Owl along the watchtower: How these garden guardians keep rats at bay
Q. This spring we had a rat problem – they were eating all our vegetables, getting into the cars and causing all sorts of destruction. We eventually put out poison in bait boxes, but now we’re finding that the rats are coming into our garage to die, and we don’t find them until they start to smell. Is there a more effective way to get rid of them?
If you could hire a skilled hunter who was able to kill up to 40 rodents a night, would you do it? What if that hunter had friends and they were all willing to work for free?
Your neighborhood owls are those hunters.
A barn owl can kill 10-15 rodents per night. If there’s a nesting pair with youngsters, they can kill many more than that. A great horned owl can kill 40 rodents a night. This makes them far more effective than any rodenticide or trap. Many people resort to poison because they think that is the most effective solution to their rat (or mouse or gopher) problem. Unfortunately, poison (any poison) is killing owls and other predators. Even the “safer” rodenticides are harmful to non-target wildlife and pets due to their cumulative effect.
A poisoned rat is going to seek out water, so if you have an outdoor water feature (or pet water dish), you’re likely to find a dead rat nearby. As you’ve discovered, poisoned rodents can become disoriented and will often seek cover in sheltered spots like inside that box of stuff in your garage or even within interior walls.
So, if you don’t poison the rats, the owls should be able to help with the problem. (Old-fashioned snap traps can also be effective.)
Q. Is there a more effective way to control weeds besides just pulling them out? I am trying to get rid of bindweed, but the vines are hard to pull out.
Any kind of vining weed can be a pain to pull out because you often end up pulling out or damaging neighboring plants in the process. In many cases, the weeds have extensive root systems that make weed-pulling a never-ending task.
Mix up a half-strength solution of weedkiller (Round Up) and fill several floral water picks (plastic tubes designed to hold water so flowers can stay fresh in a floral arrangement). Cut the weed stem and place the ends into the pick. The plastic cap should contain the solution so it won’t spill and kill neighboring plants. Poke the pick into the ground and refill the solution when it gets low. You want to use dilute herbicide so the plant has a chance to take up enough to kill the root system. If you use full-strength weedkiller, you may end up killing the stem before the roots are affected.
Los Angeles County
mglosangeleshelpline@ucdavis.edu; 626-586-1988; http://celosangeles.ucanr.edu/UC_Master_Gardener_Program/
Orange County
ucceocmghotline@ucanr.edu; http://mgorange.ucanr.edu/
Riverside County
anrmgriverside@ucanr.edu; 951-955-0170; https://ucanr.edu/sites/RiversideMG/
San Bernardino County
mgsanbern@ucanr.edu; 909-387-2182; http://mgsb.ucanr.edu