permaculture

[Robyn Francis <erda@nor.com.au>]

On 11/9/07 10:21 PM, "kevin s" <k.skvorak@verizon.net> wrote:

> so, i am earnestly seeking advice and help out there.  though i hate
> to do it, i am thinking about some rounds of poisons over the coming
> months, and again in the spring to knock down the population, and
> then some limited change in cultural practices to try to minimize
> breeding sites, but just by observing the scale of our problem, i
> don't have high confidence in the success of any of this.

I asked my organic certification inspector about rodent control a few years
ago when we had a major rat problem in the garden. The recommendation was to
use paste sachets secured with a metal kebab skewer in a large plastic drink
container with a rat-sized hole cut into one end of the container. The
container is laid on it's side with skewer going through the top and through
the base into the ground (the paste sachets are skewered in the middle).
This stops the rodents from removing the sachets for birds and other
wildlife to access. Also having the bait inside the container means the
poison isn't leaching into the garden if it rains.

It recommended NOT to use the one-feed-kills poisons as these will pass on
through the food chain. Multiple feed poisons are not so readily
accumulated. The recommended rat poisons in Australia are Racumen
(bird-safe) in paste sachet form, otherwise Ratsack is the next best option
(active constituent is Warfarin, a blood thinning agent). I don't know if
you have the same brand names in the US but hope the above info is helpful.

Not as effective is a bait made by mixing plaster of paris with flour and
wheatgerm. The plaster sets with the intestinal fluids & they die of a mean
kind of constipation.

Ciao
Robyn