I want to share something I just learned. But first I'll back peddle a bit so you'll understand.
I live in south Louisiana which is known for its seafood, gators, Mardi Gras, coonazzs, and hunting. But it is also where most all America's cane sugar comes from. Sugar cane is just BIG grass with sweet sap. It is cut once a year hopefully before the first freeze (Pretty safe on that one here lately). All types of things make their home in the cane fields, rabbits, minks, deer, gators, snakes, etc.... and RATS! Not nutria although they are there also but rats.
When they harvest the cane its cut down and laid across the rows and then burned to clear all the excess leaves off before being picked up and taken to the cane mill. Believe it or not this is pretty much were I grew up, in the middle of the cane fields behind the mill in a company house for a gas transmission company.
But when the fields are cut and burned its a hunters paridise because all the critters come running out of their hidden secure homes running as not to burn. You stand at the corners of each tract and shoot till your out of shells. LOL Freezers filled in just a day. Course it does make your eyes water, you smell like smoke, and all that black soot is everywhere.
With this comes a large influx of varmints, especially mice and rats. Every one just takes it for granite, its just how it is. You use bait outside where they eat it and go off and die or traps inside, really LARGE traps. And all rodents are incredibly smart.
I always heard of the old wives tales about peppermint balls. The peppermints fight really hard and they are so small its hard to get 'em but.......
Seriously you use peppermint oil, not extract, oil. Place it on cotton balls and place in the corners of any room and rodents will leave. They hate it!
I hate an extremely smart rat this year. He was almost big enough so he'd have to be baked he'd have been too tuff to fry. After a couple a weeks of frustration, at wit's end, I tryed the peppermint balls. I have not see him nor his raisinettes in over a week now.
Long long ago a really really old cajun man told me about planting peppermint around his house. Thinking back he had some peppermint thyme looking plants around his shotgun home. After forever of fighting rodents, this just seems too easy. Common sense and using the old ways. No frustrations no home damage, no killing rodents. LOL..... Gonna plant some this spring as ground cover around the house. NOT gonna tell the neighbors either. Well the rats gotta live somewhere during their reproductive season, right? LOL
Just passing it along.
BTW I am still finding dead rats and squirrels from last years bait in the garage, found about 2 dozen so far (neighbor lost her cats too. I imagine they ate dead rats.
I figured this would fit best in home gardening, but couldn't find anywhere it really fit.
Thats it, hope it helps someone else from going nuts over smart rodents!
I live in south Louisiana which is known for its seafood, gators, Mardi Gras, coonazzs, and hunting. But it is also where most all America's cane sugar comes from. Sugar cane is just BIG grass with sweet sap. It is cut once a year hopefully before the first freeze (Pretty safe on that one here lately). All types of things make their home in the cane fields, rabbits, minks, deer, gators, snakes, etc.... and RATS! Not nutria although they are there also but rats.
When they harvest the cane its cut down and laid across the rows and then burned to clear all the excess leaves off before being picked up and taken to the cane mill. Believe it or not this is pretty much were I grew up, in the middle of the cane fields behind the mill in a company house for a gas transmission company.
But when the fields are cut and burned its a hunters paridise because all the critters come running out of their hidden secure homes running as not to burn. You stand at the corners of each tract and shoot till your out of shells. LOL Freezers filled in just a day. Course it does make your eyes water, you smell like smoke, and all that black soot is everywhere.
With this comes a large influx of varmints, especially mice and rats. Every one just takes it for granite, its just how it is. You use bait outside where they eat it and go off and die or traps inside, really LARGE traps. And all rodents are incredibly smart.
I always heard of the old wives tales about peppermint balls. The peppermints fight really hard and they are so small its hard to get 'em but.......
Seriously you use peppermint oil, not extract, oil. Place it on cotton balls and place in the corners of any room and rodents will leave. They hate it!
I hate an extremely smart rat this year. He was almost big enough so he'd have to be baked he'd have been too tuff to fry. After a couple a weeks of frustration, at wit's end, I tryed the peppermint balls. I have not see him nor his raisinettes in over a week now.
Long long ago a really really old cajun man told me about planting peppermint around his house. Thinking back he had some peppermint thyme looking plants around his shotgun home. After forever of fighting rodents, this just seems too easy. Common sense and using the old ways. No frustrations no home damage, no killing rodents. LOL..... Gonna plant some this spring as ground cover around the house. NOT gonna tell the neighbors either. Well the rats gotta live somewhere during their reproductive season, right? LOL
Just passing it along.
BTW I am still finding dead rats and squirrels from last years bait in the garage, found about 2 dozen so far (neighbor lost her cats too. I imagine they ate dead rats.
I figured this would fit best in home gardening, but couldn't find anywhere it really fit.
Thats it, hope it helps someone else from going nuts over smart rodents!
