RE: rats, solutions to

**"Jack Hale" j*@knoxparks.org**

Conventional wisdom is that rats need 4 things - food, water, harborage
(place to burrow), and cover.  Remove any or all of those things, and
they tend to go away.  That means:
- Don't have any standing water in your garden - no containers that will
collect rain water, for instance.
- Harvest crops when they are ripe, and keep them off of the ground.
Don't let "spoiled" fruits sit on the ground.  Grow crops vertically as
much as possible.
- Elevate composters about a foot and turn them often.  Chop materials
before you add them to the composters.  Line composters with hardware
cloth. 
- If you find rat burrows, break them up and/or fill them with soil or
other materials.  Pick up pieces of wood, etc. that provide good
protection for burrow entrances.
- Pull, kill, or remove weeds, particularly along fence lines.  Try to
keep an area clear of cover about 200 feet beyond the edges of your
garden.
Most of these are just good garden hygiene.  You can get fancier.
Remember that gardens don't cause rats.  They have to come from
somewhere else.  Your real problem may be outside the garden,
particularly if you are good about cleaning out the garden before
winter.
Good luck.
JH

Jack N. Hale
Executive Director
Knox Parks Foundation
75 Laurel Street
Hartford, CT 06106
860/951-7694

-----Original Message-----
From: community_garden-admin@mallorn.com
[community_garden-admin@mallorn.com] On Behalf Of Emily
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 4:53 PM
To: BQLT
Cc: ParkSlopeParents@yahoogroups.com;
NYC-GardensCoalition@yahoogroups.com;
community_garden-request@mallorn.com; community_garden@mallorn.com
Subject: [cg] rats, solutions to

The community garden I belong to has recently developed a problem with
rats around our compost bins for the first time in many many years.
We're trying to find out what other community gardens have done to
successfully get rid of rodents - hopefully without using poison or
traps (we have other wildlife, squirrels, a resident cat, small
children, birds, etc.) that we'd like NOT to negatively impact Emily

______________________________________________________
The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of
ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and
to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org

To post an e-mail to the list:  community_garden@mallorn.com

To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription:
https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden

______________________________________________________
The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org

To post an e-mail to the list:  community_garden@mallorn.com

To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription:  https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden