me, gardens and sells his produce half way into Spokane. Stopped in and was talking to him about all the pocket gophers and that he did not have even one visible gopher dig on all his five acres. He uses a granular poison. He has taken a two and a half foot chunk of 3/4" rebar and welded a cross bar on the top - T . He pokes around with this "T" and locates a run. Pulls the T out and puts a tablespoon of the granular poison down into the run thru the hole created by the T. The PGs eat the poison and die underground. Never come up - so no secondary killing.

Look at my previous post #58 regarding PGs. I got to do something or just shallow rototill my entire lawn and go that way. My side lawn has become somewhat dangerous to walk in - easy to have a shallow run collapse and twist an ankle.

This has definitely become the year of the mouse, chipmunk, pocket gopher and now the dam pack rats.

 

[bcp]

Lawn fix:





Bruce

 

[ultrarunner]

Mom's property with gophers is a city lot... in a city for 440,000 people... it just happens that she also owns the open space behind her city lot...

Not any worry of predators coming in as the fence has a hot wire and the gophers perish underground...

 

[oosik]

bcp - that is a thought. My walkway is already green colored concrete pavers.

 

[oosik]

Yesterday there was a small chipmunk caught in one of the big 'ol rat traps. But - I've not seen hide nor hair of any rats since I caught #5 on the evening of 8/23. If this continues - I will be able to transfer my efforts to control of the hoard of pocket gophers that have made my side lawn like a practice field for a mortar brigade.

The mice and chipmunks will just have to swing for themselves for a while. Rats and pocket gophers are a much larger concern.

 

[oosik]

This morning's check of the trap line has no rats. No evidence - nests & tunneling - of rats in or around any of the outbuildings either. However - later when it warm up a bit - I'm going to refresh the bait on all the traps.

 

[hawkeye08]

When we had big outside dogs and plenty of cats, minor issues with mice and rats. As soon as the old dogs passed, then the cats soon disappeared and we had problems. We have 2 inside/outside cats and one mostly inside dog. Minor problems this year. Too many cats and they venture too far for food and are easy picking for predators.

 

[oosik]

No question about that - hawkeye. Over the years - up until about five years ago - I've always had barn cats. I alway fed and watered them too. But with age the cats got bolder and bolder and their undoing - going out beyond the influence of the big 'ol yard light - at night. The dog and I go out around 11 pm so he can do his thing before we hit the sack. Its common to see - eyeballs in the dark - just out beyond the yard light circle - out there in the dark. It isn't Mother Nature out there waiting to shake your hand either.

Coyotes - also barn owls and great horned owls. Everything eats something or some body. I keep saying it, but I absolutely need a sac of barn cats.

 

[dfkrug]

This morning's check of the trap line has no rats. No evidence - nests & tunneling - of rats in or around any of the outbuildings either. However - later when it warm up a bit - I'm going to refresh the bait on all the traps.

Yeah, my traps are stuck at 20-count of wood rats. Nothing more for nearly a week. I just got a glimpse of a big mountain lion on my game camera, 100' from the house. I guess I won't be resetting it (with memory card) after dark....