rat control without poison

[jadelennox]

Content note: Animal harm to a bald eagle, implied to rats.

From Universal Hub: Local bald eagle dies of rat poison.

I know the rat problem is out of control, and there's only so much an individual can do with traps and good trash management when we live in a city. But the poison is killing the raptors which, traditionally, control the rats. For what it's worth I've been trying Contrapest rat contraceptives; I don't know yet whether it works well enough. (Also dry ice, which you can buy in pellets at Acme down Kirkland and Beacon, near Inman, poured into the tunnels if you know the entrances, seems to help as well.)

Comments

[squirrelitude]

Ooof. Yeah, I don't hear about them getting into homes that often, but garages and sheds are a different story. And I forgot about the damage in gardens, even though I'm pretty sure that's why I didn't get any tomatoes this year. I've been operating under the "gotta get rid of rats" model for a while, but I couldn't remember *why*. This definitely fills in the picture a little more!

I've managed to successfully exclude rats from a backyard compost bin before, but it's hard. Previously I've wrapped hardware cloth around an Earth Machine composter to great success, but I've since learned that the galvanized metal contains lead. ;_; I think stainless steel chickenwire might be the best bet. And then "yard edging" plates stuck into the ground around the bin to deter digging.

Right now I have rats (and squirrels) eating out of our bin, but it's a bin that a former housemate put together and it isn't a very defensible design. I need to replace it. In the meantime, sprinkling super-hot cayenne powder in there seems to act as a deterrent, at least for a while.

(Worm bins also work great if you have basement space.)

I really do think that curbside composting is the only way forward, along with ordinances to require its use in all commercial and residential properties, with *actual* enforcement.