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.