WAR!!


I went down to the shed today to open the door as it was sunny and bright. This is the sight that met me. I stared in disbelief trying to think what had happened to the trays of seed potatoes.Some trays had been pushed aside and others had chunks nibbled out of them. I can only think mice or worse , rats?! I have never had any type of foodstuff in the shed so how did they suddenly realise the seed potatoes were there for the taking?

A close up of some of the damage done. On closer inspection I would have to think a rat ( I am hoping singular)! I will have to replace the seeds so I went back to the Ravens Court garden centre and told them my tale of woe. It seems rats have been known to cause this type of damage to any type of stored crop. I was told the seed potatoes can be rescued by cutting off the damaged parts as long as there is an 'eye' in the remaining part.The thought of even handling them is not pretty. I bought more seeds but before I put them out I was advised to set poison as otherwise I am just giving them second helpings!

I had to go to a CO-OP store to get this tub of bait and from the size of stock of this small size up to huge buckets of the stuff I am not the only one with a problem.
It has to be used carefully in containers away from where domestic animals or even birds can get at it.
So before it gets dark I am off to don my armour (read rubber gloves) to do battle with the local rodent population.

Comments

Unknown said…
I would have to say you are entering the battle zone for sure! Keep us posted! If you find a dead rat who's going to remove it? EWWW!
January 26, 2009 at 6:24 PM
Diary From Africa said…
Peggy, how heartbreaking - I can only imagine your horror when you saw this ! (You should check for rats droppings on the floors etc to see if it was a rat ?) I hope that it was only one but your rat bait should sort that problem out ! (You could always wear disposable gloves if you needed to). Please let us know what happens, hope that you don't have any surprises in store next time you open your shed !
January 26, 2009 at 6:40 PM
Tracy Bruring said…
I hope you do not have cats or dogs. The rats will eat the poison and will not die right away. They will go off to seek water. when they drink it they will begin to slowly bleed to death from the inside. If during this time your pet eats the rat/mice, they also will begin to bleed from the inside and you will not see any signs until it is too late to treat. We learned this the hard way.
January 27, 2009 at 4:10 AM
Peggy said…
Hi Sweethearts Mom, many thanks for the advice. I do have a dog but he rarely goes out in the back, definitely not now.The back is fenced in with wire fencing and trees so other pets cannot get in. The shed is raised off the ground slightly and I have been told they could be nesting under there for the winter!!!
I checked this morning and all of the poison has been taken, so I have refilled the trays.
January 27, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Anonymous said…
Hi Peggy,
I understand the rodent problem too.
On the farm we have all sorts of rodents.
Right now our main one is a mole digging up the yard. Everywhere. I need to find out what to do about it.
Good luck on the rat.
Pam
January 30, 2009 at 10:35 PM
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