Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all. I have a small barrel in my system that I planned to use for herbs. I've been growing basil in hanging bottle towers for a while an last night moved some into into the barrel with some mint.

Woke up this morning and the basil has been stripped down to the stem and the mint has gone completely. Only herb left is the Rosemary, untouched. Suspect, rats.

I read somewhere that mint 'repels' rats. Would anyone here say that? Funny the mint plant is the only one taken away.

Any tips for discouraging rats to climb up on the table? I live in Jakarta, Indonesia so trying to eliminate the rats would be a big task, and would probably take over my life. I will set some traps to reduce the population a bit but we'll always get a few inquisitive one coming around. I'd rather not cover the thing with mesh if I can help it.

Any suggestions?

James

Welcome
Hope you find a solution for the rats

We have a serious problem with rats and mice where we live in the country. There was even a mice plague in my town a few years back. My wife recently got fed up with continously setting traps often with unreliable results and bought an electrical ultrasonic rat and mice detterant for $20. I was skeptical that it would work, but much to my suprise it really indeed does work.

No more mice in our house at all. Best $20 we ever spent I reckon. The manufacturer claims it has a 50-80 square metre effective range

Here is the model we have, but a bit higher price than what we paid:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-1Pcs-Hou ... 485953b57f


ps with rat traps, one technique I've found which really increases the effectiveness of the traps is to secure the bait with thin sewing string.. wrap the string around and around the bait until it bites into it, making it a lot more difficult for the rat to pull it off without triggering the trap. Add peanut butter to it for extra rodent appeal

Are rats only a suspect or a confirmed perp?

Thanks for you responses.

I will be putting some traps down next week so will let you know. I'll certainly try the thread and bait technique, cheers.

Rats are only suspect, but it's a strong suspicion, i would say beyond reasonable doubt. but now you have me thinking. I see so many running about the porch that I put two and two together.

What else do you think it could be? Is it the fact that the mint was taken? Does anyone think the rat might have uprooted the mint, discarded it, then went about devouring the basil? I know rats are pretty smart, I had two as pets as a kid. I once saw a civic cat in a nearby housing complex. Indonesians call them luak (you'd know if you've ever heard of the coffee that comes from their poop), though they are rare in the city and I imagine I would have noticed something like that living in the area.

If it is rats, is my only option traps and building a mesh cage around the grow bed?

Good luck with the rats dxn. Just a word of advice though. Don't put mint in your grow beds. It will take over and be nearly impossible to get out.

Cheers Jeff. Maybe the rats were trying to do me a favour! I love mint though, is there anyway of containing it? Or should I just grow it in it's own tub? I can plumb a small container into the system somewhere, sharing the water but isolated from the other beds.

Out of curiosities sake, how hard would it be to get your own outdoor cat to eat the rats? From what you have said, it would stay well fed....lol.

You're not going to believe this, we have 6 cats. 4 adults and 2 kittens (my wife adopts every stray that turns up).

Rats in Jakarta are a whole different breed, they're huge. We have a big fat 3 year old Tom cat and I have never seen him even try and catch one of the rats. The cats seem scared of them. They mostly hunt small lizards and small shrews (they rarely catch the shrews though). They've caught birds, frogs, and even a large bat! But trust me they are no match for the rats. I think old school traps are my best bet, but big ones.

The bat survived by the way.

How did you go with the rat problem?
Traps worked for me. I'm in Central Jakarta and rats here are no doubt just as bad. We also have chickens and the chicken food made the local rat population multiply very quickly and suddenly the backyard was teaming with them. Something HAD to be done.
Caught about 10 of them in traps - the box kind that snap shut and one from Ace Hardware - think it is called the Big Cheese. They recommend using tuna for bait. Meat or fish seems to work best.
Would be good to see some pics of your system.
I'm working on my second system now - first one went well and then got eaten by my chickens!