Vermin

[jenjen]

I was soooo looking forward to my broad beans - they were just about ready at the weekend, so it was with ideas of broad bean salads that I went down to the allotment this afternoon. Sadly, however, somethign short and furry (I think) had other ideas. I'm fairly sure its mice/rats - if it was bunnies, they left a lot of other tasty things, and our sweetcorn was similarly stripped overnight last year. And I've seen three or four rats in the allotments (its a very large site) this past year.

Any ideas as to what is an efficient deterrant to small and furry things - there probably aren't traps enough in the world to catch all them though I'll give it a try if its worked for anyone else. Basically, is it worth me growing beans/peas/corn etc. if this is what happens everytime? I've got some more broadbeans growing under nets but as they managed to chew through the chicken wire last year, a bit of netting isn't going to stop anything particularly determined.

Really disheartened. Had a paltry potato crop as well so generally feeling quite

Pictures in my blog

[NOG]

Its probably Mice...they like corn. Rats tend to scavinge more for scraps not crops.

Unfortuatly thats allotments for you. Some times its good other times its bad.

[walldanzig]

I got on my allotment the other day to be confronted by a big cockeral which had taken an instant liking to my Onions.

[snohare]

Don't be too disheartened jenjen. If it is rats or mice, yes they can multiply prodigiously - but there is a reason that they have not taken over the world yet, you know ! They have lots of enemies (every allotment holder on your site, for a start!) predators and diseases - put some poison out and you may find that the one or two individuals that were the problem will quietly disappear. That is typically what happens if the problem is dealt with soon enough; if it is getting out of hand, you will find that there is a noticeable groundswell of "Let's do something" amongst your fellow plotholders, and the committee is likely to be talking about it.
If you search on the forum you will see that there was a thread on this topic some time ago, talking about where to put the poison (different sorts for rats and mice, if I remember correctly) and how to dispose of bodies and leftover bait etc if necessary.
I lost a tray of seedlings just as they were beginning to sprout earlier this year - a mouse had a dig at the seeds, didn't eat them because they were treated, but left them dying anyway. It was a pain, but it's all a step up on the learning curve.

[bluemoon]

There's a poison called Eradibait, it's just a rodenticide, so it won't harm pets or other wildlife, but does for both rats and mice. I had a similar problem with my sweetcorn a couple of years ago and the culprits turned out to be grey squirrels.

[Stacey Steve]

I had rats nesting under my shed and in the compost bins at the allotments and traps were having no great effect, I was catching them but obviously they breed quicker that I could trap them.

I bought a solar powered ultrasonic rodent deterant and it has taken a while but I have no evidence of rats or mice at present. It is supposed to frighten burrowing animals so has had no effect on the occasional visiting rabbit.

[binley100]

Where can i get one of these devices from and are they expensive?

[rainbowminx]

A 'sonic solar powered mole scarer' has cleared the mice off my plot. I got mine from Wilkinsons for £14.99. They had burrowed and eaten all my Dahlia tubers as well as every pea I tried to sow! I don't know if they work on rats too, but it's worth a try. It emits a buzzing/beeping sound every couple of minutes which apparently annoys them into moving house!

[binley100]

Thanks. Its worth while giving it a go as I don't like the idea of putting down poison.

[BumbleB]

I have just been surprised and made me jump by a rat in the compost bin. I was just about to top it up but dropped the bag in my alarm!

This is the second one I have now seen in my garden and I am now worried at what is attracting them and what I need to do.

[snohare]

Soemtimes it is not so much what you are doing to attract them Bumble, as it is what someone else is doing to evict them. The best way I know of to make rats go far and wide is to demolish their house above their heads eg, tear down a farm building.
For the moment, make sure you have no cooked food or grain lying about anywhere nearby - always a good way to get them in about - and put fine mesh wire under your compost bin to stop them burrowing into it. If the problem persists, try searching this site for some of the old posts on this topic.
But hey, look on the positive side - at least you won't have mice, if you have rats !