The palm grower’s enemy is back

[happypalms]

It’s that time of the season again for those cursed rats. They would have to the number one enemy of the palm grower’s, eating fresh seedlings to getting into the germination box’s and eating the seeds even eating two year old plants. Arecas are favourite along with rare, valuable seeds the more expensive the more finer dining. They show no mercy when you import a packet of seeds that you treasure and get only one to germinate they love those ones the most single one off on the menu rare stuff. So far not a lot of damage I have been able to control them trapping only three, it’s the alpha male you want to catch he’s the clever one. But I have heard of some good loses in the past. 

[Darold Petty]

I have three flowering sized Hedyscepe palms.  In my warmth deprived microclimate it takes a very long to for the seeds to mature.  The local rats, (Rattus rattus) ignore the growing seeds until the seed epicarp starts to change from green to red.  Then, the rats move in and will consume all the seeds in just a few nights,... it is like crack cocaine for rats.   

If I want to obtain any seeds I must enclose the flowerstalk completely with a wire cage.   

[JohnAndSancho]

Y'all, I have the solution to your problems. 

 

Come to Mississippi and get cats from me. I've never seen a rat or a mouse around here, but I did see one's tail being used as a kitten toy. 

[Harry’s Palms]

This is truly frustrating . I haven’t had too much trouble in my garden but down on the hill…..GOPHERS !! They have eaten so many palms it has , at times ,  infuriated me. The latest was a really nice Sabal Mauritiformis. I thought it was safe as they have ignored the Sabal Riverside for 28 years . They haven’t messed with the Butia , either Brahea , Phoenix Reclinata, Trachycarpus, Washingtonia or either Livistona. They have eaten several trunking Howea , a nice Bizmarkia, Syagrus Schizophylla, Syagrus Romanzoffiana. We have trapped several of the nasty little vermin but they just keep coming from other properties that don’t trap. We have neighborhood cats , snakes , Hawks and Eagles ,  yet they persist . 
 

 O K , rant over . Thank you for listening! Harry

[peachy]

Had a minor rat problem at the old house but since moving here I have only seen one. (and that was quite enough actually)  I do get mice in the yard but my 16 year old cat keeps them under control and one of my fluffy little Pekingese isn't bad at catching them either. I get the odd Cane Toad but no bats so I guess as far as vermin go I am pretty lucky here.

Peachy

[Than]

Get a cat. Not a spoiled sleepy Persian or anything. Get an active stray one. Mine kills at least one mouse per week. 

[JohnAndSancho]

Light these candles to summon the spirit of Carl Spackler to deter gophers 

[Harry’s Palms]

Great reference @JohnAndSancho , I was thinking about deploying an underground nuclear device! Harry

[happypalms]

10 hours ago, Darold Petty said:

I have three flowering sized Hedyscepe palms.  In my warmth deprived microclimate it takes a very long to for the seeds to mature.  The local rats, (Rattus rattus) ignore the growing seeds until the seed epicarp starts to change from green to red.  Then, the rats move in and will consume all the seeds in just a few nights,... it is like crack cocaine for rats.   

If I want to obtain any seeds I must enclose the flowerstalk completely with a wire cage.   

That’s one of the reasons lord Howe island went a rat killing rampage! 
They are very intelligent little creatures, thus why I say if you get the alpha male it knocks them down a bit, I say a bit being laughed at by them as I type!

[happypalms]

9 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Y'all, I have the solution to your problems. 

 

Come to Mississippi and get cats from me. I've never seen a rat or a mouse around here, but I did see one's tail being used as a kitten toy. 

Alright free cats iam up for a dozen, and when iam old and senile the wife can be the crazy cat lady of happypalms!

[happypalms]

9 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

This is truly frustrating . I haven’t had too much trouble in my garden but down on the hill…..GOPHERS !! They have eaten so many palms it has , at times ,  infuriated me. The latest was a really nice Sabal Mauritiformis. I thought it was safe as they have ignored the Sabal Riverside for 28 years . They haven’t messed with the Butia , either Brahea , Phoenix Reclinata, Trachycarpus, Washingtonia or either Livistona. They have eaten several trunking Howea , a nice Bizmarkia, Syagrus Schizophylla, Syagrus Romanzoffiana. We have trapped several of the nasty little vermin but they just keep coming from other properties that don’t trap. We have neighborhood cats , snakes , Hawks and Eagles ,  yet they persist . 
 

 O K , rant over . Thank you for listening! Harry

Are you sure it’s no beavers attacking your palms it certainly sounds like it. You can have your gophers at least rats wont eat a substantial sized palm. 
Rats have been a problem ever since sailing ships sailed around the globe. 
But by all means rant and rave on we at palmtalk psychological society welcome rants and raves!🤣

Richard 

[happypalms]

6 hours ago, peachy said:

Had a minor rat problem at the old house but since moving here I have only seen one. (and that was quite enough actually)  I do get mice in the yard but my 16 year old cat keeps them under control and one of my fluffy little Pekingese isn't bad at catching them either. I get the odd Cane Toad but no bats so I guess as far as vermin go I am pretty lucky here.

Peachy

I couldn’t see you standing on chair in the kitchen screaming rats rats help. 
With that army pooches and the cute little fur ball of rat killing paws and teeth in the form of cats we all love, ever since my cat retired and just sleeps on the lounge, it’s wonderful to take the rat I just caught and show her just like she used to do at 3 in the morning saying look I love you I got a rat meow meow as she drops it on my face in bed in the morning it’s a wonderful thing and it brings me great joy to return the favour to her. Now she is 19 and just wonders around and sleeps. 
Richard 

[happypalms]

5 hours ago, Than said:

Get a cat. Not a spoiled sleepy Persian or anything. Get an active stray one. Mine kills at least one mouse per week. 

I have a cat but she is retired now, and as for getting another one living in the bush next to state forest there just too much of an environmental hazard for our wildlife. And no she doesn’t eat any wildlife anymore but I just can’t get another cat after having them for 38 years ever since I left home. 

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Great reference @JohnAndSancho , I was thinking about deploying an underground nuclear device! Harry

There all varmits! 

[happypalms]

5 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Light these candles to summon the spirit of Carl Spackler to deter gophers 

Ground hog day anyone! 

[gyuseppe]

I love cats!

[JohnAndSancho]

7 hours ago, Harry’s Palms said:

Great reference @JohnAndSancho , I was thinking about deploying an underground nuclear device! Harry

If I remember correctly from the movies and the commercials that came out around that time, gophers love to party and drink root beer. Maybe throw on your tackiest golf pants and see if you can't bait them out. 

[Jonathan]

15 hours ago, Than said:

Get a cat. Not a spoiled sleepy Persian or anything. Get an active stray one. Mine kills at least one mouse per week. 

This is unfortunately the solution. We have an absolute feral cat plague here at the moment, haven’t seen a rat or mouse for over a year. Usually the rodents move into the greenhouse in winter and wreak havoc, this winter not a single one. The downside is that the bloody cats have killed everything else as well - bandicoots and all the ground nesting birds, lizards, etc. 

So the solution to the cat problem is this little cutie who's coming home with us on Friday!

If she's anything like our previous shepherds she'll chase the cats away and leave everything else in peace. Yep, we'll end up with rats and mice again but that's a small problem compared to the devastation cats cause.

 

[gyuseppe]

Hello, my friend Jonathan!
He's adorable! I'd adopt him right away! I don't understand how some people mistreat animals.
Fortunately, here, rats and cats don't cause any harm, while my brothers' dogs, who live across the street, have damaged so many of my plants. Hitting them wouldn't do any good; they wouldn't understand. Please, let's love all living creatures, animals and plants, that our creator created.

[happypalms]

53 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

This is unfortunately the solution. We have an absolute feral cat plague here at the moment, haven’t seen a rat or mouse for over a year. Usually the rodents move into the greenhouse in winter and wreak havoc, this winter not a single one. The downside is that the bloody cats have killed everything else as well - bandicoots and all the ground nesting birds, lizards, etc. 

So the solution to the cat problem is this little cutie who's coming home with us on Friday!

If she's anything like our previous shepherds she'll chase the cats away and leave everything else in peace. Yep, we'll end up with rats and mice again but that's a small problem compared to the devastation cats cause.

 

Hmm that reminds me of The king the mice and the cheese by Dr Zeuss story 🤣

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, Jonathan said:

This is unfortunately the solution. We have an absolute feral cat plague here at the moment, haven’t seen a rat or mouse for over a year. Usually the rodents move into the greenhouse in winter and wreak havoc, this winter not a single one. The downside is that the bloody cats have killed everything else as well - bandicoots and all the ground nesting birds, lizards, etc. 

So the solution to the cat problem is this little cutie who's coming home with us on Friday!

If she's anything like our previous shepherds she'll chase the cats away and leave everything else in peace. Yep, we'll end up with rats and mice again but that's a small problem compared to the devastation cats cause.

 

Unfortunately Sancho doesn't keep the cats away. But there's a lot more of them than him, and he's a lover not a fighter. 

[MarcusH]

Over here in South Texas,  our worst enemy that comes back every year are squirrels and they stay for months in your backyard. They love do dig holes everywhere. One time they used the trunk of a potted Ravenea Rivularis to sharpen their claws, left a pretty nasty scar on the trunk.  It's a losing battle .

[Foggy Paul]

This is a nightly occurrence in our yard. Thankfully, they haven’t devoured any plants yet, perhaps because they are too busy gorging on the slug pellets that I broadcast regularly. PS, we never had rat issues until the neighbor on the other side of the fence decided to get chickens 🤬

 

[Tyrone]

Yeah rats live in gangs. You can be rat free, then bang, 30 can just rock up from nowhere and cause trouble. I bait them. I don’t like doing it, but, I’d rather kill a few rats than let them breed and then need to kill 200 of them. When you live in rural properties they are never too far away. They love chicken coops too. So if you have chickens they won’t ever be too far away. They will burrow underground in a chicken coop. 
Sometimes you will get university trained rats that won’t take a bait and know how to take the bait from a trap. They teach others. If you have that problem you need to get the intelligent first. Simply put poisoned bait on the trap. I had super intelligent rats in my previous garden and if I had a gun I would have sat out in the garden at night with night vision goggles. Anyway the only thing that worked was using poison on the trap. Job done. 
Rattus rattus is best Rattus deadus. 

[happypalms]

26 minutes ago, MarcusH said:

Over here in South Texas,  our worst enemy that comes back every year are squirrels and they stay for months in your backyard. They love do dig holes everywhere. One time they used the trunk of a potted Ravenea Rivularis to sharpen their claws, left a pretty nasty scar on the trunk.  It's a losing battle .

It seems like there are some sort of critters in every corner of the globe that do damage. I guess Donald Duck had the right idea about squirrels poor old Chip and Dale! 

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, Tyrone said:

Yeah rats live in gangs. You can be rat free, then bang, 30 can just rock up from nowhere and cause trouble. I bait them. I don’t like doing it, but, I’d rather kill a few rats than let them breed and then need to kill 200 of them. When you live in rural properties they are never too far away. They love chicken coops too. So if you have chickens they won’t ever be too far away. They will burrow underground in a chicken coop. 
Sometimes you will get university trained rats that won’t take a bait and know how to take the bait from a trap. They teach others. If you have that problem you need to get the intelligent first. Simply put poisoned bait on the trap. I had super intelligent rats in my previous garden and if I had a gun I would have sat out in the garden at night with night vision goggles. Anyway the only thing that worked was using poison on the trap. Job done. 
Rattus rattus is best Rattus deadus. 

We used to fill the holes up with water to drown the rats  as kids in my grandfather’s greyhound kennels. Now at work in the macadamias we use a small petrol engine and fumigate the tunnels they dig and it gets them well. 
like I said get the alpha the big boss daddy and you knock the smartest one out, it’s a good place to start with. 
Plus I rotate baits in the traps but peanut butter gets them they can’t steal that one. 
I guess the pied piper knew his job well and held the village at ransom for good reason, plus they carry the plague! 

[happypalms]

1 hour ago, Foggy Paul said:

This is a nightly occurrence in our yard. Thankfully, they haven’t devoured any plants yet, perhaps because they are too busy gorging on the slug pellets that I broadcast regularly. PS, we never had rat issues until the neighbor on the other side of the fence decided to get chickens 🤬

 

 

That’s not a rat it’s cappabarra by the size of that thing omg! But that’s a  rat on mission by the looks of him for sure! 

[happypalms]

14 hours ago, gyuseppe said:

I love cats!

Cats are cool animals, the Egyptians knew what they had! We must love all creatures great and small! 

[happypalms]

7 hours ago, Jonathan said:

This is unfortunately the solution. We have an absolute feral cat plague here at the moment, haven’t seen a rat or mouse for over a year. Usually the rodents move into the greenhouse in winter and wreak havoc, this winter not a single one. The downside is that the bloody cats have killed everything else as well - bandicoots and all the ground nesting birds, lizards, etc. 

So the solution to the cat problem is this little cutie who's coming home with us on Friday!

If she's anything like our previous shepherds she'll chase the cats away and leave everything else in peace. Yep, we'll end up with rats and mice again but that's a small problem compared to the devastation cats cause.

 

Big paws on that eating machine!