|
|
Post by jack66 on Jul 28, 2011 13:58:00 GMT -5
have have fieldmouse around your garden? can you move away them and how except the cat, of course  Thanks for answers. |
|
|
|
Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Jul 28, 2011 14:09:15 GMT -5
We had lots of mice in the garden last year. Those reusable/humane release traps seem to work well with peanut butter. After that though, two neighborhood cats were fighting at night over the territory, and this spring/summer it looks like we have no more mice.
|
|
|
|
Post by grunt on Jul 28, 2011 16:14:46 GMT -5
Cats are the best answer
|
|
|
|
Post by gakaren on Jul 28, 2011 20:49:15 GMT -5
Or a good black snake!
Some dogs will get them too, but they like to dig for them.
|
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on Jul 30, 2011 7:13:13 GMT -5
We have snakes and cats. There are still rodents though. I would imagine weather trends play a part in their abundance.
|
|
|
|
Post by steev on Jul 30, 2011 9:30:51 GMT -5
As in California these last years, where dry years restricted rodent food supply, restricting rodent reproduction, in turn restricting their predators. With the past two very wet Winters, rodent food has been abundant, so the little wretches have produced bumper crops of progeny, while their predators always lag behind, being species that reproduce more slowly. Barring something like human interference, such as poisoning and/or killing the predators so they can't catch up, eventually they will and the rodent population will be reduced, in turn reducing the predator population. So it goes, in fluctuating imbalance/equilibrium.
|
|
|
|
Post by robertb on Jul 30, 2011 10:51:45 GMT -5
I have rats, house mice, wood mice, which climb like squirrels, field voles, and the odd grey squirrel. I just keep poisoning them; I tried mousetraps, but they all disappeared attached to rats
|
|
|
|
Post by extremegardener on Aug 15, 2011 13:20:28 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by steev on Aug 15, 2011 14:19:25 GMT -5
Thanks for the link; I've ordered their rodenticide; hope it's not too late to save some of my melons from the rodentulous vermin.
|
|
|
|
Post by wildseed57 on Sept 8, 2011 21:30:26 GMT -5
I don't have a problem were my garden is located, but where my ex wife lives they are a real problem as it use to have a dairy farm on it till it burnt down now there is a Trailer set up on part of the land.
She has enough snakes to help keep them in check, but with the good also comes with the bad if you look at rattle snakes that way, my grand daughter lost her little yorkie because it got bitten by a rattle snake, the poor guy didn't have a chance..
Sticky traps work pretty good if you don't mind using them the mice gets stuck and you just despose of them in any way you choose, they are not a friendly trap though, but are often better than poison. I hadn't heard of using Vitamine D, so maybe its better than the usual rat and mice poison. We have plenty of black snakes which work good where you won't be bothered by seeing them. I have no idea if France have any snakes, hopefully there are no poisonous ones, loosing your little buddy to a damn rattle snake, well you know how I feel about that, from now on its open season on any poisonous snake I see, the law be damned.
George W.
|
|
|
|
Post by 12540dumont on Sept 8, 2011 22:39:04 GMT -5
Steev, How's that vitamin D working? I saw a rat today. I don't want to see anymore.
|
|
|
|
Post by steev on Sept 9, 2011 0:43:19 GMT -5
Well, it seems to have a repellent effect on urban rats. When Gempler's processed my order, they generated the shipping label with my old address, stored in their computer, so it didn't come straight to me. My near neighbor, who now lives in that house, was on vacation when it was delivered and left on her porch. By the time she returned, somebody looking to find enough goods to sell had sliced the tape, opening the box, but apparently didn't think the resale value, on the street, of a 9# bucket of rodenticide was worth the karma.
So I put it around on the farm, wired to things so as not to be carried off; when I was up last weekend, every block showed some degree of nibbling. I saw the ground squirrel dash across the driveway, so it wasn't got yet. One of the mice in the pumphouse was dead in the middle of the floor, so it's gone to a short lease in the compostoilet.
I have a utility trailer that I keep in town until it's full of sacks of rabbit bedding, then I haul it to the farm. The last time It was empty, I'd scored some cut oak, so I tossed that in and then had added bunny bags, getting it full last Friday, so I hauled it to the farm. I got in and tossed out the bags, then drove back to the woodpile, climbed into the trailer ( it's a 4'x4'x8' plywood box ) and started tossing out the wood. Woops! Great big old woodrat hiding in there! So I kept reducing the available cover, with a nice length of oak in one hand until the rat decided it was time to look for an exit and we ricocheted and flailed around a bit until it departed, none the worse for wear. Doubtless we both benefited from the exercise.
|
|
|
|
Post by 12540dumont on Sept 9, 2011 11:07:06 GMT -5
Steev, I'm still laughing. My son set an entire 20 lb pan of grapes on the work table in the barn. The cat was sitting on the table and above he saw a rat staring at him from the rafters. He left the cat to watch the rat and brought the grapes in.
Terrible year for grapes. 30 lbs of Concords and 10 lbs of Thompson, 5 lbs of Flame. Last year I harvested 150 lbs of Flames alone.
Barely enough for jelly.
I put out a sticky trap for the rat, but it disappeared.
|
|
|
|
Post by steev on Sept 9, 2011 19:17:50 GMT -5
Provided they've not been chowed by the rodents, birds, or wasps, I probably have 20# of Flame Tokay waiting to pick; I picked the ripest 5# last week, just in case. In the two previous weeks, I'd gotten ~8# of the mystery grape. For me, this is a record year, both in quantity and predation avoidence. My vines have really just gotten established.
|
|
