GOD BLESS YOU !! ANYONE SAYING ANYTHING NEGATIVE TO YOU HAS NEVER HAD A RAT PROBLEM !!

My dogs tend to tear up my garden so I normally keep them out. Last year I found a huge tunnel system under my tomato plants. Made the dogs sleep outside with the garden gate open. Next morning I find the biggest rat (dead) I've ever seen in my life sitting right outside the backdoor and a couple of dogs looking at me with some serious prideful looks. They got steak that night for dinner. They tore up a few kale plants but it was good trade.

Everyone is so sensitive now a days, it’s okay to get rid of rodents that are in your garden!! I love this video, subscribing for sure!😄

Birds and tomatoes. Save (or buy) red Christmas ornaments. Dollar Tree bargain stores have them before Christmas and thrift stores such as Goodwill have them after the holidays. Then in the spring just as your tomato plants are about to start putting out fruit, hang your shiny red Christmas ornaments among the plants. The birds will think they have struck gold but when they peck, they won't get juice, just a beak full of ... nothing. Once they learn that there is no reward for their efforts, they will leave your real tomato fruit alone for the rest of the season.

Living in rural western NSW Australia we are in the worst mice plague we have seen for a long long time! Having subscribed to your fantastic informative videos my wife and i keep referring to your suggestions/ instructions and having tried some of these with a bit my prior but limited knowledge and we have managed to overcome most of the gardening problems we have been faced with in our first attempt to have a fairly large garden area we have made by converting our backyard from dead grass and weeds after long previous drought to highly productive veggie garden we are proud of thanx to your informaion and tips. We so appreciate it. Everyone that visits comment or praises us for our work. We find the smaller plastic mouse traps with most successful !

Thank you! I have been fighting a losing battle against rats! Can't tell you how timely your video is, thanks again for the great advice!!

Of all of the small rodent traps I have used, similar to the old style mouse traps, IS the black trap you showed!!! It is absolutely the best!!!! Really easy to use, easy to set without risk to your own fingers, and the "jaw" has "teeth" so not only does it catch the rodent but it hangs on to it if it doesn't instantly kill it, which it does 99% of the time, but should it not be instant it will hold on to until it dies, you find it to kill it, or you release it into a dumpster or feed it to your cat or dog!!!!! Oh and the sticky glue traps work really good, but the mouse starves to death or stresses out and then dies., but you can catch multiple and then I throw them in a bag to suffocate them and throw them in a dumpster. I like the bucket method as well, and I simply throw the deceased mice/rats in the dumpster! Mice and Rats especially and to an extent squirrels but not as bad, carry a multitude of diseases which they can pass on to you via their urine and/or feces. People don't realize if they are present, you can step on a urine patch or feces, but the hidden risk comes from the mice walking in their urine and feces, which they do constantly and then they track that contamination over every surface they walk on. So, you could place an apple and/or your hands on a counter that looks clean, but they walked across, so now your food is contaminated and so are your hands. If you put a finger in your mouth to lick something off, or you rub your eye with that contaminated finger...if that mouse was carrying any or all of those diseases you will be a very sick person and could potentially die!!! They can also cause damage to electrical wiring in one's home which could cause a fire which could cause loss of property but even worse could cause death as well!! So, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO GET RID OF RODENTS IN YOUR HOME AND/OR AROUND YOUR FOOD SOURCES, YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!!!! AND MOVING THEM INSTEAD OF KILLING THEM PUTS OTHER PEOPLE AND/OR ANIMALS IN DANGER!!!

Video starts at 6:21 for rats and 9:18 for squirrels

It seem ridiculous that anyone has to explain the sensibility of killing rodents.

First, I found your openness and honesty, in your thoughts and methods Refreshing!!! My problem is Squirrels. Mostly Red Squirrels, just eyeballing the garden all summer, but when tomato's start ripening, all bets are off❗❗ I actually sprinkled some cayenne pepper, healthy dose, directly on a tomato that had a small chunk chewed out of it. Next morning, the stem and a piece of skin was all that was left. Ever since then, the 410 came out. It's a bit noisy, but very effective. For those that say "There must be laws against that" NOPE, I live in a mostly rural area, I have a hunting license, and there's No Closed Season on Red Squirrels ❗👍❗ What do I do with them? There's a family of Owls that live out back, that appreciate the offerings I provide. OK, off to set some rat/mouse traps with some peanut butter, will see if I can't deter them a bit to save on ammo, and see how many traps go missing this year 😲. For those that still consider this cruel. When your mechanic calls you and informs you that the reason your car wouldn't start, is they found a nest in your engine compartment and a main wiring harness had been chewed through and needs to be replaced. Some harnesses are $500 and up. I am a retired mechanic, and those harnesses aren't any fun to replave. Betcha change your views on feeding the Squirrels when ya get that phone call❗❗❗ TYFS, Mark

This was so helpful today. I’ve literally cried over the tunnels the rats have built in our backyard. We have tried so many different things and maybe, just maybe we won’t be out $1200 for an exterminator. That was our next step. The October ice storm in OKC left huge piles of limbs and entire trees cut into pieces in our front yards. It was like putting out the welcome mat to vermin! The city didn’t pick ours up until the second week of January. By then the vermin have spread throughout our beautiful neighborhood. I’m glad you don’t let the naysayers keep you from telling the truth. Living with critters and a garden can be messy and unpleasant at times.

I have learned so much from watching your videos, please don't stop. There is always something new.

I have an issue with desert ground squirrels in my garden and have tried various methods of dissuading them. A pellet gun during the day (when they are most active) worked very well for the larger problem of their local population. One secret I discovered is when you insert a dead ground squirrel into one of their den entrance holes, not a single one will ever inhabit it again. Beyond that, I successfully use the standard Victor mouse/rat trap inside my fenced garden but I hammered 3-4 thin nails from the bottom up, protruding sharp tip up, around the bait tray. Huge success. Simply what works here.

I started feeding two cats on my front porch, a stray and a feral thinking they would keep mice away from my house and garden. My husband recently took a picture of them both sitting in the back yard beside my garden with a baby mouse sitting between them. They look to be baby sitting the baby mouse.

Never had a rat problem in our garden but rather a few field mice in my greenhouse at initial planting time each year so i have used the black traps (but mouse sized) with peanut butter as well. Works perfectly. There is no way for pets or birds to get into the greenhouse so they are protected. For squirrels we have walnut trees, maple trees, and other nut trees they can work on, away from the main garden. For our blueberries (1000 bushes), the birds can be a problem so i put a sign on a few of the bushes that are reserved for them (kidding). We get such a big harvest because we are fully no sprays, that the yield is at least 50% greater than those using sprays, and our loss from birds is minimal. Bears can be a problem but with our dog around and with our horse manure composting nearby, they stay away. We also have a pond, and a man-made creek and a natural creek that gives most of our 'pests' a natural home, and also attracts natural predators like owls, hawks, and eagles. BTW, we have bats to control the mosquitoes above the pond and koi and goldfish to control the larvae. Work with nature as much as possible.

I just planted my first garden in May and thankfully no mice so far; my neighbor has fruit trees that the squirrels fill up on all morning and afternoon 🦋 I used to see mouse droppings in my garage until I started filling shoe boxes with snuggle dryer sheets. They hate the smell (as do I) 🌷

Thanks for showing the rat traps! We live on raw land in the country, and use mouse traps that are the miniature of your rat traps. They are the only traps we have found to work virtually without fail. So glad to know there are rat traps like them! We need those too. ☹

This is great. I had squirrels digging in my soil around my peppers. I put chicken wire flat on the soil around the peppers and that has seemed to do the trick.

I just wanted to thank you so much for posting this video and for your advice about the traps. We immediately went to ACE hardware and bought 4. we put peanut butter on them and put them about the raised bed and the compost. The next morning we had a rat. the next day we had another rat. and the third morning we had another one. three nights, three rats caught and no harm to our new garden that is just beginning. before these traps, rats were eating our tomato plant leaves. So a huge thank you to you!! Linda

Very timely topic. I have something eating parts of my tomatoes and several of my cucumber plants. I have seen several squirrels in my yard, so I am blaming them. I am going to try putting food in the other side of the yard and but the fountain back in operation. Thanks for all the great ideas.

First, thank you for taking the time to share your gardening wisdom and experience with the rest of us. As “newbie” food gardeners, also in SoCal, the hubby and I have spent countless hours watching your videos, as well as those from some of your esteemed YT peers. I’ll be making some of your homemade pepper spray today, for our tomatoes, but I wanted to share our recent experience with the TomCat Rat Traps, as well as the rodent-deterrent experiment we’re currently running. We bought two of the TomCat traps you recommended and staged them near our tomatoes, which we’d recently noticed were being devoured, piecemeal. (Ugh!) But to our great surprise, however, one of the traps DISAPPEARED the very first night they were out. A thorough search of the garden revealed neither hide nor hair of its (presumed) occupant. Weirdly, the trap was just gone. We suspected that a rodent invader might have been caught in the trap and then subsequently taken away by a larger predator, perhaps as an easy meal. Not having much experience with traps, in general, it didn’t seem like that farfetched a concept. What was really strange though, was that the exact same thing happened the very next day. Trap #2, which we’d placed in a different location, also went MIA. As before, we found no sign of a struggle and no hint of any rodent (or any other) remains. We were so perplexed that we’re actually talking about getting a portable wildlife camera and installing it, just to see who’s actually visiting us at night. Have you ever had this happen with your traps? As for our experiment, we weren’t sure if our tomato thief was being drawn to the fruit by its changing color, or by its scent (or both). Whoever is eating them seems to be ignoring the tomatoes right up until they start to ripen. So, in the off-chance that the fruit’s color was the cue, I purchased two yards of organza at my local fabric store. (And yes, I wore a face mask and “social-distanced.” 😷) I got one yard in hunter green and one in turquoise. I chose the organza because it was sheer enough to allow air to pass through it, but still opaque enough to completely obscure the actual color of the tomatoes. I tested this by holding some of it up against bright red fabric while I was in the store, to make sure none of the red was detectable. Once I got it I home, I cut smaller squares of the organza and wrapped the tomatoes that seemed closest to changing color in it. The wrapped fruit is highly visible on the vine, so we can tell immediately if it’s been tampered with...or taken. It’s been 3 days now and we haven’t had a nibble on the wrapped fruit. We’re not ready to “declare victory” yet, of course, since this could be just a coincidence. Also, doing this sort of thing with a heavy-laden vine probably wouldn’t be terribly practical, but I’m curious to know if you think the fabric, either by its color or just by its mere presence, regardless of its color, might be the reason.

I use an electric pet fence, 3 strands high, keeps rats, mice, squirrels, opossums, raccoons out. I have a camera on the garden and have seen each of these touch the fence and take off. It’s awesome. These fences are inexpensive, I have about $30 invested.

I am so glad to have come across this video. The squirrels in my yard are really pissing me off. I plant to mix the hot pepper spray and hopefully it works. They have started eating the leaves of my collard greens and kale.

NorCal here. I've seen your previous videos about rodents and didn't give it much thought. A few days ago I saw my FIRST rat since I've lived in my house (16 years), so I bought those traps! lol.

Thank you! My garden has been overrun by socks. My traps have been less than effective or uber messy to clean. I will employ some of these tactics to bring their population back down.

We use the "Jaws" mouse traps. They are much easier and cleaner. We don't however put any type of bait/food on them. Mice run along baseboards or in your case the base of your beds or your house. We put the "jaws" pointing toward the baseboards and the handle pointing away from the wall. When the mouse runs along it, snap one less mouse.

This is my first year gardening in Missouri, I haven’t come across cucumber beetles and squash bugs before. I find if I go out before sunrise the I will find a few squash bugs underneath some plants. I snip them in 1/2 with my snips and put them in the chicken bucket. The cucumber beetles tend to be inside the wilted squash flowers. I pick of all wilted flowers, carefully rip them open and squish the beetles before they can fly away. I have not found any eggs yet but check every day.

One year I had a seven layer pest control system that culminated in yes....my son being assigned the job to sleep outside occasionally with his friends and his air soft guns. The squirrels still got to them...but we had fun watching the boys be diligently on guard!

I used a motion detecting water sprinkler last year and it seemed to work. There are squirrels and raccoons that hang around my house. Dozens of stray cats also like to use my yard as a toilet. This year I bought two more sprinklers for greater coverage, so let’s see what happens.

Thank you. Some people seem to care more about rats and rodents than other humans...if the rat has to go it has to go.

Got 'em! I had a rat showing up and eating my romaine and celery the past two weeks. I have the same rat trap, along with some wooden ones, and decided to put it out last night and whamo! Planning on getting a couple more for the other garden areas. Thanks for the advice

Aloha! Great tips! Even though our squirrels have ponds and pools all around my garden, they still take the tomatoes and nibble a a few bites and then leave them on the fence! Also, decimating, squashes, and melons, and corn! Our cat has caught a 4 rats, they still eat my red bell peppers! I'm looking forward to trying your pepper spray! Mahalo!

I grow a lot of mint around the chicken pen and barn, because I read that mint replies mice. This might work for rats too. Mint is so easy and makes a great natural deodorizer. Thanks for an informative video.

An additional recommendation for using rat traps: Rats have a very acute sense of smell so, in addition to wearing gloves when you are setting a trap, if you are re-using a trap scrub it thoroughly between uses to eliminate any dead rat scent. The advantage of the traditional and inexpensive wood and wire traps is that you can throw the whole thing away. Traps, even the wood ones, can be scrubbed clean with a bleach and water solution.

Yes, I have had one of those traps for a number of years and it's the best method I have found too

I’m retired from doing commercial pest control. The rats you are talking about are roof rats. I got rid of countless ones in my career. Snap traps were my weapon of choice. One type which I used had a small cup with in the trap. I used to carry smoked almonds and I would pound a couple of almonds in that cup with a small hammer or the back end of a heavy flashlight. The rat would have to work to get that out and pounded nuts would be effective. I also used to carry an essential oil where I used very little on a trap and that was very effective too. But for the average homeowner smoked almonds are great. A trap within a box is essential but overall use it like a runway. In other words don’t leave it in the open but against a wall or if there is not a wall create one with wood or rocks so they have a path to follow. More than just one and make sure little kids do not have access.

Cats go for mice but won't do much for full grown rats. I have been leaving a "sacrificial tomato" which has worked. I probably shouldn't jinks myself since my larger tomatoes are just now blushing. I just haven't made piece with traps. The squirrels get black sunflower seeds and raw peanuts so they don't mess with my garden.

I'm with you. If it's in my veg garden, it's fair game!!

Def did your homework like me and my husband did lol. Those traps are the best and fairly inexpensive on Amazon. I’ve luckily never deal with rats but mice, squirrels and chipmunks are my arch nemesis. Living in CT with very cold and snowy winters the rodents are always looking for somewhere warm. Being a responsible dog owner I would never use poison other than in my detached garage where I do the bucket trap but with antifreeze rather than water for obvious winter reasons...and a trap combo. I also use a lot of mint oil around the house to deter them. Thank you for the video and the other great advice!

We have rats that get into the garden and have had limited success at controlling them until last year, when we got traps like the one you demonstrated. My husband is the one who has to deal with any rodent issues (I do snakes, lizards, spiders, etc. but can't deal with rodents at all) so I can only tell you what he's said, and that's that this trap is the best ever. To prevent birds or our dog from getting to it, he just placed a large flat piece of cardboard on top of it behind our raised-bed garden, baited with crunchy peanut butter. Each of the three times he used it, he put it out in the evening and the next morning a rat was dead in it. Rats scurry along a fence or wall just fine with something for them to crawl under.

Feed the tomato horn worms to your chickens!

I'm at the part where you tell people to stick it and I already love this video. I kill anything that destroys my hard work and I don't apologize for it. Right now I'm dealing with Javelina. I foresee bacon in the near future. Momma, Daddy, and babies are all fair game. I live in the middle of nowhere so I have Javelina, rabbits, birds, gophers, squirrels, rats, mice - Just last night I lost a huge amount of lettuce that was almost ready for harvest. I have a trail cam coming tomorrow so I can ID the offenders and setup a plan to exterminate them.

Our dog (American Staffordshire) is an excellent ratter, when she can catch them. Unfortunately they're a lot more nimble than she is, but she's always up for the chase. She's awakened me during the wee hours of the morning more than once to go to work. I'm retired, so don't complain, but I think I'll give those traps a go - I'll use the shoebox trick too, to keep her away.

I was having tomatoes and cucumbers nibbled. I got one of the black rat traps for under $10ca. Caught a big rat in just a couple of days. It was very easy to release the very dead rat into the trash. Thanks for the advice!

The Rat Zappers have worked amazingly well for us, far more effective than any other method. We put Honey Nut Cheerios in them and the mice can’t resist it! Caught over 14 mice within a week in our garage.

I use Victor rat traps baited with bits of apple for the chimunks and woodrats that were tearing up my garden. WERE. It works pretty well for me.

This is the first video of yours that I've seen I just happened to come across it. I am doing my first garden by myself. My late husband and I did one together but he was the expert. However, I want to have a garden for my family and to honor him. So I am delving into a lot of research on how to do this well. So thank you for the great video and I can't wait to watch the rest of them! BTW I live in zone 5b Massachusetts

I put Victor traps, baited with peanut butter, under upside down flower pots. To release the vermin, I use a metal landscape stake to pry open the trap.

Thanx for the pest video Brian I use those very same traps and have since they came out a couple years ago and have literally cleaned up the neighborhood with them so to speak I’m on 1-7/8 acre not quite 2 but big enough but my next door neighbors have tons of animals with food everywhere and so the rats literally take over and like you I tried it all and had to replace walls and insulation because of rats and mice so these traps are the only way to go thanx for the video now maybe the rest of the planet can help eradicate this horrible little pest

I use a trap that looks like a small rectangular cage. It has a door on one end that snaps close when the bait on the other end is moved, thus trapping the rat inside. It doesn't kill the rat but it's okay. My neighbor buys them and feed them to his pet snake. So I made sure they are alive. I also make sure to wash the cage before the next use.

This was so helpful. Thank you!

Love this! Thank you!

I use critter repellent from Home Depot. It is organic and it works for me.

Thanks for this as have killed 7 last year and was wondering how to use traps without catching my 4 cats SHOE BOX SO AWESOME

My husband has been using those traps in our raised tomato beds this year (after the little buggers ate about 100 lbs of fabulous heirloom tomatoes last year which he took very personally!). It was working ok until the other day when he caught a SKUNK in the trap. Worse, it didn't kill him, it just got his foot. He tortured over what to do for a couple of hours before dressing in a hazmat suit and going to to try to let the poor thing out...certain he was going to get sprayed. Much to our surprise, the poor thing seemed to understand he was trying to help and although he raised his tail a couple of times, he didn't spray and my husband was able to release him. On an even happier note, he didn't seem to be harmed...he ran at lightening speed and didn't even limp. We're not sure how he wasn't hurt, but we've known for a long time we had skunks out back and they've never been a problem (having worked out a detente with our cats...they haven't eaten any veggies or sprayed in the yard, so we're ok with them being there eating grubs or whatever it is they do). And that brings me to whether cats help with rats... NOPE. We're currently exploring other methods to control the rats... peppermint oil/garlic/rosemary oil granules and sprays, but don't have anything to report yet on the effectiveness of those. If they help, I'll post another comment later.

Great video, and some added laughs,you have a great way of sharing. Today the squirrels ate many apricots ..well they pitted them first and left the fruit . All they are after is the pits,I found they steal seeds to. It took me awhile to figure it out but they don't want fruit to rot, seed and pits stored for Winter, they aren't dumb .

I will for sure be getting some of those! I also heard (as more of a prevention) to use fabric tulle around the garden! Rodents hate getting their nails caught in it so they don't climb up! it's super cheap and lasts years :)

That trap looks great. I have had mice and have used sticky traps, this looks easier. Luckily, we don't have rodents now. Generally, pet cats are not good ratters, I've had dogs that were good ratters but to honest, I don't want my pets fighting with rats. Rats can be big. I once had a rat and at that time I also had 5 barn cats (don't judge me). I looked into the garage and the cats were all sitting in a circle watching the rat eat their food. At the time, I also had a Rottweiler, she rushed in, grabbed the rat, and shook it, which broke the rat's neck. It was not a good experience.

I added a birdbath to my garden and offered a alternative food source for the squirrels. So far it’s working however I am also covering my plants with a close weave garden netting to keep them away.

I live in a series of connected flats, and for quite a few years, we had VERY unclean neighbours in the flat next door, who hosted several large families of mice and rats. When they eventually moved, the flat had to be totally stripped (including carets, dry wall and ceiling panels), and redone. Of course all those rats and mice immediately moved to the nearest neighbour - me! Mice will take the bait out of a regular-style mouse trap a good dozen times before actually setting it off, and will set if off 7 or 8 times before being caught in it, and yet with only two basic snap style traps I still managed to kill around 30 mice in the first 10 days! Never been able to catch a rat yet (my terrier X has though!) I looked up the kind of trap you are using, and Yay! Someone here in NZ actually caries it! And a way better mouse trap too (I think made by the same company). Guess what the first purchase with this week's pay is going to be! Thanks!

I must say Thank you to you for all the tips and garden information you have passed on to me since I subscribed to your KZfaq channel a few weeks ago. I think that your videos are just wonderful. I have learned so much from watching all the tips and other garden helps. I am an avid gardener, ornamental, fruit trees, vegetables, and herbs. (I even put in another vegetable garden since I have been self quarantined since March). I just love your tropical garden. I have grown many of the same plants, just not to the extent you have, they need to winter inside or in our greenhouse). I am just wondering if anyone has a "best" way to get rid of Chipmunks. They are just the most destructive rodent I have here in Northwest Arkansas. Besides the major squirrel, woodchuck, deer and mole populations, these are just my nemesis!! They are burrowing into All my gardens, sample all the tomatoes, and hot peppers, dig in All container plants(along with the squirrels) and have killed a number of dwarf fruit trees and established azalea bushes with their burrows. Not to mention they eat nibbles out of All of our strawberries. I have tried the hot pepper spray, and lately have been using peppermint oil on cotton balls with limited success. I have the mouse traps, but I am wondering if you or anyone has a better method to get them Out of my gardens. Thanks, Camie

Cats are extremely great at rodent control. I’m allergic to cats too, but i got a barn/garden cat that lives outdoors. At first it was so skiddish I wondered if it’ll ever catch one, but after a few months of acclimation to its surroundings and me as it’s owner, my cat totally dominates them!

You’re awesome! I’m going to try these next! Thank you!

Didn't pay attention first time watching, but then saw a rat for the first time ever in my garden (going for the cherry tomatoes). Bought the trap you suggested & caught rat on the very first night! Will keep setting it up..hope it's not going to be a regular problem.

I like that rat trap a lot. I will definitely invest in a few. We have a couple coyotes that patrol the property every morning. They seem to keep the rabbit, tree squirrel and rat population at bay pretty well. Ground squirrels are another issue. I do use a pellet rifle to keep them manageable and a Squirellenator trap if the population gets too large. If I hear a bunch of them chirping the trap comes out and it’s very effective. Ironically I use cut up tomatoes as bait and they can’t resist.

I fed the squirrels and they just kept coming back. That did not deter them. They destroyed my garden entirely, despite the fact that I fed them. They would eat it all and come into my garden for more. I discovered the pepper spray way too late, but I found that it does work.

For the traps if you put them in a box, cut a hole on each end of the box and put the box along a wall or pathway. They can sense a way through and will feel more protected entering that way. Get any type of soft dried fruit... dates, apricot, raisin, fig, cranberry etc and put a small raisin size piece also smeared with peanut butter, hooked on the trip plate of the trap... that way they tug on the fruit and it always trips the trap that way.

I have a good fence and a electric wire on top, which detours squirrels very well. Thank you for the good information, and video.

I have a friend who LOVES "ratties" as she calls them. I don't tell her I'm ok with punishing interlopers...and I put habanero sauce on the bird seed (birds can't taste it) and it totally works!

Totally agree with, your never gonna please everyone, I do take your tips😊🙏

I have issues with ground squirrels. Sometimes what they are eating in the garden or nature is better than what I offer and getting them to take the bait is the challenge sometimes. I have caught them with peanut butter, mango and apple. It's definitely hit and miss. Thanks for the tips! I like your channel. My favorite. CalKim and Rusted are also super good.

I bought two and got them yesterday - they work!!

I have issues with squirrels and chipmunks uprooting my plants. I'm going to try chicken wire under the mulch. I'll let you know if it works :) Update: I also wrapped the tops of my pots and tucked around the inside edges of my grow bags. It's working great so far.

tulle is my number one sorce,,, wrap your fruits or plants with tulle,,, it gets caught in their nails and gets scared and dont came back

Thank you! Just starting to compost ... and try to grow some veggie. Will see!

The traps work great. I have used them with great success

I totally agree with YOU! More expensive, but I say for a regular trap, just throw it away...no clean up. Peanut butter really does the trick👍🏻! I think snap traps are not supposed to be used in my area (San Jose) but then why are they sold here?

I feel like that slip at 0:47 was you trying not to sound like Mark from Self Sufficient Me lmao "Let's get into it"

Plastic hardware cloth stapled to the bottom of the fence and extending about 1 ft out into the yard held down with landscaping staples has been effective for keeping rodents out of the fenced back yard. But when we added a new gate with plastic hardware cloth on the bottom, they gnawed right through within a week. Galvanized did the trick.

You look like my grandson. I love your sense of humor.🤣 I am learning lots. I don't understand why anyone would send you a comment to insult you when you are just informing people what you know, from your experience. I just scroll past stuff I don't agree with or already know from sites on youtube or any place. Life is way to short to be miserable and try to spread that misery to others. I know "you can not ever please everyone every time" so don't even try. Keep up what you are doing for those if us that appreciate what you do.👍😊

I've had an all out war with ground squirrels this year. They ate 3 watermelon plants and stripped 5 tomato plants. I've killed 14 of them so far with my pellet gun and I have one left to get still. But I've also added rat traps and that has helped keep them away this week. I haven't caught any in the traps but they have set them off.

For squirrels I've had great luck with zap traps, they were getting in the garage and using sunflower seeds as bait. Also worked for mice and the occasional chipmunk that tried to move in too. My theory is if they stay outside they're safe, if they try to come in their fair game.

Great video! I order a few of the rat traps to use on the squirrels they are rats with a fluffy tail.

Best vid so far. Thanks for the information.

The way I see it is, It's them or me! I have a dog that loves to catch and kill rats and mice. She has eliminated all of them from my backyard. We had quite a problem before we got her.

In my experience, rats are smart and once they see one of them trapped they will avoid the trap. So make sure to empty the trap as soon as possible (preferably the same night before you go to bed) so that other rats don't see it.

So far the rats have left my garden alone but they ate holes in my drip irrigation lines in my landscaping. I use Clark Pest Control and they use those traps in their trap boxes. Very effective.

Thank you so much. I needed this info now to get in place these techniques & tips before harvesting time comes in my garden.❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉. I love how you give the hows & whys of the tips you give.

I had a birdfeeder in the back of my old house that I really enjoyed. I had all sorts of birds coming. Then I discovered rats underneath it. I was horrified. I moved.

🐈 But yes, a simple trap baited with peanut butter has always worked for me. And never feel bad about it, a trap is a quick humane way of dispatching a critter that brings only filth and mayhem to your yard.

Roof rabbit with roasted tomatoes is exquisite! Especially, on the grill.

My cat was a ratter. He was the best to keep the garden free of Vermin. He died last October unfortunately.

Do you have any suggestions for compost bins? I have a wooden one that I’m going to shift to a plastic type that is bottomless to allow earthworms and other beneficial bugs to digest my compost. But I’ve noticed a couple of mice/rats coming under my elevated wooden compost box. I want to make sure my new bin will be rodent proof, and I may continue to use my wooden compost box until it breaks down.

Interesting about the water source! I have a pond out near my garden with also a water feature that, I bet, the squirrels must use to drink from! I haven't had any issue with rats, to high up on a mountainside, but I do get a lot of forest mice raiding my garden, so sorry lil one's, you got to go!

Hi Brian, having a problem with chipmunks in the garden. If you have any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it. Very pleased that I subscribed to your channel. I spend hours learning so many new things. Thanks, Peter

Have used those rat traps for years and they are great. Bait them with peanut butter. It eliminates at lease 15-16 rats a year. After I get some in a night I have to wait a couple weeks before I put them out again. I guess the rats can smell something and avoid them the next night. Also you should mention that another thing rats chew is your drip irrigation lines looking for water. I get a lot of damage from that. Squirrels are an occasional problem, I see them , but I believe they are doing only minimal damage. Also, peppermint does work some as a deterrent. By the way I tried the electic trap, it worked once to kill a rat and then it died. At $45-50 for a trap was not worth it compared to the snap trap.

Thanks for the video, love the info. Would the pepper spray work for rabbits as well? Also any tips on moles? This year they seem to more persistent than ever. Thanks for hosting this platform.

I’ve had luck with the rat zappers. I put a piece of bread in the back and only allow one way in the trap. I’ve only used it a few times but it worked each time. A man I follow on KZfaq uses his urine to keep critters away but I haven’t tried that. My yard is too small and I don’t want to smell urine 😂

thanks. Love your videos!

I live in a delta in the northwest which has a high water table. The norwegian black rat is common here as well as brown rats. A couple of weeks ago I spotted a brown rat scuttling across my fence around where my veggie patch is. I then noticed that my cucumber seeds were being dug up. So it was battle stations. I also find the traditional snap trap the most effective. But there are techniques best used. Firstly, do not get human scent on the traps i.e. consistently use gloves. This also applies to any bait used. I generally use raisins. Secondly, rats are smart and skeptical of something new. So I place my traps without setting them and without bait for a couple of days in the targeted spot. Then I set and bait. My cucumba plants and now seeds must've done a victory dance when I scored with one dead brown rat. The snap trap worked perfectly and crunched the neck for an instant kill.