Garden Surprises

I read that cats are not really all that effective against rats. And besides, my three are in-the-house cats.

Sheila - I am pretty confident from what I've read that these are roof rats. Too big for field mice. DH made a trap that will catch more than one at a time, and I've ordered one online that is a repeater too. They live under the boulders that we have surrounding our raised beds in the back yard. And now that it's nice, I see them running to the Salvia 'Hot Lips' that is in one of those beds. They feed whenever they want - day or night. And I thought rats were only nocturnal.

Had to have a sprinkler guy out yesterday because some of the zones had low water pressure, and found they had gnawed through several of the heads, which were now leaking. We've also patched a hole they made in the siding of a room above the garage. DH put some seeds in there and the attic to see if any were about, but no takers, so we're hoping they're all outside.

ok i got one (surprise) for you guys....

recently had a washer overflow that caused some water damage in the hall, adjoining bathroom and a little into the den. when ServPro came out to remove carpet, baseboards, kickboards, etc. guess what they found?!

under my bookcase, the washer, and the bathroom vanity... were piles and piles of dogfood!! something had stashed it all apparently... and obviously too small a space for any of our dogs (and they wouldn't bother--they eat freely from the bowls). so i have to assume mice/rats.

but why so much stored?! and how long would it have taken for them to store that much?! i bet each place had a cup or two of dog food each.... eek.

My Sister lives out in the country and she found a hole in the bag type cereal in her pantry at one end of the house; then Cherrios in her sock drawer one morning at the other end of the house. She is afraid of mice so that kept her awake a lot. They set traps and caught several, but also got a Momma cat and four young cats. They were great mousers and so far now she doesn't have a problem.

Ewww, Cajun. At least mine are all outside - I hope!
I didn't know that rats/mice stored food. I thought they just ate what they found, when they found it. What other critter could it be?

Oops - just read this. House mice? http://doyourownpestcontrol.com/mice.htm "Mice also cache food as supply permits."

This message was edited May 30, 2009 4:37 PM

Found this too.

Question
Do mice or rats store food? I found dog food in my kitchen drawers, between my couch cushion and in a boot in the closet that has been taken from my dog's food bowl. I have had mice before and have never seen them store/hide food. In each place I found the food, it was about 1-2 cups in each place so there are several of them or they have been really busy. Please advise if you think this is a mouse or a rat.

Answer
You didn't mention what part of the country you are in but yes, mice and rats (pack rats) store food.
If you see that much food, chances are you will see droppings. Droppings will be the tell tale sign. Less than 1/4 inch think mice. larger think rat.
You can visit http://icwdm.org click on solutions then animal damage id. for additional identification tips.

I learned something today! (and most days...)

As I mentioned I have just one cat and he has been very effective in keeping the mice away. Last year we noticed mice droppings in the garage and when we put the bag of dogfood out there it was chewed into; so we let the cat (he was just a kitten then, about 5 months old) in the garage a few hours at night for about a week. No more mice ever since. Our cat is the offspring of a ferrell cat, so I'm not sure if that makes him more of a mouser or not....his mother was also a Manx cat. But our cat is also pampered and stays inside to sleep and eat. He really earns his keep!! And my dh never though he would be so fond of a cat!!

I really think that mice and rats can smell animals around that threaten them. Our cat never actually caught any of the mice in our garage but he ran them out. He has caught mice outside though and brought them home as "gifts".

I guess I'm saying that you can have a "pet" cat that will definitely keep the mice away.

He also keeps bugs out of the house. It's crazy how bugs seem to know when you are coming and hide as soon as they see you. It's creepy.

I used to say that about my animals, but they are old now. Two are deaf and one is blind, all are too old or lazy to chase or bark at anything!

lol ceejay! yeah, i guess that's true now, huh? but i'm not getting cat either! i got enough hair and mess to clean up with the dogs...

and to be honest.... i haven't seen any mouse poop yet... wonder why? i mean that's usually my first tip-off--not the hidden cache of food. hmmm

We have had repeated problems with roof rats for the last few years. Well--not problems, really, except that who wants to sit out in your garden and watch the rats run all over your patio and roof? Ewwww. But so far, none in the house (knock on wood).

In March, the man who lives behind us had his garden shed demolished, and the guy tearing it down found a huge nest. He told me that ANY structure that isn't on a concrete slab will get rats nesting underneath.

I hope that's the end of them. But we also have rabbits, possums and raccoons, so I kinda doubt the rats will just disappear.

I used to have some tall white Rose of Sharon bushes along the fence near the house. My neighbor told me that he could see rats in the bushes, so one night I looked out of my open bedroom window. All I could see were the white blooms on the tree but the branch would dip down, then the flower would go UP the branch and down and across the top of the fence!! They were stealing the blooms for nexting material maybe??

Well, I am now pretty sure that these are NOT roof rats, nor are they Norway rats. So what are they? They must be some native rodent, but what? Any rodent experts out there?

Some bad decision pet store purchase that was released?? lol

My new surprise...bees in the eaves! I called a couple of bee removal people.

<sigh>

I had a surprise visitor to my small pond in McKinney Texas. I cannot imagine why it was more interested in the pump than the fish! I have identified it as a "diamond-backed water snake" and it scared the ever-lovin' daylights out of me!

Is it dead?

Looks like he got caught in the pump. I'd like to see his "eye zone".

He was very dead! It took quite a bit of tugging to pull what was left of his head out of the pump. I discovered him with my hand as I reached into the pump station to see if I could "feel" what was clogging the pump. Very Bad Idea!

We have that same skimmer and pump set up on our pond. Did you have the filter and frame in place? Boy, finding that would sure be a shocker! Eeeek!!!

And of course it is two foot down in the ground as you were bent over with your face in the hole!!

This message was edited Jun 17, 2009 12:14 AM

Maybe I don't want a water feature? I'm not sure I would have used tongs, either!

bmorte, I would have jumped 10 feet in the air if I found that.

Here's my new one, this one inside...in the dog's bowl.

I just found a snake skin intact on my lawn. It's not very big - 10-12" long - but my enthusiasm for gardening instantly shrank by at least that much. I could handle little garter or green snakes - but what if it's a poisonous baby? Yikes!

I don't mind knowing the creeping, crawling things are out there - I just don't want the dogs or family or myself injured just for being in the yard.

The sight of that skin had me dreaming of importing some mongooses for my back yard. ;)

LOL! I don't like the surprises like that either. If you post a picture of the skin, could be someone will be able to ID it.

Here's a rat snake from a few months ago on my chain-link. :-) (My neighbor's container garden is in the back)

Sorry I just read the posts right before mine. Don't worry, rat snakes are non poisonous. I have some rattler pictures if you want.... :-)

That rat snake is a beauty!

Carla

Don't know if this will work in Texas or not but my friend that lives in the desert catches her mice with a bucket filled halfway with water makes it so they can get in but they can't climb the slick sides to escap...Catches as many as a dozen each night but has most all of them caught by now...

interesting...does she bury the bucket or are the mice that dumb?

Here is a really bad photo of the Texas Gulf Coast toad that was on my patio last night. I love organic bug patrol!

Carla

Great just as long as it doesn't decide to hide in your shoe come morning. LOL!