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Rats eating my corn

Walchit said:
Might need to call an exterminator. My buddy had some rats once that weren't even supposed to be in Kansas. I hate seeing those ears like that
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I messaged our friend thats an exterminator and he said theres not much he can do for them outside. I'm afraid of even putting poison for thwm outside. Aside from my dogs, I don't wanna accidentally poison any other wildlife. Even the other solutions I read about online wont work. Some say a paper bag over each ear (they've chewed throughdog food and chicken food bags so I doubt that will work) and another said to put plastic bottle over each ear, which doesnt sound like a good idea or plausible with this many ears of corn
 
Saw a exterminator reality show a few years ago they were putting down big ass glue traps to catch rats in NYC. They made them out of half sheets of OSB and used some glue they poured on the OSB. Sorry I don’t know what the glue was. The rats stuck just fine.
We have coons here that do the same thing.
Rats in trees, that is some crazy shit.


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PtMD989 said:
Saw a exterminator reality show a few years ago they were putting down big ass glue traps to catch rats in NYC. They made them out of half sheets of OSB and used some glue they poured on the OSB. Sorry I dont know what the glue was. The rats stuck just fine.
We have coons here that do the same thing.
Rats in trees, that is some crazy shit.


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Yea they're pretty common out here. They dont just live in any tree though, they usually live in palm trees. I have a bunch of palms in my backyard too but I keep them trimmed well for this exact reason but my neighbor just lets his grow wild so it's a perfect home for them. When I google "rats eating my........" the top suggestions were, zucchini, squash, corn and tomatoes. All of which I have in my garden! I'm sure once these bastards are done with the corn they're gonna move on to my other stuff.. Not a very comforting thought
 
A high powered pellet gun and a little determination would take care of them. Or, if you are not of that mindset, use some baited smaller live traps. The live traps would need smaller mesh cage as I have seen a rat squeeze through a 3/4 inch crack in a wall.
 
Is it at night when the rats come out to eat? Maybe you have to shoot them fuckers during the day time if you can find them. Another thing to add to my not favorite list. Rats and snakes.


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I'm not opposed to shooting them because I've done it before but the location of the garden and the location of the tree would make it very difficult to get an angle without shooting in the direction of my neighbors house. Its also really dark in the garden at night and I wouldn't be able to see well enough to shoot them.
 
A friend of mine barried a 5 gal bucket in his garden level with the ground. Filled about halfway with water then float a layer of sunflower seed on top. He did this to catch chipmunks and ended up catching 5-6 rats as well as mice. They jump in and end up drowning.
 
I gues I'm gonna try the irish spring soap trick and see if that helps. I may also leave out some chicken scratch grains for a few days for them to eat then once they're use to eating it I'll poison it. The dogs can't get in the garden so I should be ok. Apparently they really like daves ghost pepper sauce too cuz the first night they only ate 2 and last night they destroyed at least 5. A couple only appear to be partially eaten so they were either full or those were the ones with more pepper sauce on them. I really lit myself up good spraying too cuz I was too lazy to put my respirator on. I couldn't stop sneezing and my face was on fire for an hour lol
 
I'll try the ammonia and the bucket too. Whatever it takes to keep them from destroying my garden. I've put so much work into my garden this year and it's really frustrating seeing them destroy it. I'm so close to harvest on this corn too.
 
Your rat friend just posted this on facebook!
 
rat_attack_nova.JPG
 
You don't have to bury the bucket. Just set a stick or board so they can climb up. Bucket also works with a wire poked through a can, stretched across the top. Can rolls freely. Smear some peanut butter on the can, rats climb on can, can rolls, rats drop into water. A pop can works for mice. Might have to upside everything for rats.
 
salsalady said:
You don't have to bury the bucket. Just set a stick or board so they can climb up. Bucket also works with a wire poked through a can, stretched across the top. Can rolls freely. Smear some peanut butter on the can, rats climb on can, can rolls, rats drop into water. A pop can works for mice. Might have to upside everything for rats.
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I'm thinking instead of a can, maybe run a skewer through a couple ears of corn over the top of a bucket. Might work..
 
Looked it up online and apparently its called a stairway to heaven trap. I'll try it tonight and see what happens. This is what I put together.
 

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