Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Currently we're in the 40's overnight. I get low 30's at times and upper 20's about a dozen times a year. But for now I can use your suggestion for a mini hot-house and get the to ripen...for the rats apparently.

darn rats =) I have mice in my greenhouse. They are getting my tomatoes as they ripen too. Need to jump on amazon and order sticky traps. I have no idea how they are getting up to the beds to begin with but they are.

I have seen the little buggers parkour up a corner in the Coop late at night when I come into close doors and they are feeding on the chicken feed.

They can also jump pretty high.

Adam

I noticed that this past week with the dog food. I had a good 12" or more in every direction around the trash can my dog food sits in but the buggers still managed to get into it.

My chicken feeder is hung from the ceiling so it's at least 12" off the floor. At a height that my smallest girls can just barely reach it for now... as they mature I'll raise it another inch or two (a couple of the little girls have taken to flying up and landing on the top and eating from the top... have found an egg or two in the top of the feeder before too). I haven't noticed them getting in the feeder but they do go clean up anything that drops to the floor.

The rats in my yard seem to like avocados.


So I made them some guacamole.


This one liked it!


Sorry for the graphic photos and cruelty to animals, it's not usually my thing. But I am at war with rats, they are eating my finest produce.




I'm changing my tactics. I no longer try to keep them away. I'm putting things out to attract them, things they can nest in. Food, water. I want them all to come. I will get them all.

I have snap traps, a live catch rat cage, black oil sunflower seeds on water (got one last night!!!!!), oats laced with plaster of paris, nesting boxes that I can close off, then open over a waiting trash bin or water bucket, fish and bird friendly poison bait. My electronic trap is not working and it cost more than the others combined. Any other ideas are welcome.

I no longer practice AP, my primary function is now to attract and eliminate rats. When I have spare time I will return to AP. I am a changed person now.

Welcome to the club Dave!

I too found the electronic traps to work initially, before soon dying, same with the free replacement, so a complete waste of a lot of money. They generally seem to smart for regular traps, which haven't been successful for a long time.

We've been using baits, but they seem to eat an awful lot of it before they go... or maybe there's a whole army of them, with an army of replacements ready to go shortly afterwards. Baits appear to be the most successful for now, but make sure domestic animals can't get to them. Last year our dog managed to find and eat quite a few baits, which proved to be very expensive at the veterinary clinic.

Sorry about your dog Gordon. I hope it recovered well. I'm trying to keep it eco friendly as much as possible. I caught 4 last week, one with guacamole and three with sunflower seeds. The black oil sunflower seeds seem to be the favorite. I also have a sodium chloride and grain bait that is supposed to be safe for most animals, but I don't know how effective it is. They don't seem to eat it much with all the other options.

The rats definitely seem to avoid traps more than ever before, but I still caught two with traps and two with water-bucket type traps. I also noticed they are eating seeds mixed with drywall dust but not the oats (maybe I mixed in too much drywall dust). They've destroyed two cauli's and eaten the surface of two more.

Over the weekend I added two motion sensors that activate a doorbell type alarm and light, hoping this scares them away. I have some motion sensor night lights on the way. I'm gonna make it quite the fun house for rats. It's a pain to set the traps every night, but I don't want birds eating the seeds and getting caught during the day, so I pull the traps every morning. I tried glue traps too but, after catching two lizards and no rats, I don't use them anymore.

So I caught 4 rats last week and one so far this week. Mostly juveniles. The black oil sunflower seeds seem to be a favorite. 3 of 6 cauliflower heads are damaged or destroyed. It's somehow less appealing eating malformed veggies chewed on by rats. I think I'll harvest a good one tonight before they get to it.

A very Merry Christmas to all on this forum, and wishes the New Year brings happiness, healthy (delicious) fish and a prosperous garden.

Merry Christmas to you and yours as well. I hope you run through the rodent population before you need to add rodent trapper to your resumé! happy new year!

Thanks Brian.

So, I got two more rats this week and I put up an owl house (with a camera inside).


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Should I pinch some blossoms on my strawberries to limit the fruit or just let them go?


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I'd leave them, that size plant can easily support that much fruiting if they are being fed the right nutrients.

Battle ground gardening over there.
We let the Guinea fowl in the greenhouse for a few days. They trimmed a lot of plants. That's okay I suppose.
Unbelievably, we haven't had mice in the greenhouse, knock of wood. I did see the white flies and aphids are back in one of the denser corners, unfortunately where our only bell peppers are. I guess if it isn't one pest it's another.
Are the fires out over there in Cali?

The battle continues. Three more rats the last couple of days and I chased a raccoon out of the yard last night. The rats are getting smaller so that's a good sign.

No Fires in my area this year (yet), thankfully. But devastating losses all over the state.

I harvested the last of the cauli last night. Now waiting for the broccoli to head and Brussels sprouts to grow, with more seeds sprouting.