How To Stop Rodents From Eating My Garden

Introduction: Hello gardeners, are you worried about rats in your garden, don't worry we will help you to get rid of rats, so let us get into the details of how to protect your garden from rats, mice and rodents. Rats can be a common problem in home gardens. Although most gardeners think about insects when they think of garden pests, rodents are the scourge of various gardens. Mice, rats, gophers and other rodents not only cause unsightly damage from tunneling through the garden, but they can also eventually enter your home after colonizing the garden.

A step by step guide to how to protect your garden from rats

Rats in the garden are a serious problem and these disease-carrying vermin can spread serious diseases, including Leptospirosis, which can lead to Weil's disease. They could destroy fence panels. Rodents are not wanted in the garden because of the damage they can cause to fruit, vegetables, seeds, bulbs, plants, and containers. The rat species you are most likely to find in the garden is the brown or Norway rat. The black rat is likely to be found near coastal areas and ports. What are we waiting for? Let's see how to protect your garden from rats.

Specific areas of the garden for rats

If you want to know how to protect your garden from rats, you must be aware of certain areas of the garden where these rates highly populated. Gardens are a favorite place for rodents to congregate and settle. The most common garden rodents are rats, mice and also voles. Your gardens, no matter how big or small can be a prime place for rodents to inhabit. The downside to this is that rodents can inflict an array of destruction and damages to the backyard.

Ample supplies of discarded food and waste ensure that they won't go hungry and your compost pile could become a banquet for these uninvited guests. And the trees, wooden structures and benches, and plastic ornaments provide them plenty to chew on. Unfortunately, a garden provides plenty of hiding places for rats that are behind furniture, in shrubberies, under piles of grass, leaves, or firewood, inside sheds and glasshouses, and under barrels.

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Compost piles – Improperly managed compost piles can be like an all-you-can-eat buffet for rats. You'll spot them easily, particularly after digging into the pile and disturbing their nests. Mice are frequent compost pile pests.

Sheds – Check for signs that something has been digging under the garden shed. Rats can tunnel under sheds and set up a residence of their own.

Garbage and recycling bins – If you keep your garbage and recycling bins outdoors, look for droppings and chew marks on the bins, a sure sign that rats are around. You must check frequently for holes in these containers, and you may want to convert from plastic to metal cans.

Wood Piles – Outdoor woodpiles are attractive places for rats to build nests. If your woodpile is in the garden, you can have inadvertently built a rodent hotel.

Bird feeders – Birds drop seeds from feeders, which can attract rodents into the home garden. Stored birdseed in garden sheds or garages is attractive to many rodents. Always store birdseed in a sealed, metal, and galvanized container.

Rats are a problem in your garden

Rats not only destroy your hard work by eating plants in the garden, but they can also infect your garden with several pathogens. Salmonellosis, for instance, can be spread by rat feces in or near gardens. After the infected rat leaves droppings in your garden, watering spreads the bacteria from the ground by splashing it onto leaves and fruit. Lettuce, spinach and many herbs and vegetable plants can be contaminated in this way, causing severe diarrhea and stomach cramps within 3 days of ingesting infected materials.

Rats, mice and other rodents can be the primary agents of infection, spreading several viral and bacterial diseases. Aside from activity in your yard and garden, rats often travel on top of power lines, particularly at dawn and dusk. Watch for rats along fences and trees.

Plants disappearing overnight – New plantings, seedlings, and sprouts disappear overnight without a trace. Some appear to be tugged under the ground. Rats, mice, and gophers disturb plants from below, often pulling at the plant roots or gnawing at them from below.

Tunnels in the ground – Rats, mice, gophers, and other rodents carve tunnels in the ground, connected by the small entrance and exit holes. Gophers leave a larger, more visible mound of soil than rats. These tunnels are the rat's superhighways and allow rodents to destroy plants simply by passing through the ground.

Mounds – Gophers and rats make mounds of soil to mark the entrance to their burrows.

Droppings – Rats, mice, and other creatures leave their droppings behind and rodent droppings look like black grains of rice.

Sign of rats in the garden

Although rodents are experts at hiding themselves, you can spot the signs of rats or mice once you know what you're looking for. Although rodents are generally nocturnal, you might see some rodent activity during the daytime too, especially if there's a shortage of food.

Pay particular attention to waste areas in the garden, which are rubbish bins, compost piles, pipes, and firewood stacks. You can notice tell-tale signs, such as bite and nibble marks on paper and wood. Perhaps wooden boxes or old newspapers have been chewed. Discarded food may have been disturbed.

Rodents will generally burrow their nests anywhere safe that's also close to the food supply. You can be able to see track marks, such as disturbed grass, from the nest to the food. Rats are creatures of habit and usually use the same pathways each time when looking for food. Also, watch out for rat droppings; if they droppings are still moist, it's a sign that there has been rodent activity in recent hours.

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Burrows around 6 to 9 cm in diameter and can be located anywhere that is relatively undisturbed and near to food. Track marks covering walls, hedges, and vegetation. Rats memorize pathways and use the same routes to and from the shelter.

Smear marks along with stone, wood, such as on steps, fencing and gate posts. Droppings between 15 and 20 mm long, cylindrical, flat at one end and pointed at the other. They are moist when fresh, however dry within hours. Damage to packaging and barriers, for example, doors and fences.

Four tips for steering rats away in the garden

You must make sure to seal any small gaps in buildings and sheds which can act as access points. Rates only require half an inch to gain entry.

Keep your garden very clean and tidy by removing piles of wood and garden clippings and cutting back overgrown areas. These places will act as nesting areas for rodents.

Dispose of household food waste correctly by keeping it in secure compost heaps and bins.

Be careful scattering bird feed on the ground as this can attract rats by use a bird table or feeder basket.

How to get rid of rats in the garden

Be careful if you're putting down rat traps. Remember that rats are likely to be suspicious of new items in the garden, so it will take time to traps to have an impact.

If you use toxins, rat baits and poisons seek professional advice. These methods can lead to dangers if not used correctly.

Rodents are cunning and opportunistic creatures so sometimes, while all the essential prevention techniques are used, they still find a way to inhabit your garden. In these instances, the best option is to contact a certified rodent control professional to help deal with your situation. A pest control technician has a wide range of skills, knowledge, and expertise at their disposal allowing them to effectively remove any kind of rodent from the garden.

Some of the home remedies to get rid of rats in the garden can be given below;

Rat Repellents

Rat repellents such as peppermint oil, ultrasonic devices, and night lights don't seem to be reliable. Rats could avoid these nuisances for a while, but when they decide they aren't dangerous, they will go back to looking for food like they usually do.

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Peppermint oil

Rats hate the smell of peppermint oil, so it is an effective way to drive them away. Moisten some cotton balls with 100 percent pure peppermint oil and locate them in various spots around the garden, including the garage and shed. Reapply the peppermint oil a couple of times a week.

Instant potatoes

Sprinkle the instant potatoes powder in the garden you think the rats are likely to frequent. The rats will eat the powder, and the potato flakes will swell up in the intestines of the rodents, killing them eventually.

Catnip

Get some catnip from a garden center and plant it in some spots around the garden. Be strategic with planting and look for signs of rat activity like nests and pellet droppings.

Keep your garden clean

You can deter rats from setting up homes in the garden by keeping it clean and tidy. Eliminate piles of garden clippings; pick up any fallen fruit, and vegetables, and cut back overgrown areas.

Onions

Rats hate the pungent smell of onions. But this hack is a little tricky as onions rot quickly and can be toxic to pets at home. You would want to replace the onion every second day with a fresh one.

Remove food and water sources

Rats will seek out any sources of food or water in the garden. Make sure taps aren't dripping and don't use a birdbath.

Remove bowls of pet food

If you like to compost, keep it secure and bury organic material deep in the bin. Make sure lids are closed on bins and don't leave garbage bags outside for long periods.

Soil netting

If you want to protect a new garden from rats, lay a piece of netting under the soil. Determined rats can chew through the netting, so keep an eye out for it.

Hot Pepper flakes

This is an inexpensive way to keep the rats out of your home. Sprinkling pepper is an age-old method to keep away animals from plants. Spread the pepper along the entryway and corners and keep the rodents away.

A mixture of Plaster of Paris with Cocoa Powder

All you want to do is to mix dry POP with Cocoa or chocolate powder and spread it in the area rats frequent. Once they eat up the mixture, they will run out of your garden frantically to drink water and die.

Mesh tubes

Plastic mesh tubes can be placed around tender seedlings to prevent rats from eating them.

Stop feeding wild birds and animals

Many rats are attracted by fallen food from bird feeders and will climb up feeding stations squirrel proof feeders can help. Stop feeding birds if you suspect an infestation, and secure chicken runs. And store bird and animal food in secure containers.

Keep an eye on crops

There's not much you can do to keep rats off your plants. Rats will eat sweet corn, pumpkins, squash, other root vegetables, and apples, so once harvested, store them somewhere secure. If you suspect that stored or growing plants have been nibbled by rats, don't eat them. Rats eat seeds, so store them securely.

Remove water sources

Rats can't survive without water. If possible, remove water sources from the garden, including dripping taps and secure drains and add baffles to drainpipes.

That's all guys about How to Protect your Garden from Rats and Mice. Keep growing plants. You may be interested in Goat Farming Plan for Dummies .