Thanks for that.

When you step on baby mice they make a Crunch and turn to strawberry jelly.

@@conservativemacro80 Oh dear. The video showed a large degree of humanity and sensible countryside practice. This is just gratuitous. Whilst we may prefer not to recognise it, the rats are doing nothing wrong and do not deserve our malevolence.

@@sharonstuart5262 Moreover we should find a way to use them to the mutual benefit of both of our species. I am sure somewhere deep in the grand mind of Logos crafting this world to manifest, there exists a potential for a workable dynamic to enable this kind of mutualistic symbiotic relationship.

​@@conservativemacro80hopefully someday the same thing happens to you. You're just pure a evil dirtbag.

Hey, thanks for the very encouraging and thoughtful comment. It means a lot!

@@REDGardens howdy, if you ever need to get their numbers down more in a way that does not hurt predators you can mix oatmeal with plaster of paris in a container that rats can easily get in and out of but other animals/weather can't (for various reasons), it will kill the rats quite quickly but not anything that eats the dead ones. also, adding nuts and berries can help make it more attractive too.

@@FroggyTWrite I had tried aversion of that while ago, though at the time I wasn't so sure of the effectiveness. I was wondering if they were not really interested intthe bait in this context as there is so much other food around. I should try it again some time, placing the bait in the runs they dig into the compost piles.

Exactly, He is wonderful.

Interesting way of putting it - the problem is the solution!

@@REDGardens Its a sentence frequently used in Permaculture problem solving.

I 2nd that!

The problem is the solution!

Hope they didn't boil them alive like the sadistic and depraved Asians do. I have an extreme hatred for animal cruelty. I read how different parts of India are cruel to animals as well. I hate cruel people of any race.

Wow. Glad you are getting a lot out of my video(s).

Lol

StormP666 Anakin is a true hero

Vader...

....and what relevance does that have with anything?......other than you are a composting Star Wars nerd?🤔

@@allandriver2066 I bet you're fun at parties 🙄

Glad you appreciated how I approached this.

@@REDGardens I appreciate it too, since I rescued rats before and they were my angels, my family. I know what empathetic and wonderful individuals they are. and they really are all individuals. Wild or domestic.

Wow, thanks for the comment. It means a lot , especially coming from someone who doesn’t have a garden.

I have heard that some herbs will deter rodents, I will have to start growing some peppermint.

Thanks!!

Thanks for the supportive comment. It made my morning!

Good question. I think part of it is my response to understanding that on this issue there is a huge split of strong opinions, from rats are cute (so don't kill them), to rats are disgusting (why are you attracting them in the first place), and a lot in-between. I was hoping with this video to find a way where people who disagree with my approach would still be able to understand its merits - to introduce new ideas to those who may not want to know.

Indeed!

Now this is a comment worth commenting

Hmm, I guessing an anime reference, fairy tail, perhaps?

@Dongs I'll kalicrack the findoo. Gal bursten it!

Mountain lions????!!!! By the nine!

Who puts cats in bags anyways?! Cats dont even like bags! Im glad all of those beautiful summer fields hypnotized us into undertaking the second coolest skillset after slaying goblins.

I hope you have success with this approach, but remindful of the fact that their numbers can get quite high quite quickly!

Thanks.

RED Gardens Just wondering what you do with all the dead bodies? Would recommend leaving them out somewhere for that buzzard!

Fair point... me too.

@@domsquaaa4323 I wonder if a predator such as a buzzard would easily adopt scavenging behaviour. Something to think about.

@@PulseCodeMusic buzzards Well the buzzards we get in the U.K. the main part of their diet is carrion

Sometimes I think the rats do a more of the turning and aeration work than I do.

Oh, believe me, you still have rats visiting.

dust to dust, compost to compost.

That must be a big, tough cat. Most rats are too big for most cats to handle.

@@calamityjean1525 that's why you get a feral cat

@@solemasta2036 I don't think feral cats are any bigger or toughter than any other cats.

Thanks for your comment. Rats can be a real pain.

Excellent very informative I said this to my m8 got rid of chickens and other animals and they keep comming it's the compo bins

Thanks Frank. Glad you enjoy them even though you are in a different season and likely in a radically different climate. Also glad a bit of the humour comes through - I struggle with being too serious in front of the camera!

. Second that reply! Margaret Karr, also from 'Down Under'

Expressed my thoughts exactly. Great videos, love the considerate but honest approach, plus science, plus the Irish humor. Regards from Greece.

Glad to hear that there are others out there with similar feelings about this issue.

Thanks! Glad you appreciate my efforts and approach to these videos.

It can be hard to get rid of those rats among the chickens - can't set the typical traps without possibly hurting the chickens, and poison would be an issue.

They are only good for getting into the nooks where big dogs can't get to and have a poor acceleration rate in the animals that I have seen but sight hounds/sight crosses are faster, have more stamina, stronger bite force (kill the rodents quickly) and wade through deeper puddles. Look up Jimmy Carter the Mink man. He hunts with both sight hounds, Belgian Malinois and a couple terrier.

I handled malinois' in the military. FIERCE dogs, but their cuteness can't match that of a little schnauzer boy, excited to see you home. I really was looking for a reason to say that schnauzers are cute.

Incidentally, one of my schnauzers' name was Jimmy. He and his little brother, Andy, were great prairie-dog and muskrat killers.

You're funny. As far as dogs go, I find something to love in every breed I am exposed to.

I used to hunt with my neighbour's mongrel dog, and he was amazing to watch.

Thanks. I think that most people really appreciate that i am willing to do the job, and have the skills to do it well. Others are still convinced that the only reason the rats are there in the first place is that I put inappropriate material in the compost.

I think using dogs, especially terriers, is the best way to get rid of a nest of rats. They can be so quick and efficient, it is quite amazing to watch - but as you say, gruesome. I have one dog in mind that I might need to train up, but could definitely be worth it.

I've a pug/rat terrier mix that routinely catches jackrabbits in our backyard and even once cornered an opossum. Rats would be far to slow and as such don't risk making appearances. At the same time he's never harmed one of our free-range chickens. It's amazing how quickly dogs learn to modify behaviors to please their owners.

@@jlcon99 Dogs don't generally (almost never) operate with the goal of pleasing people. They respond as their genetics or training dictate and when the results happen to fall inline with the wishes of a person, people mistake that to be a sign of the dog actually trying to please them. Far more likely, the dog has become accustomed to the ongoing presence of the chickens. They have become background noise. Technically, it's habituation. The dog may have initially tried to chase them but was either discouraged by a person or the chickens didn't run and therefore didn't encourage the chasing behaviour. The predatory behaviour towards chickens didn't yield any reward for the dog, there was no reason for the dog to continue it. On the other hand, wild prey animals when chased, run, encouraging the dog's desire to chase them. They sneak and hide and mysteriously appear out of no where only to disappear again. This only works to entice the dog's predatory instincts and the behaviours of stalking and chasing these animals become highly self rewarding even if the dog never catches one. If the dog actually succeeds once at catching that animal, that's the ultimate gambler's jackpot ensuring the dog will keep trying to engage in this behaviour with those animals. Dogs are highly contextual learners which for good and bad means they can behave differently based on context and not necessarily the provocation itself.

i do not understand. could you please explain further?

@@fikuni5260 rats were eating my chicken feed at night. I cut off the food supply and the rats left. The rats went to the neighbor's chicken coops where they shot at them every night in the coop.

We had the same issue with our hens. With the last batch I had I only fed them by hand once a day, and no more than they would gobble up while I was standing there. It defiantly helped with the rat issues.

That's animal cruelty, hens need to be able to peck food all day long. Encase your chicken coop with chicken wire, that's what it's for.

I have had the cats...with rat abundance, cat didn't really touch the eggs, even of they love them.

I am trying to encourage a wandering neighbourhood cat to stick around a bit more.

@@REDGardens you would have the same problems as with traps though. Cats kill EVERYTHING they can put their claws on...

Glad you find my approach to this useful 🙂

Yes, the dead rats go back into the compost, no doubt adding to the quality of the compost! I think the rats also help the compost when alive, by burrowing in and scratching around they aerate it - a bit - and probably help decompose some of the material.

@@REDGardens and the soil they dig out is perfectly sifted and moist, only if we had a giant rat to sift all the compost pile. 😂😂

@@raa6504 Yes, the soil they dig out is really fine.

@@REDGardens I too think rats areate the compost heap.

Why waste good blood and none fertiliser.

I don’t have a problem with the rats in the compost. I’d be more worried about their urine and faeces within the garden itself (though still not worried - just aware). In the compost there is such intensive biological activity, and I think that any pathogen that wasn’t killed by biology would die off over the 8-10 months that the compost matures. But I take precautions in the garden in general (i.e wash hands after working with compost or soil.). But I can only speak for myself, as I don’t know what risks there are in other parts of the world,

Thanks. Glad you found this video valuable.

We had many, now so far none. First we were catching them in the killing traps, put treat in there and they went to get it and most of time they got hit behind the neck. But once it was a masaker lots of blood splashing, I was sorry for the poor rat, all she wanted was to eat! Once we got one in trap alive with leg trapped and damaged, she screamed with pain, needed to be helped to end suffering in bucket of water. Then my online friend told me not to kill them, they are needed in nature and she said they sell Catch and release traps on Amazon ! So we got those and it was a pleasure to keep catching them alive and release them one by one in same area with no homes around, seeing them running happily away when we opened door of the trap. Much better catch them that way, so happy my friend told me about it. After all, they all want to live just like we do!

@@libuseleman3049 That's really sad.. thanks for having compassion for the rats. I used to rescue domestic rats and they were the best friends I ever had. I miss them every day. Sometimes now there are wild rats around my apartment. I just keep my space very clean and that works. When I make my own place someday it will be an aircrete or hempcrete dome home and it will be impermeable to rats and other little animals.

Some people, myself included, don't mind rats being around (and are willing to deal with them) but if you do, then it definitely makes sense to try to build a rat resistant enclosure, at least to try to slow them down.

how did it go? did you start the composting project?

Mix well 1 part FRESH baking SODA with 1 part flour or cornmeal, add a bit of sugar if you want, place pans with generous portions of this mix around your farm, it is harmless to pets and other animals, but it is LETHAL for rats and mice (and roaches). Rats and mice can't burp or fart, so the baking soda expands in their stomach and intestines and ruptures them, killing them. The baking soda should be fresh, not a box that has been opened and sitting in a cabinet for months.

Very well put. Thanks for commenting.

I disagree. I think it’s epigenetic. I have a huge huge irrational fear of spiders that I did not learn as none of my family are afraid of them.

You make valid points, but that fist statement is simply not true in all cases. It's not always ignorance. Sometimes ppl know plenty about the species and it's role in the ecosystem, but still don't like them. They aren't ignorant, it's a personal preference. Also, a lot of species waste is harmful to humans, especially rodents, so to be disgusted by the potential of being exposed to something nasty is not ignorance, it's just human nature. Lol. Idc how much ppl love animals, I'll bet most of them would be very unhappy if mice or rats infested their homes. Doesn't make them ignorant, it's just not fun or sanitary to live with a bunch of rodents chewing up the place and leaving their disgusting urine and feces behind.

Considering some people lived all their lives in an urban jungle far away from any natural cycle or influence it's no wonder some people have fear of natural things... like killing pest animals or irrational fear of certain animals. Those rats would eat you alive in your sleep if they had no other choice. Same as chickens would.

EcoCentric Homestead I mean it’s not really the, being ignorant. There can be many reasons to why people hate them. I have a phobia of spiders so I hate spiders.

Wild rats are super empathetic, curious and smart too. Basically the same animal. Needing to control their population doesn't change this.

@@aryastark3148 all rats are rats they need to be controlled

Canadian, Living in Ireland for a few decades. Glad you found the videos useful.

Good to hear. I sometimes wonder if I am going off on a tangent and deluding myself, so good to get feedback!

I often have the opposite problem of too much nitrogen, but on rough compost piles I occasionally have added urine as a nitrogen source. I can't say how much of an effect this has had, but I should do some more exploration on it all and make a video about it. My basic opinion is that it couldn't hurt to add using, except perhaps when the compost is already too wet/rich.

RED Gardens thanks. Love your videos keep it up

Urine works well as an activator. I don't have an issue with greens throu out winter as we have all of our veg peelings etc and also fresh horse manure.

darrenbetts2987 I love horse manure. It's normally "free" here to pick up from horse farms but the guy I know charges $20 to load your trailer with his tractor. So if you can pick up at least 2-3 yards it's well worth it. If I could pick up 5-10 yards in a big trailer then I would definitely think that's a good deal and worth the time saving to use a machine then breaking your back.

StreetMachine18 we have 2 horses do a constant supply. I compost it in a windrow.

Thanks! Dogs can be great at the task. i think I need to train in the dog that my other neighbour has.

Storie Colopy what kind of dogs? I plan to get a couple of dogs.

_Moles_ are great animals that air your underground, eat worms and insects, NOT the roots or plants they are not the vegetarians that go after your harvest ;). Moles might by mistake _sometimes_ upend some seedlings, but nobody is perfect and that is a small price to pay for their valuable services. And if you have damage to roots or produce (being chewed or partially eaten !) it is _voles_ they are vegetarians and the bane of gardeners - and most definitely not _moles_ If a mole upends a seedling it is an accident, side effect of their diligent activities, they never aim to eat your plants, bulbs of flowers, or roots. Moles also provide finely sifted soil (great for your nursery for growing seedlings) and they eat worms, insects in general, larvae, insect eggs, probably also of slugs. Now plenty of useful earthworms too but you should have plenty of earthworms so that a mole can make a living, and by chasing them the moles dig even larger tunnels thus improving conditions for soil life, more air and losening the soil. Being chased by moles (especially when it gets colder) might encourage worms to go deeper and work your soil at the deeper levels. Temperature in the soil is fairly stable but there are some differences. The moles must eat a LOT and even a few degrees more down there help them to save energy. So once there are some path they will try to stay in the warmer area. So they have a reason to dig around there. The tunnels the mole dig are larger, they are more like a highway, the worms make the many small paths. Voles on the other hand are damaging, period. (O.K. they also dig tunnels and provide air but the cost for that is just too high, they attack your crops, which moles never do). So if your dogs are good in getting them by all means. However, I suspect it is easier to catch a mole than a vole they might be slow, so your dogs might eliminate an extremely useful animal. With voles a multilayered strategy seems to work. Noise, smells, disturbance, cages and nets can help, and traps. The mounds and tunnels they dig look different and voles can be caught with traps - whereas moles avoid going in there. So that would be a way to get rid of the voles w/o harming the moles. If you have a lawn - harvesting the mounds of finely sifted growing soil before you mow the lawn is a very small effort compared to what they perform all day, every day. They also work in winter, likely they and worms go deeper to have it warmer and therefore they dig up some minerals and mix the layers.

That is interesting to hear about the netting.

Lol

Thanks.

Cats are not as effective as people seem to think..

@@dfbess only the fat cats ha

But like using a poison, cats can be so destructive to native animals.

I’ve been trying out a type of bucket trap for the past few weeks. Not great success so far, but also not a lot of rat activity.

RED Gardens I think you'll need a bigger bucket LOL No seriously though, a good strong steel drum without a lid dug into the ground should do it. Added bonus would be to invite the moaners round & give em a small fishing rod for the fresh catch. haha. I used an empty sealant gun tube for the spinning thing on my bucket, I'm fed up with the mice getting up into the loft (3rd floor) and playing above my bed. Pesky varmits!

That would be cool!! Pesky varmints indeed!

Thanks.

🙂

It seems that many people have a very extreme attitudes towards rats - for a range of different reasons. The fear based one is hard to engage with, I find, as anything that could even remotely encourage or enable rats is seen as bad. On the other side is the view that they are wonderful creatures and killing them is seriously problematic. I'm stuck in the middle of this extremes.

here in germany there is even yellow jacket protection law.. how stupid is that ? those ppl who made up such laws are usually those ppl who don't do farming.. they just sit around and too much free time and made up laws stupid laws as they like.

Haven't heard of that kind of law before.

Wenn Sie eine Wespe grundlos töten, kostet das 5000 Euro Strafe ...www.focus.de/.../bundesnaturschutzgesetz-greift-kein-witz-w... - Translate this pageWenn die Tage wärmer werden, sind wieder Wespen auf dem Vormarsch. Ein Stich der lästigen ... Bundesnaturschutzgesetz greift: Kein Witz! Wenn Sie eine ... rp-online.de/nrw/panorama/wespen-toeten-verboten-in-nrw-bis-zu-50000-euro-strafe-moeglich_aid-20160135 the title says for killing a wespe (yellow jacket ) for no reason can be fine up to 50,000 euro.. how stupid are those eat and poo law makers ? !

Thanks. Glad you appreciate my efforts!

Ok, you got it, favourite comment of the day award!!! Seriously, I do appreciate that kind of feedback and support. Thanks so much.

Thanks!

Thanks for your comment! Very glad that you found my videos useful, and hope you have great success with your compost!

Yeah, I’ve thrown a few babies into the hens and they go crazy for them! Interesting to hear about the quality of the eggs.

Yeah, quit a few people have issues with this video, and the approaches that I have taken, and often it seems that they are coming from quite an urban situation, without any real experience dealing with the reality of growing food. I just realised how old this video is, and I have changed methods, my more recent compost video goes into it a bit, but basically I use a torch to asphyxiate them in the nest, which works much better, generally.

Glad you appreciate them, and also glad a bit of humour does come through.

I would love to have snakes around here to help out - and they are such amazing creatures. But none in Ireland unfortunately.

Thanks for commenting! Really good to know that you find my videos and approach useful. I like how you phrased the use of 'compost as bait instead of forbidden fruit'!

Sounds interesting.

Glad you appreciate it.

Yes, thanks. They are quite an emotive and taboo subject.

It was tough topic, but I am pleased that so many people appreciated that I covered it.

It is part way between the two (I grew up in Canada).

Yep!

Cool? Don't know about that, but thanks for subscribing!

Hey there. Hello from a fellow Canadian (living in Ireland). Glad you appreciated the video.

Yeah, if I was in an urban context, with that range possible critters (especially the racoons!!!) I would probably go with trying to eliminate access. Hope it works for you.

Yes, I think you are right.

That kind of learning when young can be so valuable - I remember so many from when I was young.

Nice!

Thanks. Sounds like a decent strategy, hope it works for you. Keep a eye out for holes in the plastic, as rats have a tendency to chew through. A friend mentioned that he uses 2 or 3 layers of chicken wire underneath his compost and turns it up at the side. Seems to work for him, but haven’t tried it myself.

Rats can be tough pest to deal with but good luck with it all.