[Pil-pc-oceania] PERMACULTURE & RODENTS

[Graeme George - Earthcare Permaculture]

Colleagues

As I live in the same bioregion as Laurence, Yarra Valley, and am 
similarly  surrounded by bush (private property in my case, a bit wetter 
and State Forest in Laurence's case) my experience is probably fairly 
relevant. Laurence did copy me his posting, but I haven't had a chance 
to respond.

The culprits are most likely native Bush Rats and/or Swamp Rats, but 
introduced Black Rats and House Mice could have found their way to the 
property as well. If they're living in the mulch, they're most likely 
House Mice, I often uncover nests of grass and leaves when forking over 
garden beds and they are attracted to the warmth (and food) of compost 
heaps also. Agile and Dusky Antechinus would both be present at 
Laurence's place, but, as they are insectivorous and not vegetarian, 
they won't be the ones responsible for eating nuts and pumpkin seeds in 
the garden, though they are attracted to sweet and soft foods in the 
house (ripe fruit, etc). They would be very vulnerable to predation by 
cats in the garden.

Swamp Rats are my major concern. They love to make their burrows and 
runways through the many patches of weedy "fallow" that I usually have 
in my garden. My main control method is to discourage them, by keeping 
the grassy weeds clear around vulnerable crops such as sweet corn and 
root crops, blocking their runways between their nests and my crops and 
digging up the entrances to their burrows when I find them. They are 
very fond of my Gilfeather Swedes, which I grow as a seed crop. In 
addition to the above methods I sprinkle dry wood ash around the exposed 
parts of the swedes when I see nibble marks appearing. They also burrow 
underground to get at my Taro tubers and the tap roots of my Parsley 
bushes so I have to keep an eye on those and wreck their runways and 
burrows when I find them.

When I first started my large vegie patch I had a problem with rats (not 
sure which ones) eating my corn cobs. What proved successful on those 
occasions was to put out dishes of parrot seed mix as a decoy. In more 
recent years this hasn't been a problem and I have a feeling I have 
achieved some sort of "balance" that has been mentioned by others. I 
have Copperhead and Tiger Snakes about, though seldom see them these 
days. I have seen Copperheads going down rat burrows, so encourage them 
by leaving lots of cover around (corrugated iron sheets, etc - also 
great for Bluetongues).

I get a lot of House Mice and the occasional Black Rat in the house. I 
live trap the mice and then dispatch them, but usually have to put bait 
out for the rats. If I suspect the house invaders are native Bush Rats I 
use cage traps and take them a long way away for release. I had an 
antechinus in the bath tub the other day - they get picked up in a towel 
and get put outside.

I am about to plant out some macadamias. I'd be inclined to try the 
metal collar approach on those but haven't any direct experience to 
relate as yet.

Julie I'd be interested to know what species are a problem in your part 
of the world.

Regards all

Graeme
Healesville, Vic.