Several of my neighbors as well as myself have seen evidence of The Rodents: mice and or larger -- Rats. We have had sightings of Rat droppings as well as one neighbor had a small nest under her cactus. Another neighbor found a dead rat under their backyard hot tub. "Home - Home - on the Range" - - or our desert way of life -- lots of little wild life around here: the rabbits, quail, various birds, the coyote....etc.....But we really do not want rats as our little "neighbors" residing next to our homes...or in our homes ???? -- :sneakiness: Any ideas on how to get rid of these critters? And is there a safe way ? Some of the neighbors are older and cannot keep up their property - - lots of citrus and some never picked.... - - how to handle this sensitive matter with the neighbors...their places might be drawing the rats to our area.
Isn't there a group in SC that helps people who are unable to take care of their property? In the Spring I pay to have my fruit gleaned. It is not very expensive. The gardeners that do condos in my association pick up the fruit each week. We definitely do not want rats. Ants are bad enough.
We had pack rats hiding and playing around the oleander bushes. They'd eat fruit on the ground but were not fruit rats.
The house next to us is vacant, the owner is in a nursing home. Occasionally his daughter will show up and arrange to have the downed fruit picked up, we finally just asked our landscape guy to rake it up.... Worth the cost to not attract rats.
Most people in houses do not hire gardeners? If I had fruit trees I would if I couldn't keep up the picking. But I'm a fruit eater so I want the stuff. If I buy to much to eat I make smoothies.
Very informative article came out in June so will attach it. Gives info on tips like using steel wool, and also provides number to call to report, etc.
When I was young my sister would say my hair looks like a rat's nest. I never knew what she meant, other than the generalization that it was messy. Last week my gardener cut back a very tall hedge I have. We found 2 rats nests. They were actually quite beautiful, I don't know why I didn't snap a photo. The rat had cut fresh hedges a made an enclosed structure kind of spaceship-shaped. A few tunnels in and out. Guess the babies get packed inside.
It's a good idea to keep spaces in the bushes as it makes it less comfy for them. It also helps them from spontaneously combusting. The dry, dead insides are created by all the hedge trimming style globing that is done to hedges and shrubs. Try for the airier style that is more natural and rats won't find it as comfy. Also, leaving a trunk at bottom rather than having hedge grow right down and touching will also help. I really need to do a lot of interior pruning like I'm talking about once it gets cooler.
We have a landscaper, Cynthia, because we are gone for 6 months during the summer.....it doesn't seem fair to the neighbors to have our bushes and trees get overgrown and unsightly effecting the neighborhood.....the cost is very reasonable for keeping the front bushes/trees trimmed.....raking up under the citrus trees....and keeping the gravel looking neat. We do all the fruit picking ourselves when we are there......quite a job actually as we have 6 mature citrus trees that require picking from a 12' ladder to get to the tops. These were most all planted back in 1960....though we have been systematically cutting them back, one tree a year to get them to a more manageable size. With all that fruit the food bank is our best friend!
We've been told that the AZ food banks take some of the donated citrus fruit and ship it to Oregon and Washington to trade for apples and potatoes. Win-win for everyone.
It is nice to have an outlet for the excess fruit our trees produce....some people put them in bags out on the street in our neighborhood for anyone to take, but we find it easier to just load them up and deliver to one of the collection areas. No way we could ever eat all the fruit our trees produce.
SunCityJ... I wish I would have saved that Independent News article - -but, I did not. Your copy of the page on left -- came out great -- page on the right is a little blurry - - is it possible for you to rescan - - and larger ? Thanks -- appreciate !
Page 2 wasn't as clear as page 1, and the right side was water damaged and crumpled, but here's enlarged part of page 2. The most important info is that Residents can report sightings to the Maricopa County Environmental Complaint Line at 602-506-6616 or electronically at www.maricopa.gov/envsvc and there is a website called roofrat.net and to plug possible rat entries with mesh and steel wool, that rats can jump 2 feet up and 4 feet horizontally, double that if they can jump from a height so keep those trees and esp. oleanders trimmed and thinned to prevent interior nest building.
Clipping I found that I've kept has some good info: Maricopa County officers identify and test rat specimens throughout the county. Roof rats throughout the county continue to test negative for tularemia (rabbit fever), Hantavirus, and , according to roofrat.net. Residents can report sightings to the Maricopa County Environmental Complaint Line at 602-506-6616 or www.maricopa.gov/envsvc
Well -- at least those naughty rodents - - rats living around the areas -are negative for some of those horrid health hazards !
We also have a fellow come and clean our yards and we manage to pick up all our rotten fruit as soon as it hits the ground. The house behind us is a rental and the owner, after giving us a lecture about keeping our fruit cleaned up, lets his pile up to the roof and doesn't have a yard person. Lot of nerve lol.
