Rat Damage

Rats are a constant "neighbor" I have to live with. Being in the tropics plus living next to a macadamia nut farm, it's totally impossible to completely avoid rats on my farm. 

The main problems with rats are...

... Crop damage. They will chew on macadamia nuts, gourds, pumpkins, pipinola, cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. Probably there are other crops, but I notice the damage in these fairly regularly. 

... Electrical wiring damage. I don't know why they are attracted to electric wiring, but I've come out to find wires chewed completely in half by rats. 

... Urine & feces contamination. These furry guys constantly pee and poop. This is a serious danger since I live in a region noted for leptospirosis and rat lung parasites. 

A rat ate a bit, then moved on. 

It's amazing how much rats can eat in one night. Was this one rat, or did it have company? 

It's easy to determine if rats are the culprits,. You can see the double side-by-side grooves created by their front teeth. 

Ridding the area of rats is difficult. These rats live mainly up off the ground, making setting effective traps challenging. Plus rats are smart. Once they have seen a dead rat squashed in a snap trap, they often avoid snap traps from that point onward. No bait will entice them to risk a snap trap themselves. The electric zapper traps work far better, with the rats not learning the avoid them quite so rapidly. But you can't set them out in the open where it will rain on them at night. A havahart type trap will work for the first few rats, but they figure itout and avoid it. The trashcan/water/seesaw traps work ok for the first couple rats, then they avoid them because they can see and hear the distressed rat. So out foxing rats can be difficult. 

I didn't mention poison. I don't use poison for a couple reasons...

... We have an endangered hawk here that could be killed if it ate a poisoned rat. 

... I have farm cats and dogs who could get into rat poison even if inside one of those supposed pet safe contraptions. I've seen my dogs chew open steel cans, so a plastic box wouldn't deter them any.

... My own cats and dogs could be poisoned by eating a poisoned rat. 

... Poison never goes away, at least not for years and years. I don't wish to add toxins to the environment. I know that this philosophy is just like spitting into the ocean -- it won't make any difference in the scope of the world because of the massive pollution the rest of the world pumps out. But at least I know that I didn't contribute rat poison to the insanity of the current world destruction. 

Our cats give us some control. We often find a dead rat a day someplace around the house. So they are pretty successful in intercepting rats trying to get into the house. 

By the way, the dogs are ineffective. Our rats are roof rats. They don't like being on the ground. Like squirrels, they prefer trees and high places.......like a roof. Our dogs don't have access to tree tops and roof heights. 

Rats!

Living rural, rats are always a problem. Living next to a macnut farm, rats can be an absolute nightmare. Rats are the reason why this farm maintains a dozen or so cats. We really need them to deter a rat invasion. 

Last night some bold & brazen rat got my window screens. 

Lucky for me, the windows were shut. Otherwise I'd be dealing with a rat in the house. Egads, just what I need. But what really annoyed me was the the buggah went around a chewed holes in 8 screens!!!!!!!!! Not fair. 

I showed the holes to Crookshank, my best rat catcher. He was mightily interested in the smell. Let's hope he does some rat hunting tonight, 

Rats & Chickens

Rats! Rats and chickens, not my favorite duo. First of all, Hawaii has two species of rats, so I've been told by Vector Control. The roof rat and the Norway rat. The one that frequently visits my homestead is the roof rat. I've been asked a number of questions about my encounters with these rats, so I'll answer as best I can.

(Above image from www.onetwotree.com)

Do chickens attract rats? Not really, as I've been told at the ag classes that I've taken. The rats were already there before the chickens arrived. But being opportunists, the rats see a good thing and hang around more often than not. Chickens equal free food, fresh water, warm housing. They are definitely attracted by the feed. Most feeders are open buffets for rats. They will enter the coop at night, helping themselves to a free meal with no competition from the chickens. Roosters may sometimes complain about the rats, but most birds don't say a word. 

Unsecured feed bins are also a rat smorgasbord. They get into feedbags, corn cribs, wooden feed bins, and even gnaw holes in plastic trashcans. They will also check out the trash bags, wild bird feeders, and compost piles. A solid metal trashcan will thwart rats. 

Will a rat kill a chicken? From my own experience and what I've been told, rats didn't normally attack a full grown chicken, but occasionally they may bite them, drawing blood. The danger here is that the bird now has an open wound, which gets the attention of the other chickens who promptly peck at it. This sort of pecking can lead to cannibilism. Most chicken owners have come out in the morning and found a partially consumed bird in the pen. Not uncommon chicken behavior at all. Chickens are like having little dinosaurs, little meat eating raptors. 

Rats have been known to kill and consume chicks and young birds. If the feed runs out in the feeders at night, then partially eaten young chickens might be found in the coop in the morning. A sign of rats. 

Besides the problem of killing chicks and eating your expensive feed, rats can be a real problem. They will hang around and explore the area, including my barn, tool sheds, car engine, house. They can nibble wiring, foul the area with feces and urine (thus potentially spread parasites and diseases, including leptospirosis), and set up housekeeping in the walls and ceiling of the home. They contaminate stored food and water. All in all, not a suitable house guest. Some unpleasant personal experiences we've had with rats ....

.... Rat condo in our livingroom ceiling. Egads. They got into the fiberglass insulation, peeing and pooping all over it, stinking up the house We ended up having to remove the ceiling, trash all the insulation, treat the rafters, and redesign the ceiling. Expensive. Messy. Stinky. Yuk. 

.... Rat vacation home inside the car engine compartment. Hubby noticed an odd rattle in the engine so took it to the repair shop. Mechanic found scores of macnuts plus loads of rat droppings under the manifold cover. An amusing story, but an expensive lesson to learn.

.... Our invisible fence system stopped working. On investigation we discovered that a rat had gnawed through the wire at the base of the control unit. It had to be replaced. 

.... Rats on our roof, finding tiny niches to get into the house. No fun sitting in the livingroom one evening reading our books only to look up and see a rat walking across the ceiling beam. Yikes! Another time we woke up in the middle of the night to mad scrambling out in the hallway. One of the cats had trapped a rat but didn't know how to kill it. Our house dog was standing behind the cat, barking encouragement. Get 'em! Get 'em! The rat meantime was screaming bloody murder. Hubby felt sorry for the rat, caught it, and set it loose down in the front pasture. He said the poor thing deserved to recover from that ordeal. I wonder if it ever returned? Anyway, because of our 365 day a year rat issues (we live next door to a nut orchard), we have to be diligent in keeping the chlorine level adjusted in our water catchment tank. We collect that rainwater off the roof, which happens to be a favored venue for the rats. 

What else goes wrong when rats and chickens mix? Egg theft. I don't think that I've experienced this problem, but then, the rats that visit my farm are rather small in size. I don't think they could carry off an egg if they were lucky enough to find one. I make a point of removing all eggs just before dark when the girls are already on their roosts for the night. But other people have proof that rats are stealing eggs because they've caught them doing it with their security cameras. Gotcha! They have seen rats stealing eggs right from under a brooding hen. Pretty bold, and pretty slick for a rat. 

Continuing Rat Attack on the Gourds

A large rat-chewed hole in one of the prized gourds. 

The rat that ate the small gourd last week, leaving it looking like an apple core, has moved over to the next trellis. He nibbled on a number of those small round gourds then got to one of the prized large gourds. He ate a hole into the side. Bummer! Bad rat!

Ok, he's got to go. He just ate a potentially $300 gourd. Not acceptable. So out come the big guns. I put some poison pellets inside the hole. I'm sure he'll find them tonight. Normally I would not be using rat poison, but I've had standard traps out in the nearby greenhouse without success. Two days ago I saw that one of the traps was sprung, but no rat. Since then the rat has been avoiding the traps. No droppings near them at all. So he's become trapwise. 

I actually feel bad killing the rat. He's just doing what he does in order to live. Totally natural. But I have to draw the line somewhere, because I too need to live. Actually in this case, a friend of mine depends upon those gourds. It's her livelihood. Losing this gourd is a major blow. 

Hawaii has an over abundance of rats. Cute furry rats. But they spread a nasty disease called leptospirosis. And they ruin our food, water, and supplies.  Plus they have a severe negative impact on native flora. So this rat just has the bad luck of having set up house in the wrong location. 

Boy, I'll be glad when the kittens are old enough to do rat patrol! 

Rats Branching Out

I can just imagine it.... furry little rat sitting atop this gourd, nibbling away.

I've found rats sleeping with my Paloma, staying warm no doubt. Rats living in the ceiling insulation, like a fiberglass Hyatt Regency. Rat motels under the roof edging (less luxurious than fiberglass insulation). Even rats in the car engine compartment....camping out?

Number one favorite food....macadamia nuts. Where macnuts are abundant, I don't see them eating much of anything else. Thus the reason they are hard to catch in a traditional trap or with poisoned bait. But I have had some successes by gluing a macnut to the trigger of a trap.

Down at the community garden we've recently become plagued with rats and mice. Sadly the garden lost its resident cat to a dog attack. When the cat's away, the mice (and rats) will play! Living in the wings, so to speak, is a litter of kittens, but it will be awhile before they become proficient ratters.

The one thing that seems to be controlling some of the rodents is the fact that there are no macnuts there, as a result they are stealing the slug bait. At least that seems to be the reason it's disappearing. I've seen both rat and mouse droppings in the bag.

But one serious rat apparently hasn't visited the greenhouse where the slug bait is kept. This one is in the gourd patch. Evidence-- partially consumed gourds with markings matching those of rat incisors. Dang buggah is eating the gourds! Boy, if it isn't bugs getting the gourds, it's rats! Just can't win.

So far it is only one variety of gourd that the rat is eating. A rat with discerning taste? High class rat, I suspect. Regardless of his sophisticated palate, he's got to go. I'll be putting out traps tomorrow, baited with.....macnuts, of course.

Gosh, who'd have thought rats would eat gourds?