RATS - eeehhh!

[marcusexeter]

Hi,
question - do Rats eat blackcurrant/whitecurrants?
Having an allotment by a river we have a lot of rats.
I have netted them against birds but will they climb up the stems and eat them?
They were climbing up our sweetcorn last year and ate the lot.

Any tips to Rat proof my berry bushes?

cheers ;)

[marcusexeter]

[ceres]

I'm not aware of rats going for fruit bushes, but even if they do I don't know what you could do about it apart from hoping nets would be enough of a deterent.

I have a mini-greenhouse on the plot.  I've had the door flap tied open for quite some time for hardening off so to protect the brassica seedlings in it from stray pigeons, I tied a sheet of the black small mesh scratchy netting over the door space.  It seemed to work well until last week when I found a neat hole about the size of a small apple chewed in the net level with the top shelf where there were sweetcorn and nasturtium seedlings.  Rat (or tree rat) probably but why?

[davyw1]

rats will eat anything but i have never known then to go for currant berries, especially if they are not ripe i would have thought birds would be more likely the culprits. You can protect them from birds but rats, i doubt it.
Sweetcorn is easily protected with 2Lt milk bottles.

[pablo]

what do you do with the milk bottle?!?!?

[daileg]

what do you do with the milk bottle?!?!?

Cut the bottom off and use as a cloch over the pot or seedlings in the ground

[pablo]

ah thank you daileg - the problem i have is rats eating the (almost) ripe cobs while still on the plant - any ideas for guarding against that??

[Robert_Brenchley]

Rat poison. Remove your rat population, and you won't have a problem.

[manicscousers]

pablo, I'm sure someone uses lemonade bottles to stop the cobs being eaten, will try to find it  :)
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,45831.0.html
think that should work

[Unwashed]

Rat poison. Remove your rat population, and you won't have a problem.

If the habitat supports a rat population then as soon as you stop poisoning more will move in.  If you leave the poison down permanently you'll breed a poison-tolerant population - it's exactly the same process as MRSA.  Poison also indiscriminantly kills other wildlife - and on a river bank that will include the protected water vole.  It also kills the predators - red kites are common again where I am, but they predate heavily on rats and are suffering from secondary poisoning.  Deny the rats harbourage by keeping the place tidy, and don't give them a free meal - they rather like chicken feed - and nature will keep them in check.

[Robert_Brenchley]

That's OK if you live on an island. Trouble is, very few of us do! Whatever the individual does, the general rat population teems.

[pablo]

thanks manicscousers ill give it a try this year - unfortunately the young lad on the allotment next to mnine keeps chickens ducks even turkeys so i think i may be on a losing streak!! will let you know how i get on

[Theplotthickens]

Any probs with rats and I turn to Mr. Fenn Mk4, look him up and don`t expect instant results as rats are neo-phobic and need time to get used to the traps/tunnels.
If that doesn`t do it find out if you can legally shoot them with an air rifle where you are.