Oh rats.

[bil]

Originally Posted by estación seca

1/4" wire hardware cloth will exclude them. They can dig, so it needs to extend below ground level.

A note on this. For rabbits, the fence has to go up three feet, down two, and out 1 foot! that latter part is a must for rats! So, the trench you dig to bury the wire needs to be a foot wide, and the wire needs to cover the bottom of the trench so that when they burrow down they hit mesh.

When I used to have aviaries, I used to cover the floors with anti rat mesh that was tied to the mesh walls. That's a lot more certain way of keeping them out!

[Optimist]

I am one of those odd-balls who has rats as pets-- Rattus norvegicus. The rats I have are domesticated, but they have exactly the same genetics as wild rats. They are very clean animals-- as clean as cats, really. They poop wherever they are, and tend to trail urine.

They will eat orchid bulbs, leaves and other parts of the plants, but they will not try for them unless they are 1) easy to get to, 2) the only food available. Anything green crunchy and edible is considered salad to them. I have had 11 rats over the past 5 years or so, and they have never totally destroyed an orchid, though I have found a few "nibbles" taken out of them.

Many things will kill a rat including dark chocolate, and blue cheese mold. It is not nice killing any living animal. There is no painless way to do it. Some of the descriptions of what poisons do to them are beyond horrible.

[katrina]

Personally, I would accept that they are part of the environment (like I do w/the squirrels and chipmunks!) and make it as hard as possible for them to get to the orchids. You might still find a nibble or two from time to time but if you make it harder for them to get to the plants...you'll find less damage and you can live peacefully with the little critters.

I contend w/the squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons (they don't eat but they like to explore what's in the pots sometimes unpotting the whole thing!) and the occasional nibbling baby rabbit during the warmer months. I expect to see some damage...it's just part of growing outdoors. The chipmunks love to chew aerial roots and bury seeds in my pots! To be perfectly honest, I think the birds (specifically the Carolina Wrens!) cause more consistent damage to my plants than the rodents. I love the little Wrens but they can do a pretty good job of plucking media out of pots and off mounts. One pair even pulled a baby C deckerii out it's pot and plopped it on the ground this past summer....all to get to the sphagnum for their nest. I consider it is just 'part and parcel' of growing outdoors.

I'm glad you aren't going the poison route as I think that is a miserable death and the risk to the other animals is far too great. We don't contend w/rats around my house but we do have our share of mice and the only thing that catches them in the traps is peanut butter mixed w/sunflower seeds. I don't know if we just have more finicky eaters but if we use anything other than the pb/sunflower seed mix...we catch nothing. We get the little troublemakers coming into the garage and trying to get in the house every fall...since switching to pb/sunflowers, not one makes it into the house...snap! Of course, if they do get into the house, Toby and Marley kitties (both have a fierce prey drive) will quickly make them regret setting foot in the house. Maybe the pb/sunflower combo might work on your rats. At least traps are almost always quick and they won't suffer.

Side note...W/the pb ...make sure the feral cats can't get to the traps. Our ferals around here like pb so I set the traps up in places the cats can't get reach.

[dounoharm]

!!

[SaraJean]

Thanks everyone! I cleared out the old stumps and one dying banana tree (still have 4 others, they are like proverbial weed), found a little tunnel between some brick of the courtyard wall that I patched up and blocked its access. No more hidey holes, no more nests, no more rat highway running though my orchids, aka, the salad bar. Haven’t seen anymore rat dropping’s since doing this but I’ll keep an eye out and hopefully no need for traps. Not sure traps would do any good anyways because, as pointed out, the rats are everywhere.. hopefully they will stick to the plethora of trash cans in the neighborhood

---------- Post added at 10:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:00 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Optimist

I am one of those odd-balls who has rats as pets-- Rattus norvegicus.

Awww, I had one too. She was a darling little feeder rat that my ball python refused to eat. They cohabitated for a few days and I figured the little lass desereved a proper home. Sissy basically lived on my shoulder for 5 years and was a great pet. But she was a little cute white rat with big brown splotch on her head.. not sure I could handle having one of these gargantuan beast that roam my streets

[Dollythehun]

Years ago (many) when I was in college we had Skinner boxes. They phased the rats out in favor of mice. I took one home. You're right, my Alex was a good pet.

[Subrosa]

Rats are too good of a pet for an animal with a 2 year lifespan........

[Fairorchids]

I assume that most of your courtyard has concrete or flagstone surface. If so, you could build a shade table with metal cloth sides & top, and doors to you can open to tend to your plants.

It would look more or less like a bird cage, which you can drape with shade cloth (or plant a couple of crepe myrtles to shade it). Wouldn't this get past the Vieux Carre commission?

[jkofferdahl]

I agree with the NO POISON approach. Introducing poison into the environment will kill more than the rats, and there's simply no way to get rid of them with poison. Or anything else, really.

Normally I'm also no kill and I agree that rats can make good pets. One of my daughters had a couple and they were cute, snuggly, and sweet. However, the idea of killing wild rats doesn't bother me. They spread some nasty stuff, including through their droppings. Cats can be excellent ratters IF they have been raised to hunt. Most house cats will play with them but don't kill. Like Tom and Jerry, the rats always live to fight another day. Traps will kill some but unless you have about 100 traps and each kills at least one rat each day you'll not make a dent in the population. For the outdoor orchids your best bet is using the wire cages as described. Personally, I'd be happy to kill wild rats with fire.

I also recommend these ultrasonic devices for indoor use. As I said, I bought them in desperation, not expecting much, and haven't seen a rodent in my home since installing them! There are similar ones you can use at entry points outside the house which I'm told are also effective.

[SaraJean]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

I assume that most of your courtyard has concrete or flagstone surface. If so, you could build a shade table with metal cloth sides & top, and doors to you can open to tend to your plants.

It would look more or less like a bird cage, which you can drape with shade cloth (or plant a couple of crepe myrtles to shade it). Wouldn't this get past the Vieux Carre commission?

Yes, its all tile but I’m liking the bird cage! That actually sound like a good idea for my balcony as well, I’m running out of space downstairs.. Some crepe myrtles would look amazing and I think I might have room for one. The courtyard is pretty tiny