Ground rat in the garden - photos and methods of control

Chemicals

A few days after laying out the bait, it must be checked.
Rat poison affects different organs of animals: breathing, bones, digestive, nervous or circulatory systems. Many products also have mummifying properties, thanks to which corpses do not decompose and do not stink.

Using chemical poison is easy:

You need to find rodent burrows or their habitats;
Put edible bait there (food or water mixed with poison) or leave ready-made products;
After a few days you need to check the amount of bait. To become poisoned, rats must eat a certain amount of poison (the exact amount is indicated on the specific product). If they eat less, there is a high probability that the rodent's body will adapt to the poison;
After the first wave of deaths, you need to change the bait and poison

"Storm" is ready for use

“Nutcracker”: is a dough-like mass of blue or red color, which must be placed in containers and placed near the holes. The container is necessary to eliminate human odor. The poison acts for 4-8 days and shows excellent results: about 90-100% of individuals die. The average price of a 10 gram package is about 100 rubles*.
“Storm”: produced in the form of ready-made granules and briquettes of different weights. The advantages of the poison include a special bitterness (rats do not feel it, and children and pets will not be able to eat too much) and mummifying properties. The price of a package of 4 briquettes of 4 grams is 40-60 rubles.
“Zookoumarin NEO”: available in the form of ready-made grains of purple or pink color and powder for mixing with food or water. It is a slow-acting poison: rats die within 1-1.5 weeks. The cost of a bag of grain weighing 100 grams is 20-30 rubles.
“Rat Death No. 1”: This is an extremely effective but toxic remedy that looks like a paste-like substance packaged in separate bags. It must be placed in separate containers, avoiding contact with skin or food. Death occurs 2-3 days after the poison is ingested; the colony dies out completely within a week. The average price for 100 grams is 50-60 rubles.
“Efa”: produced in the form of briquettes and grains. When ingested, rats experience internal bleeding, after which the individual dies within 3 days. “Efa” can be used as a prophylactic and left in hard-to-reach places: the product does not release toxins into the air, although you should not touch it with your hands. The average price of 100 grams of grains is 50 rubles.

We suggest you read: How to poison rats in the countryside

Why does he appear at the dacha?

In addition to periodic floods, other conditions can drive a water rat from its permanent habitat:

excessively increased number of colonies;
settlement of competitors;

depletion of food supply;
the onset of cold autumn.

Relocation from relatives occurs, as a rule, once every 6-7 years. The number of individuals in one territory becomes so large that it is already difficult to obtain enough food and disperse. The same thing happens if rats, mice, ferrets and other rodents suddenly move into the habitat. In such conditions, the water vole looks for new permanent homes to live.

During periods of cold weather, migration is temporary with rare exceptions. The animal digs holes away from cold water, buries old supplies there and replenishes them with local food. Summer cottages are ideally suited for these purposes.

Expert opinion Stefania Bogdanovna Mityuk

Vegetable gardens within a radius of 5 km from water bodies are in a special risk zone. This is how far an animal is willing to go in search of food.

What are the dangers of rodents?

The ground (or water) rat is a large vole that prefers to settle near water bodies in areas rich in food. At the same time, it can live far from water - in meadows, vegetable gardens, fields and gardens.

The earth rat has a rounded body, a shortened muzzle with small ears, soft fur, and short legs. The tail is covered with sparse hairs and ends in a small brush about 0.5 cm long. The eyes are smaller than those of a rat. The front teeth (incisors) are brown-yellow in color. The fur of this animal is evenly colored dark brown, sometimes almost black.

The body length of adult individuals varies noticeably in the range from 110 to 260 mm, weight - from 120 to 500 g. The size of the tail is equal to half the length of the body.

Lifestyle

Ground rats are predominantly nocturnal, during which they spend most of their time in their burrows, coming to the surface only in search of food. This happens in the evening or at night. Moreover, the rats do not move far from the hole. Active at night, these rodents rarely catch the eye of gardeners. The presence of pests is indicated by eaten above-ground parts of plants and their sudden death.

To build it, rodents use grass, sticks, twigs, paper, and pieces of fabric. In their pantries, rats stock up on food for the winter. They can store plant roots, seeds, root vegetables, and bulbs. The deepest chambers save rats from winter frosts, but it is in the upper chambers that the rodent spends most of the time.

In places where burrows are made, pests destroy the root system of any plants, be they bulbs, root crops, weeds, fruit trees or shrubs. Ground rats, also called water voles, can swim well and climb trees. In winter they eat what they stored in summer.

Diet

Proliferating earth rats in the countryside are a real disaster for the owners, since by digging holes, they destroy all the plants in their path. Loves root vegetables and flower bulbs. Eats roots and green parts of plants. If you come across young trees or bushes along the way, then earth rats can cause their death. They gnaw the roots, eat the bark, after which the plant becomes sick and may die. Rats prefer apple trees, bird cherry and willow.

Rodents eat not only the roots and tubers of cultivated plants. Weeds are also part of their diet.

Habitat

Favorable living conditions for these animals include a sufficient amount of food, most of which is plants. The central parts of the country, the southern regions of Siberia, the Caucasus and Central Asia meet these requirements. In northern regions, where there are very low temperatures and there is no food, rats do not live.

The ground rat prefers to settle near bodies of water. They are attracted to wet lowlands rich in food along the banks of reservoirs, areas near swamps and damp meadows. During river floods, rodents move to drier, more suitable places for life.

Earth rats leave their previous habitats due to natural disasters such as floods, droughts, early frosts or simply lack of food. When such conditions occur, rodents move to fields, gardens and orchards in search of food, causing significant damage to the crop.

The barn is a favorite place for rodents. Pests are more common there than in houses. The reason lies:

at an acceptable air temperature;
in the constant presence of drink and food.

Gray pests also carry diseases such as:

giardiasis;
rabies;
typhus;
typhoid fever;
tularemia;
hepatitis;
worms.

Neighborhood with rats is very dangerous, since they destroy agricultural supplies - grain, fruit and vegetable supplies.

Damage to communications

Adult rats can easily exterminate young and hatched chickens by entering the chicken coop (3 effective ways to get rid of rats in a chicken coop). Animals steal eggs, which are a delicacy and the best food for them. Rats scare large livestock.

A popular place for rats to live is a pigsty; it is difficult to drive pests out of it.

When choosing chemicals to get rid of rats in a barn with pigs, you need to make sure that the poison does not penetrate into the feeder. Otherwise, the pig and even an adult pig may die. Using this option, you need to provide a procedure for getting rid of the smell coming from the corpses of rats.

Sprinkling ash on the pigsty floor.
Placing foul-smelling herbs.
Use of special glue.

Useful tips

Professional products for fighting the rat family are produced in different variations. You can offer poison-treated grain to pests, or use gel bait. It contains a potent poison, flavorings to attract the attention of animals, and flavoring additives. It must be placed near the minks.

If the animal dies in a hole, there is nothing to worry about; on the surface, it must be buried so that birds and neighbor cats do not get hurt.

With the constant invasion of voles in gardens, it is necessary to ensure the tightness of the area. Build a fence around it with a cemented base. The animal will not be able to make moves in the cement.

Often small round holes are visible in the ground in personal plots or vegetable gardens. With a high degree of confidence we can say that these tracks were left by an earth rat. The rodents are a type of mouse called the vole. They are the largest representatives of this species.

Externally, the animals are similar to pasyuk:

long round tail 6-13 cm, covered with hair;
large body up to 25 cm long;
Coat color varies from dark brown to black.

There is a version that there are rodents of a lighter color, but no one can say what a yellow earthen rat looks like, because no one has been able to see it in the wild. The quality of the hair depends on the habitat and age of the vole. The animal weighs up to 500 g. This is where all similarities with the rat family end.

The ground rat is very fertile. One female is able to give birth five times in a year, starting to give birth two months after birth. Each litter consists of two to fourteen rat pups, which are bred underground in a specially equipped place. Young offspring begin to lead an independent life from the age of one month. Under favorable conditions, the population of ground rats grows at a catastrophic rate and can reach 400 individuals per hectare of area. Earth rat

Having noticed traces of a rat on the snow or ground in the area, you should immediately take appropriate measures to combat uninvited guests. Any methods applied in time will be good. Don't forget that time is against you. The longer pests live in the surrounding area, the more difficult it is to get rid of their presence.

The earth rat has a large head with a blunt muzzle, small eyes and ears, short front legs with long, almost straight claws. The hind legs are extended, which helps the animal to swim well.

Interesting to know!

If optimal conditions are created for the life of a mammal, the field mouse will multiply very quickly. Up to 400 pests can be counted on one hectare.

The pest rests calmly in its shelter during the daytime, and goes out hunting during the day. This is the second reason preventing the fight against the earth rat. The rodent can rarely be found within the city. The stronger representatives of the genus - gray rats - do not allow them into their abode. Yes, they don’t need to. Why leave so many attractive places to live? After all, the main source of food for rodents is in the garden plot - these are the roots of plants and flowers, and loose soil that does not impede their movement. in the ground, they make holes and passages, cutting off the entire root system of plants encountered on their way. This is the third reason why it is difficult to control pests.

How to post

To get rid of rodents in your yard, call a professional. They will inspect your area, find holes and destroy all pests. Or take care of removing them yourself.

Extermination of rats

Cats and dogs. The ground rat is a large animal that not every cat can handle. If you get a pet, it may not want to fight such a large opponent, but will look for smaller prey. But dog owners (dachshunds) can rest assured about their harvest, because... they will willingly fight pests. But not all dogs are suitable, but those breeds that were bred for hunting.
Traps and snares. To combat rodents, either buy a ready-made rat trap, or make one yourself. Place it next to the entrance to the hole. To get rid of earth rats, buy electric traps. Many people use arc traps. They are hidden in a hole (15-20 cm deep) and not covered with earth. The ground rat is a smart animal. If it notices a dead relative in such a trap, it will not dare to approach it. Traps help in the early days of rodent control, but once they understand how these devices work, they will avoid them. And there is no guarantee that your dog or neighbor’s cat will not fall into the trap.
I. There are a lot of products for sale. Poison is mixed into food. To make the rat lose its vigilance, it is first fed bread or other foods. Then poison is added to the food. Ethylphenacin is often used for this. Take 1 kg of bait and mix it with 30 g of poison. These measures cannot be called the best. Apart from the remorse that will torment you if you poison an animal that has trusted you, there are other reasons to refuse poison. A pet can eat the bait and become poisoned. The bait with poison will end up in the ground where you grow vegetables. Eating such a crop is dangerous. And a rodent can die anywhere; its decomposing corpse can lie next to your vegetables, which will kill your appetite.

Not all modern cats will catch rodents

Rodent repellent

To get rid of rodents, it is not necessary to kill them, especially in front of children, who can become attached to the cute animals that live in the garden. But they cannot be allowed to destroy the harvest into which so much time and effort has been invested. Scare away earth rats from your property. How to do it? Either use traditional methods, or purchase a special repeller.

There are electronic repellers on sale that generate ultrasound. If you constantly turn on this device, the ultrasound will act on the rat’s nervous system, forcing it to leave the area. It also affects other pests: mice, moles, etc. Operates either from mains or batteries

Pay attention to the radius of its influence

If you don’t want to spend money on an expensive device, use traditional methods, one or several at once.

Plants. The earth rat does not like the smell of chamomile, wormwood, tansy, mint, etc. Plant these plants in your garden that will repel them. The same yellow tansy is a medicinal herb that is useful for stomach diseases, or aromatic mint itself is needed by a person.
Smoking. Find a rodent hole and stick it into it or a burning rat carcass (douse it with kerosene), leaving the remains in the hole. Or burn the rabbit skin and throw the remains into the hole. Set the rubber on fire and push the smoking piece into the hole.
Flooding of the hole. Find the entrance to the hole, insert the hose into it as deep as possible and run the water. The rat itself will not die, because... she can swim, but will move to another place.
Noise. If the area is noisy, the animal becomes uncomfortable and leaves this place. You can either turn on the music at maximum volume and leave it for 10 - 20 minutes, or make pinwheels from stakes by placing tin cans on them. But before you use these methods, talk to your neighbors. If the noise bothers them, you will have to choose another method to get rid of the rodent.

Expulsion by folk methods

How can you fight rats in your garden using traditional methods? This approach is based on the fact that the earth rat does not like strong and pungent odors. To quickly evict them from your site, you can use the following methods:

pour water and ash into the holes;

place rags in the hole, having previously soaked them with fuels and lubricants: gasoline, kerosene, oil, grease;
pour kerosene on a dead rat carcass, burn it, and then place it at the entrance to the hole (you can also take the skin of a rabbit or other game);
You can set fire to rubber near the holes so that smoke and fumes penetrate inside.

In addition, you can use plants. These creatures cannot tolerate the smells of wormwood, tansy, chamomile, elderberry, hawthorn, and mint. By the way, plants can be used for prevention purposes. You can plant mint and chamomile among the beds.

How to get rid of an earthen rat?

If you notice even one animal in your garden, rest assured that it will soon be inhabited by a whole population of rodents. Therefore, you need to act quickly, choosing the most effective method. Note that if rats also live in a neighboring area, it is better to mobilize all the forces of the neighbors to choose tactics to combat rats. The best way is undoubtedly to call a professional exterminator team.

Experts can assess the situation, detect holes and apply a set of measures against voles. But if you cannot yet use the services of professionals, we will fight them ourselves. Be prepared to try several methods because rats can be difficult to get rid of, especially in large areas.

Read detailed recommendations from experts on fighting rats in your summer cottage. In this article we will present some of the most effective techniques that will help cope with pests.

Fighting earth rats - we act radically

If you don’t have time to experiment with repelling rats with different plants, you need to stock up on effective devices:

Mechanical or electronic mousetraps, various homemade and industrial traps for earth rats - you will have to look for parasite holes and install the structure directly near the entrance to the tunnel. The disadvantage is that if a rat sees the already dead body of a relative, it will never approach the mousetrap. Yes, and you will constantly have to free the mousetraps from corpses, making sure that the mechanism is in working order.

One of the most effective rat traps from Swissinno (you can order here)

Special baits with insecticides - it is worth remembering that the rat does not react to all odors, and if the bait has too strong an aroma, the parasite will refuse such a delicacy (what baits do professionals use to fight rats)

Poisons from earthen rats are an effective way to destroy rodents, but you need to know where to scatter them or place them directly in holes. It is worth remembering the dangers of toxic chemicals for humans, domestic animals, and even crops. You can purchase ready-made mixtures or prepare them yourself: mix 1 kg of grain with ethylphenacin (30g).

The photo shows a ready-to-use mummifying bait (4 types) for rats (learn more about baits)

Before using each method, evaluate its harm to the area and only then use it.

Ground rats in the country - let's be humane!

If you are not a supporter of exterminating pests, you can try to create uncomfortable living conditions for them on your site. The advantage of the method is that the pest does not die, but simply leaves the dacha; you do not have to collect the corpses of the animals. The disadvantage is that it will take a lot of time to get rid of rats both in the house and on the property; you will have to put in a lot of effort and study some of the behavior of rats. Methods:

The electronic rat repeller is one of the most effective devices on the market. The principle of its operation is simple: the generated ultrasound acts on the nervous system of the vole (as well as moles, mice, gophers, etc.), causing the rat to leave its hole and your area in a panic forever. The advantage is that one device can cover impressive areas, operates autonomously from batteries or a generator, and does not require special maintenance.

One of the best sellers is the earthen pest repeller TORNADO OZV02

Smoking rodents - for such an event you will have to collect the skins or remains of animal hair, set them on fire, and direct the smoke directly into the mink. You can also try to ward off rats with the scent of plants. Wormwood, elderberry, mint are suitable. Rats do not like these smells; herbs can be planted between the beds.

Flooding a hole - you will have to find a shelter and fill it with water, it is better to use a long hose and immerse it in the passages as deep as possible. This is not dangerous for the rodent; it will simply leave the tunnel.

Exposure to noise - digging in various “noisy” turntables, stakes on which tin cans are placed, and even playing music at maximum volume for 10-20 minutes daily. The animal cannot tolerate very high sound frequencies, feels severe discomfort and tries to leave the area.

You can try to “involve” cats and even some breeds of dogs in exterminating rats - hunters are able to destroy part of the population (the cat will scare away the pest with its specific smell), but it will not be possible to completely get rid of the vole.

Remember that it is better to use several methods of controlling voles at once. And if the population has reached a significant size, and rats are already attacking the house and barns, call a team of exterminators.

Published: 07/25/2016

Preventing the appearance of rats in the apartment

Taking action to comply with prevention measures is very important. If you don’t want to subsequently wage a war with rodents, do not allow them to appear.

After all, there is always a risk that a rat will come to feast on food scraps from a bag that lies next to the trash container.

This is why you should not allow garbage to accumulate in heaps or improvised landfills in the area near your home.

It is necessary to keep the garbage chutes in the entrances clean, then dangerous rodents will not come close to the apartment and will not penetrate it.

You should also maintain order in your apartment: keep food in sealed containers or in the refrigerator, and throw away garbage regularly.

You should not allow your home to develop cracks, holes in floors or peeling drywall, as these are excellent places for rodents to settle and enter.

Creating conditions that are not comfortable for rats to live in is the best way to fight rats in your home.

Preventive recommendations

The main bait for the earth mouse is the presence of food; it is impossible to get rid of it. There are useful recommendations that reduce the risk of a rodent appearing in a garden plot many times over:

get a cat, a dog. Pets will not only please the eye, they will be able to scare away uninvited guests, even with their specific smell;
regularly inspect your possessions, if you find several individuals, immediately begin to destroy them;
Sometimes play loud music in the garden or hang tin cans on sticks. During strong winds they will create a hum that will scare away many parasites;
Order in your own home plays an important role. Immediately throw away unnecessary boards, old trash, and gardening waste. All secluded places can quickly be chosen by a variety of pests.

The water vole is a dangerous rodent that causes a lot of inconvenience to owners, including crop damage and significant damage to young trees. Due to excellent fertility, deal with the problem immediately after detecting the pest, study all the methods, choose the appropriate method. Protect your garden from parasites, inspect it regularly, and enjoy the results.

From the following video you can learn how to deal with rodents in the garden, in the garden and in the house:

Why are they dangerous?

Earth rats cause serious damage to agricultural plants. By digging underground passages, rodents damage the root system of plants, which leads to their drying out and death, and in the case of fruit trees and shrubs, to loss of harvest. In addition, rodents gnaw bark from trees, causing serious harm to them.

Earth rats gnaw large root crops, and carry small ones into holes for storage. They love to feast on melons and melons. Due to damage caused by the sharp teeth of rodents, melons and watermelons quickly become unusable.

If there is not enough food in the garden, rats enter where vegetables and grain are stored and eat the supplies. They can also get into houses where they feed on food. The appearance of rats is dangerous for people, since animals carry pathogens of severe infectious diseases (plague, leptospirosis, tularemia).

Appearance of the animal

The appearance of the animal is more similar to mice than to rats:

rounded body, large head with a blunt muzzle;
small round ears, barely noticeable;
the eyes are round and large enough;
massive paws with long toes and slightly rounded claws.

There are still differences between rats and mice. The rodent's body length is about 22 cm. The tail is narrow, long, covered with thick, hard hair. There is a small brush at the tip. The coat is soft, but there are long, stiff fibers throughout the body. In winter, the cover becomes denser and fluffier. The weight of the animal is about 350 g.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4mxY6U7hr0

The abdomen is dirty white. Available in red or completely black. The yellow earthen rat looks like a hamster. The only thing that gives it away is its long tail and the absence of a light stripe along the back. A photo of an earthen rat is presented below.

Earth rat

Traditional methods and repellers

They say that if you do a similar procedure several times, the animal will stop visiting your summer cottage. Shrews also do not like very strong odors, as they have a very good sense of smell. So you can leave rotten fish or kerosene in the places where they were spotted for a short time. But these odors are also unpleasant for people, so plants can be used as a deterrent - imperial hazel grouse, wormwood, peas, beans, lentils, mint.

But repellers can be divided into two groups: ultrasonic and mechanical - the most humane of all methods of fighting shrews. They do not cause any harm to this small animal. The oldest way to scare away a shrew is quite simple: you need to make a small pinwheel, usually a plastic bottle or aluminum can is used for this, and attach it to a stick.

Their undoubted advantage is their minimal cost, since folk recipes, as usual, are simple and involve the use of what is on hand in almost every home. It has already been said above about scaring off shrews with sharp and unpleasant odors - a method that is worth adopting.

"Global flood"

We can only guess about the true length of the underground tunnels, since shrews often use other people’s “buildings.” Therefore, it is better to immediately take a hose with water and fill all the holes that appear in the nearby area. Not a single underground mammal can withstand such “swimming in its own home.”

Burnt rubber

The fastest way to wage an “olfactory” war. If you set fire to pieces of car or bicycle tires and stuff them into holes, their inhabitants will quickly leave their homes and go to seek their fortune in other places. Or they will simply suffocate.

Deep digging

The work is labor-intensive, but it can be combined with regular digging in early spring or after harvesting in the fall. Left “homeless,” the animals may move to a quieter place. But the word “possible,” as you understand, does not give a 100% guarantee.

Marigold

In a fight with shrews, you can use methods of varying degrees of reliability and humanity, but it is best to start with preventive measures. For example, annually plant flower and vegetable crops around the perimeter of the plot that are intolerable to these animals, but absolutely not superfluous on the farm. And if the problem has already happened, start with repelling it in order to preserve not only the landscape design, but also the balance in the surrounding nature.

How to deal with earth rats in the garden or summer cottage?

For many people, a summer cottage is a place to relax

Gardeners and summer residents pay great attention to the garden and vegetable garden, planting beautiful flowers and shrubs or growing vegetables and fruits. However, on the path to an ideal farm, an obstacle often appears in the form of rodent pests that can destroy all efforts

Why are rodents dangerous?

Ground rats are pests that eat crops. In addition, they dig holes throughout the garden, making it vulnerable. As they multiply, they begin to move faster and faster underground and look for food, causing enormous damage to plants.

It is difficult to confuse a rat with other rodents, since the individual is particularly large in size. Its length can reach 25 cm. And even if at first it may seem that the situation is not so dire, then after the pests multiply, you will have to make every effort to ensure the safety of the garden. Therefore, you should not put off the fight against rodents until later.

The fight against earth rats should begin with determining the number of harmful individuals. Isolated cases do not pose any particular danger. But if many holes are found in the garden, then you should not delay solving the problem. There are many ways to get rid of earth rats.

Using Ultrasound

One of the most reliable and proven methods. Modern devices allow you to cover a large area, which will make rats run away from the unpleasant sound.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gj3mWDgadxc

While in the garden, pests will initially tolerate unpleasant sounds, but will eventually go away. After a few days, they will have to leave their burrows and look for a new habitat.

The disadvantage of this method is that the operation of the device may not have an effect on those rats that are buried deep underground. Units may remain and continue to cause harm.

Many pests flee when there is an unpleasant odor. Most often, this requires setting fire to the rabbit's skin and throwing it into the hole. The spreading unpleasant odor will force rats to leave their shelters.

And in order to further protect your site, you can plant wormwood or mint. The presence of these plants will repel pests several hundred meters from the site.

Flooding of holes

This method may be useful for those who are interested in how to deal with rodents without causing them much harm. To do this, you will need to flood the holes with water. Earth rats can swim well, so they can easily get out of the ground and go look for a new shelter. The procedure will have to be repeated several times.

Using Noise

Rats are afraid of noise, so periodically you can play loud music or make noise with tin cans. Surprisingly, the rodents go away forever.

Traditional methods

You can also get rid of pests using folk remedies. Old proven methods have been used by gardeners for many years. You will need:

Take wood ash, chop up large pieces and pour it into the habitats of earth rats. The alkali contained inside the ash negatively affects the health of rodents. The mixture corrodes their paws, and if it gets on the tongue, it causes irritation to the oral cavity and internal organs. This remedy will force pests to leave the garden once and for all.
Mix flour, sugar and gypsum. Then put it on small plates and place it in places where rodents are expected to live. Most people will come running to the aroma of the bait, and after consuming the mixture, the rats will experience intestinal blockage.
One of the least favorite smells for garden enemies is kerosene. It is enough to lightly spray the corners of the rooms where these creatures may live. Or pour a little kerosene into holes in the garden. It is worth remembering that this smell is pungent and harmful even to humans. Therefore, you should not use kerosene indoors.

Radical measures

If there is no time for a long struggle, then you can use more radical methods, which include:

Mousetraps and traps - they need to be placed, slightly breaking the rodent's hole.
Poisons are a more effective remedy because... after their action you will not have to contact the dead rat. The poison should be poured directly into the rat hole.
Poisoned baits - mix Ethylphenacin with grain at the rate of 30 g of product per 1 kg of grain.

Although pest control requires some effort, getting rid of rats is a must. After all, in the future their population increases, which is fraught with big problems.

Prevention measures

To protect the grown crop from pests, it is necessary to create unfavorable conditions for the life and reproduction of pests. To this end, a number of preventive measures are carried out:

In the fall, deep plowing of the fields is carried out, as a result of which rat holes are destroyed.
Install mesh barriers to protect warehouses, granaries, cellars and communications leading to them from the penetration of water rats.
Maintain cleanliness on the territory of these facilities, avoid cluttering the areas with garbage and food waste.
They cultivate the areas, freeing them from dead wood, weeds and fallen leaves.
Deratization is systematically carried out using pesticides and mechanical traps for rats.

These measures prevent the spread of pests to new areas.

You can protect your site from the invasion of earth rats with the help of preventive measures, which consist in eliminating favorable conditions for the life of these pests. But if this does not help, and rodents still appear, you should immediately take measures to expel or exterminate them. Each owner chooses his own measures to combat earth rats in the garden, humane or not. And we wish you a calm and fruitful summer season!

Useful tips

Tags: earthen, rat, vegetable garden, sign About the author: admin4ik

Characteristics of the Chinese ground rat

Earth Rat people are practical and intelligent people. Although Earth Rats are not at all interested in art, they are still inventive when they need to solve a problem.

These people can truly pursue their interests in the most creative and realistic ways. It is normal for them to sense the approach of danger.

It is as if Earth Rats rely on a sixth sense and immediately understand when something bad is about to happen. If one of them tells you that you should avoid contact with the person, you better listen to him or her.

Their attention is more focused on internal issues. Earth Rats love to keep their home tidy and hate having things pile up around them. It's nice to have a coffee or other drink from them

They are not very interested in fashionable furnishings and the combination of armchairs and sofas, but Earth Rats certainly want a certain level of comfort and coziness.

You will feel at home visiting them even if you know you live somewhere else. Their children will always be well fed and well cared for, but they won't necessarily wear the latest clothes in the fashion industry because Rats take good care of their money.

If you know someone who can support a family on minimum wage, then you can be sure that this person belongs to the Chinese sign of the Rat.

When others didn't even think they had a chance to save some money, Rats came up with solutions to save money and get a used car in the first place. If you need someone to take care of your budget, don't hesitate to ask them for help.

Although Earth Rats love to take care of themselves, they can still get tired of housekeeping because they are too nervous and tend to suffer from anxiety. And when they feel like that, they turn into real assholes.

When the element Earth is present in their chart, Rats become more down-to-earth and pragmatic. Earth Rats save their money until bad times come. The same element will reassure them, but they still save something for an emergency because they think that life can hit their pockets hard.

While this means that Earth Rats are reliable, it also suggests that they may have concerns that others wouldn't even think about. These Rats are not the most spontaneous people in the Chinese zodiac. They think that taking a vacation will only be a waste of time.

Earth Rats rely heavily on their routine and prefer to stay at home, doing what they do best. They are smart, but still don't like to take too many risks in life. Even though Earth Rats are very careful with their money, they do not mind giving as much of their time to others as possible.

Since they like to take care of people and Earth Rats are kind, many will want to be around them as much as possible. Putting family first, they will never betray a friend or loved one.

About rodents

A dangerous pest is the earthen rat. It is not a rat, although it looks like one, but belongs to the genus of mice, the vole. She resembles a mole, because... lives in the ground, in holes, digging which leaves the earth on the surface. She can swim and dive, and has webbed feet, which improves her ability to move through the water.

Appearance

The body length of the ground rat is 25 cm, its tail is from 6 to 13 cm, it weighs up to 500 g. The color of the fur is different, most often gray. They are black, brown, with a white stripe on the back, etc. But the yellow rat is a fiction. But in the garden, animals that are either brown or black are more common. It can easily be confused with a rat, but this rodent has long claws, no scales on its tail, and is shorter than that of a regular rat. In winter, its coat is dense, with long pile. And in the summer it thins out and becomes lighter.

It breeds quickly. In one year, the female breeds cubs up to 5 times, and gives birth to from 2 to 14 rodents. At 2 months, the female herself is capable of becoming a mother. You will destroy some of the adults, and the remaining rats will give birth to new ones. If living conditions are good, the number of rodents increases to catastrophic proportions. She masters the underground space of the site, digging holes in it. Finding her holes is not easy, because... it camouflages them well. It can clog the passages of its burrow if necessary. If desired, the rodent can easily climb a tree, from where it can move to the roof. A rodent's nest is a hole from which there are many passages, a nesting compartment and a pantry where it collects food for the winter.

The ground rat has a short tail

Harm

Why do you need to get rid of this cute little animal? The ground rat eats seeds, plants, their roots, and gnaws the bark of young seedlings. He also loves field mice, frogs, and river life. In the summer it lives near bodies of water, and when it gets cold, it moves to human habitation, because... he has something to profit from.

If an earth rat appears on the site, it can destroy the entire crop.

In Holland this rodent is especially disliked because... because of it the tulips suffer. The earth rat gnaws the bark of young trees, causing it to dry out. If you notice this rodent in the garden, it must be destroyed immediately before the animals breed. How to deal with them? There are several ways to fight, which we will talk about.

Tulip bulbs often suffer from rat attacks

Burrows and shelters

Most rodents, with the exception of the tiny mouse, are typical burrowers. Burrows in their life are home and shelter (they hatch and raise their young, rest after feeding, hide from the cold). Since at low temperatures the rodent dies within 25-30 minutes, they dig holes for themselves in which they can hide from bad weather, heat and enemies. The passages and chambers in the burrows are located in different layers of soil, and the animal can choose a place with suitable temperature and humidity.

Rat burrows

Among rats and mice there are species that make peculiar nests in the crown of a tree or in a hollow. This applies to black rats, which, unlike gray rats, are excellent at climbing tree branches and easily finding food in the treetops. Baby mice have spherical nests, which they place between tall stems of plants - reeds or cultivated cereals at a height of up to 1 - 1.5 meters from the ground.

When rats settle in nature, the shape of their burrows depends significantly on the conditions of the area. In open places they dig 5-7 tunnels, 10-12 cm in diameter and leading to a nest located at a depth of 20-30 cm (in summer). When settling near bodies of water, they make burrows in the banks in such a way that some of the passages open above the coastline, and part (1-2 passages) at its very surface. The nest itself is located in dry soil.

Wood mouse burrows

Wood mice settle in the hollows of trees, in the voids under the roots. The number of moves in the latter case is small. By nature, mice are very mobile. They feed mainly on seeds. They store reserves of seeds (acorns, nuts, etc.) in underground chambers. The amount of reserve, sometimes calculated in many kilograms, allows a family of mice to feed for 1-2 years. During inclement weather and winter, wood mice may not come to the surface of the ground or onto the snow cover for a long time. When settling in fields, wood mice make burrows with only 2-3 entrances. The nest is made from finely split grass stems (most often cereals) at a depth of 70-80 cm. From the nest there is a branch leading to a pantry where grain reserves are stored. They are sometimes quite significant and remain untouched for 2 years or more, allowing the animals to survive in those years when grain, for some reason, is not sown for several years in a row. Without these reserves, the wood mouse colony could disappear due to the lack of cultivated cereals. The ability to survive thanks to grain reserves has led to a noticeable increase in their numbers in the fields, in particular in Northern Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and the North Caucasus.

House mouse burrows

The house mouse, settling in warehouses and other human buildings, eats approximately the same foods as rats, so the burrows have approximately the same structure as those of rats. In the field, brownies build holes with several entrance holes leading to an underground nest, which is located at a depth of 40-50 cm. During the warm season, these animals sometimes change their settlement sites several times, setting up their homes where there is a lot of food. In summer, house mice settle on ripening grain, along the sides of roads, ditches, forest plantations, and in gardens, where the wind carries a lot of field grass seeds. In autumn, the usual places of settlement for these animals are forest plantations, haystacks, and unharvested straw left in the field for the winter. In recent years, due to the increase in areas occupied by forest belts, the number of house mice has increased significantly in various regions of the Caucasus, Ukraine, and southern Belarus.

Source

Pest Control Methods

To get rid of an earthen rat, you need to make sure that this is exactly the rodent that does not allow you to work in peace on your site. Maybe your neighbor has become a mole. He is also capable of digging up the entire garden and vegetable garden and destroying the harvest. It is worth looking at a photo of an earthen rat and then deciding on methods of struggle.

There are different ways to solve the problem, depending on what the intended goal is: to completely get rid of the pest or to drive it out of your territory. The following methods are used for these tasks:

mechanical – traps, traps, ultrasonic repellers;
chemical – poisons and poisons for rats, toxic substances;
animals on the site - cats, dachshund dogs;
smoking;
planting fragrant plants;
filling holes with water.

Let's take a closer look at how to deal with earth rats mechanically. The option is lengthy and requires some patience, since you need to find rodent holes, dig a 15-20 cm hole in front of them, set a trap or trap for rats and disguise them so that the animal does not notice them. You can use electronic traps that electrocute the victim. But rats are smart creatures and will not come a second time to where their relative died.

Chemical poisons or drugs that are toxic to pests, if used incorrectly, can ruin not only the harvest, but also cause poisoning of humans or pets living in the house. This path is not the safest to use. Justified in the case where a large number of pests have grown on the site and it becomes simply impossible to catch them.

There are more humane ways to fight. Cats and dogs living in the house will hunt rodents and force them to leave the inconvenient territory. Ultrasonic devices will also drive them out, creating certain frequencies that constantly irritate the animals. Ultrasonic rodent repellers do not pose a danger to humans.

You can smoke a rat out of a hole by placing there a burnt piece of rabbit fur, a rag dipped in gasoline, or a bunch of wormwood or mint. Rodents have a very sensitive sense of smell, so they immediately react to a pungent odor.

The proximity to black elderberry, the root system of which releases cyanide substances that are poisonous to rats, will also help to repel earth pests. True, it will take a long time to smoke out the aliens, since they will not want to immediately leave their home.

Another method is a safe method used by summer residents: filling holes with water. Earth rats swim well, but the increased humidity of the nest will force its owners to leave their habitable place.

Control options are varied, but which one will be more effective will depend on the specific situation in your area.

The most dangerous pest of household plots and summer cottages is the ground rat or water vole. The animal belongs to the genus of mice, but has nothing in common with them. The way of life of an earth rat is somewhat similar to the way of life of a mole: it digs passages in the ground, so after its life activity small holes remain in the garden. In addition, the animal feels great in water, which complicates the fight against it.

This text describes the life functions of the earth rat, its harm to humans, as well as effective ways to get rid of this animal. If the presence of a water vole is detected on the site, then you need to immediately begin expelling it from the site. If you do everything correctly, following useful tips, then this procedure will not be so difficult.

Humane methods

You can use other methods of getting rid of rodents. They are preferred by animal rights activists and also by people who don't want to kill rats even though they damage their crops. Contrary to popular belief, repelling rats is just as effective as baiting them, but requires more effort. Humane methods permanently rid not only apartments and houses of pests, but also gardens and agricultural buildings. These methods include:

smoking rats;
use of ultrasound;
flooding of holes;
seedlings of aromatic plants;
noise.

Smoking rodents

The use of ultrasound is a common method today, but it is expensive. Modern devices cover up to 1000 square meters, so they can be used even in large areas. The downside of these products is that they are ineffective; if there are too many rats in the area, not all of them will escape. However, there are also advantages: the device can work for a long time and efficiently, protecting the garden from a new invasion of rodent pests.

Smoking rats is carried out using a special method. To do this, you need to set fire to the rabbit's skin and throw it into the hole. An unpleasant smell will force rodents to leave the inhabited areas. It is quite possible to drive out rats with aroma if you plant wormwood, mint and other sharp-smelling herbs and shrubs around the garden. Just a few bushes per 1 km will be enough to prevent any pests from approaching the garden.

Flooding burrows is an effective and safe procedure for rodents. The vole rat is an excellent swimmer, so it will start to get out and run away. Perhaps, if there are a lot of rats, you will have to repeat this procedure several times. However, there will definitely be a result. Of course, it is impossible to flood the ground in a barn - a different method must be used there.

The water rat, like other rodents, is afraid of noise. Therefore, when wondering how to get rid of an earthen rat without spending a penny on it, remember this feature. Some people turn on music at full volume for 10 minutes a day, others install wooden poles on which they attach metal cans - the main thing is that the rats go away forever.