Rats are
persona non grata
in your garden and yet you see them from time to time, even regularly.
Update on their presence and how to ensure that you no longer come across them.
How do you know if you have rats in the garden?
There are several clues that will give you a clue.
Starting with their excrement and the strong, unpleasant smell of their urine.
If you observe the presence of fine dark and greasy lines on certain areas of the garden.
Your vegetable garden can also be the victim of these pests which delight in your fruits, vegetables and other plantations.
In addition, gnawed items such as wood or pieces of cardboard found in a place where they should not be can be indicators of their presence.
If you notice traces of small teeth or microscopic holes on your bins placed outside.
Read the filePests, insects in the garden: all our tips for getting rid of them
The same is true if you detect multiple holes they dug.
You may hear strange little noises or cries coming from the ground, in corners or in the bushes, a sign that they are there.
Advice
You can wait until nightfall and bring a flashlight to see if they move in the dark and thus confirm your last doubts.
Where are the rats hiding in the garden?
These rodents generally find refuge in nooks and crannies, in nests or burrows with an estimated diameter of between 3 and 12 centimeters, under plants or bushes to be less visible.
They can also squeeze through cracks.
Every square centimeter can turn into a hiding place for this pest and its congeners.
Read alsoIn Paris, rats proliferate, the town hall wants to learn to “know them better”
What attracts rats to a garden?
Rats come when several items are within reach.
The most common are:
Trash cans that are not airtight and whose lid is not properly closed;
Food for your pets;
Chicken food and eggs;
Fruits and vegetables from the vegetable garden;
Seeds or bulbs;
Garden waste;
Compost.
Read alsoDoes compost attract rats?
How to eliminate rats permanently?
Frequent garden maintenance
First, do a thorough cleaning with a mixture of water and bleach to remove all excrement and the smell of urine that could attract other rodents.
Declutter as much as possible such as piles of wood or newspapers for recycling to prevent rats from settling in and breeding.
Invest in airtight and closed trash cans - wash their insides regularly - and don't leave any bags of food on the floor.
As far as possible, take out your trash cans just before the dumpster passes so that they don't remain available all night.
For bins used for compost or storage, be sure to protect them with finely woven metal grids to block access or a plastic cover.
For the wood, you can store it in an airtight shelter, with no possible access.
It will stay dry and won't be eaten away by rats.
You can also mow, depending on the season, or cut your plantations, prune your shrubs to give a more aesthetic appearance and especially so that these places are not sources of accommodation or shelter for rodents.
Also make sure that nothing is near the walls of the house and fill in the holes dug by these unwanted guests.
By using your cat's hair and litter, which you will place in the holes dug by rodents.
The smell will convince them not to come back.
Read also10 tips for an ecological and economical garden
Use of rat repellents or traps
Secondly, you can use non-toxic and non-hazardous products to remove them:
Fruits, vegetables or aromatic herbs
The smell of cloves or citrus fruits (orange, grapefruit) or even that of mint, bay leaf and sage, rosemary, or even pepper, onion or garlic.
repellent plants
Plant them where rats often go to deter them.
Here are the most effective:
The imperial crown
Mint
eucalyptus
Laurel
Hyacinth
spurge spurge
L'Incarvillée
Read alsoRats, mice and field mice in the garden: 7 repellent plants to scare them away
Vinegar
Its acidity is not appreciated by their sense of smell.
baking soda
Mixed with a food appreciated by the animal, baking soda once swallowed turns into carbon dioxide in the stomach, which is fatal for its victim.
bleach
Mixed with a product to attract him (a sauce, milk, or poured over a solid food), it will have the effect of burning his digestive organs in the space of a few hours.
essential oils
A cotton ball soaked in a few drops of essential oil and placed in strategic places, especially peppermint, lemongrass, bay leaf and eucalyptus.
Rat traps
Depending on your sensitivity and the number of rats present, there are more or less effective ones and whose radical system can offend some.
First of all, the installation, without danger for the life of the rat, of metal cage with as bait for example a small piece of cheese or a delicacy.
You will be able to set it free far from your home, using rubber gloves and dropping it off several kilometers from your home if possible.
You can also choose the more radical - and economical - option of the swatter.
In both cases, do not activate the trap right away so that the animal is less on its guard.
The ultrasonic or electromagnetic device consists, for its part, in keeping them away.
The electric rat trap can also be effective.
When the animal puts a paw on the metal plate, it receives an electric shock that ends its life.
Finally, if you choose to use chemicals or rat poison, be sure to seek advice from a specialist or ask him to intervene for more efficiency and safety.
Have a cat that hunts rats
He will play his role of predator to perfection.
Rodents won't want to play “cat and mouse”.
Useful
Do not hesitate to talk to your neighbors about it so that they take the same precautions as you and that this problem becomes only a distant memory.
