We live in the Phoenix, AZ area. We are beleaguered by pack rats and mice in our desert landscape gardens. They are also damaging our bonsai plants.
I have caught several in a Hava-heart trap, and released them a couple of miles away, but still more come. Now they seem too canny to go into the trap I have baited with bread and peanut butter.
I kind of hated to do it, but finally decided to use the d-Con poison pellets that come in little plastic trays, about 3x4 inches.
The first time something ate some of the pellets, and I assume they expired. No more pellets were gone for quite a while, then some more were eaten. We finally disposed of the rest.
Then after a while, when more damage started, we put out another tray. The next morning, all of the pellets were gone, and THE ENTIRE PLASTIC TRAY WAS GONE TOO!
What is more, no pellets were spilled around the tile on the patio.
We then put one in our fenced-in courtyard, and that also vanished. No large animals could climb over that fence. That too was gone the next morning.
Last night we tried again out on the back patio. Guess what? Yup.
No humans ever come around here, especially at night. Now what in the merry hell kind of animal could pick up this tray, filled to the top with pellets, and carry it away, without spilling any?
Okay, but doesn’t that mean that ***three separate ***desert monkeys would have had to come marauding? Even if one tray wouldn’t kill something monkey-sized, surely it would make them sick enough that they wouldn’t do it again?
Is it possible another person in your household feels even more ambivalent about the poison than you do?
You could place the next tray in an area you have hosed down into mud, and see what kind of tracks you get.
Very strange. Could it possibly be a fox? I’ve seen foxes carry off containers of scraps or other goodies. A stray dog and presumably coyotes will eat whatever they find in place, but foxes seem to like to grab and run. They’re small and very clever about slipping through tiny gaps in fences, etc. I don’t know if they would go after rat bait, but if it had some kind of sweetner or something to make it more palatable to rodents a fox might go for it…they’re omnivorous and quite catholic in their tastes. Just a thought.
SS
Never mind the cjupacabras. I’m worried about neighborhood cats. Poisoned mice are easy prey but then they poison the cat (cats have very weak defenses against poisons). If you use mechanical traps (whether the cage kind or the simple kind) there’s less risk to the cats.
What the OP wants is to use a rodent bait box, which is a box about the size of a shoebox (usually plastic) that has a couple of holes in it and a section that holds the bait. There is usually a baffle that block direct access to the bait from the hole. Just google ‘rodent bait box’.
The idea is to place bait and yet keep non-target animals away. The bait box could also be held down with a brick or something to keep a larger animal from moving it. Much butter than the little tray the bait is sold in, which I presume is intended for indoor use.
KlondikeGeoff, I’m assuming that it’s the mice burrows that are damaging your garden? I had rats living in my prickly pears - I finally got rid of the rats when I removed the cactus after it froze and died. Not much fun.
I understand your concern, but no cats roam around here in the wild desert. At least not for very long due to coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, hawks, owls and other predators.
For the first time in our lives, we have two cats that are indoors guys, never been outside. Otherwise, they would be a lunch delicacy quickly.
You guys are hilarious, as I expected. Chupacabra indeed. Heh! We don’t see very many of them, but you might be on to something.
The fox idea is a possibility, as we know how clever they are. But, carrying a tray of pellets in their mouths without spilling any? Same for raccoons. Possum maybe, if they slipped the whole thing in their pouch.
We used to refrain from using the poison, as we thought coyotes or bobcats eating the rats might get poisoned, but we have read a few times that they almost always go into their holes to die, and they would not adversely affect the larger animals even if they ate them.
What the OP wants is to use a rodent bait box, which is a box about the size of a shoebox (usually plastic) that has a couple of holes in it and a section that holds the bait. There is usually a baffle that block direct access to the bait from the hole. Just google ‘rodent bait box’
Hey,Dag, i think you have a great idea. Found one on Amazon, and will send for it. Of course, if the whole bait box disappears, that would be scary.
They nibble and chew on a lot of things, especially our bonsai. Of course, compared to the damage the #@*@# javelina do, well, that is another unsolvable problem. As they were here first, we just yell and throw river rocks at them until the mosey off.
Sorry for the bump, but y’all may be interested in the solution to the mystery. My wife was cleaning up around the outside A/C units, and found a big bunch of grass, leaves and other stuff. It was obviously the beginning of a pack rat nest, so she started raking it all out to put in a trash bag.
Among the big bunch of stuff there was, you got it, the missing plastic tray the d-Con was in. They must have eaten the pellets and then hauled away the little tray. As no sign of them recently, they must have gone to rat heaven.
We are sorry to have to do this, but they were really damaging our precious bonsai trees, and they no longer would go into the Havahart trap we has been using, no matter what type of bait we tried.
Pack rats are legion out here, and they often build huge underground nests over the years. They love to haul down almost anything: metal, wood, plastic, string, and they especially love anything that is shiny.
We have ordered one of the rodent bait traps suggested in this threat from Amazon, to use outside where anything, else might be able to get to the poison, now that we know who the culprits are.
People put out plants in their desert landscape gardens that the desert birds and mice love to eat. Then they poison the entire ecosystem to keep them from eating it. Reminds me of people who build big houses in the mountains and shoot bears for getting into their garbage.