Hopefully this will be my last post of the year concerning rats in the garden. By now I am VERY frustrated with the whole rat thing. They are going through the poison like candy. I go out Sunday morning to see what new damage has been done and what do I find in the garden…BIRDS! After being amused for several minutes byt the one poor bird who could not find its way out (and continuously beating itself against the mesh) I went to get more zip ties.
I carefully crawled into my set up and started adding more zip ties to the structure where the birds are coming in. I am right in the middle when I drop one and when I go to pick it up…there is a RAT 3 INCHES FROM MY FOOT! I panic and jump out ripping some of the netting I had just fixed. He did not move. Ok. It is dead. I go in and get Wade to bring out his bb gun just to make sure. He shoots it (about 3 inches from its face) and it does not move.
Great. Now he leaves me to get a bucket and pick it up. When I come back…IT IS GONE! We look everywhere and can not find it. Wade, frustrated, goes in. (Mind you this is now hurting his ego…this is the 3rd rat he has shot and not killed.) I am determined to find it. Sure enough, he is sitting up under some bricks, just chillin.
Once again, I go in and get Wade. This time he brings out his 22 with rat shot in it. Once again, about 3 inches from it he shoots it. Convinced it’s dead he goes back in. I go to scoop it up and HE RUNS! Ok…the poison must be mutating it…like Steven King’s Pet Cemetery.
For the 3rd time, Wade comes out with his bb gun. Long story longer, it takes 3 more hits before it falls over and dies.
Update: Wade mowed the grass on Monday afternoon and found 4 dead rats in the grass. We have not refilled the bird feeder and we have not had any more rats or birds in the garden. And the bunny visits outside of our fence now.