Rat plague in the garden is a dreaded horror scenario. Since the pests are clever and extremely suspicious, combating them is difficult. Tolerance is out of the question, since the rodents multiply explosively, enter the house and transmit dangerous diseases. How to successfully fight rats in the garden.
Rats can be captured humanely with a live cage
Scare off instead of poisoning - tips & tricks
In the natural garden, the use of poison to kill rats, voles or other uninvited guests is frowned upon. Instead, environmentally conscious home gardeners rely on targeted strategies to drive away the pests. The focus is on the rodents' sensitive sense of smell. The following smells irritate the sensitive nose so intensely that rats run away:
- Lay out rags soaked in turpentine or vinegar essence near the rat hole
- Scatter hot chili powder on the paths the pests use
- Fill used cat litter into bags and distribute in the garden
- Spread iron vitriol (e.g. contained in slaked lime)
Since rats get used to the smells quickly, deterrent methods are used in quick succession.
Porridge with plaster causes agonizing death
The recommendation to mix baby food with plaster of paris to fight a plague of rats in the garden with this bait is widespread. Unfortunately, it is not mentioned that the animals suffer from severe, long-lasting digestive pains after consumption before they die in agony.
Live traps instead of the brute force of snap traps
Classic snap traps are too brutal for many home gardeners to fight a plague of rats in this way. In contrast, live traps - in addition to the recommended deterrent methods - are an alternative that is as animal-friendly as it is effective. The wire boxes are baited and set up in the garden. However, it should be clarified in advance what will happen to the captured rats afterwards.
tips
Do you suspect that your garden is infested with rats? Then look out for their solution to make sure. Brown rats produce spindle-shaped, black droppings that are 2 to 3 cm long. Black rat droppings are brown, narrow, and banana-shaped, 1–2 cm long. In contrast, the droppings of hedgehogs are as thick as a pencil, straight and tapering, those of martens are 8 to 10 cm long and 1 to 2 cm thick.