Uninvited Guests in my Planters.

Hi all,

I live in an urban area with a small concrete yard, covered with planters then I grow all my plants in. I found a couple burrow holes in and thought it may have been the birds I’ve seen pecking about in them. Then my next door neighbour said she’s seen rats in her yard, and having watched a video where Charles Dowding talks about rat burrows in his compost bins, they look suspiciously like the burrows in my planters. I’ve no clue why they burrowed there unless they were trying to eat my daffodil/tulip bulbs.

I’m now concerned because it puts me at risk of disease growing food in soil that they might have contaminated. It puts my cat at risk of harm if he gets into a fight either with a rat directly, or possibly with another cat, if they come into my cat’s territory to investigate whichever rodent is burrowing.

It might just be a mouse, but given what my next door neighbour said, I think it’s more likely to be the rats.

Any ideas what I can do? I’m concerned about using poison in case my cat finds either the poison itself, or a dead rat which it then might eat. I also don’t want poison to end up anywhere I might end up growing food, or anywhere my cat might step on it and end up ingesting it when he’s grooming.

With traps, it’s finding somewhere to put them where my cat couldn’t also access them. The obvious place would be near the burrow holes, which I filled back in with soil, but my cat can and does access those planters.

Any ideas? I’ve heard of chilli and garlic spray being used but don’t know if it would work on rats, or if it would hurt my cat. I’ve gotten chilli in my eye before, I would hate something similar to happen to my kitty if he walks across a sprayed area then grooms his face 😭🥺

Are the holes big enough for rats?  That is a pretty big hole.

We usually sprinkle mothballs as a deterrent.  

Deleted vinegar poured around the edges might drive them out. Diluted so as to not kill the plants.

Voles are what most people see:

https://permies.com/t/141377/Rid-Voles

Here is a thread about mice:

https://permies.com/t/152343/DE-work-mice

Anne Miller wrote:Are the holes big enough for rats?  That is a pretty big hole.

We usually sprinkle mothballs as a deterrent.  

Deleted vinegar poured around the edges might drive them out. Diluted so as to not kill the plants.

Voles are what most people see:

https://permies.com/t/141377/Rid-Voles

Here is a thread about mice:

https://permies.com/t/152343/DE-work-mice

I’m not sure, I don’t know how big wild rats get. It was a smallish hole. I didn’t take much notice of the size at the time. I’ve not seen any of the burrowers, so not sure what it is. Will check out both your links tho, thank you 🙏😊

I wish I could remember the post, but I just can't. I read Dr Redhawk saying in a past post that ammonia will keep lots of critters away including rats.  I think I would put a little in the hole, and a generous amount around the entire garden.  I might mark the hole and not plant to close to it because a little ammonia is fine in the garden, but to much can be harmful.  If you need that space, I would skip putting ammonia in the hole.  Your cat probably won't like it either so you could probably put some traps inside the perimeter.  I'm sorry, I hate rodents, and I hope you get rid of it. I suspect all gardeners have unwanted guests especially at night from time to time, after all it's basically a natural grocery store.  I live in the middle of two orchards, it's a matter of keeping the numbers down, there's no way to get rid of all of them.
I also saw some bucket/garbage can rat traps that look like they work well that would not harm your cat, or poison your garden. Just type it in and you will find lots.  Good luck to you.