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rats/mice are eating my orchids

17 years ago

OK - it's simple - I have my first-time problem with either mice or rats beginning to munch on my orchids. I came out yesterday morning and found a Lc schilleriana missing about 20 leaves/growths and, of course, the 'tell-tail' droppings. I put out a sticky board and caught a lizard and saw the furry culprit running around the pots. Should I bring out the poison bait? We have no pets or children and I want to nip this in the bud, so to speak.

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HU-413463370

2 months ago

last modified: 2 months ago

Yes rats or mice a nuciance but they are living beings and have a right to live. Instead of poisoning them I feel it is much better to catch them alive in traps and then set them out a few miles away from my home in the woods. If anything will kill them it may be an eagle or some other predators and they are needed in order to survive too. So trap them set them out they may survive or become a meal for another animal. BUT DO NOT KILL THEM BY POISONING THEM. A poisoned rat or mouth could get far enough away to then be eaten by an eagle and then you have poisoned that eagle too. That's not right either. We are loosing to many kinds of animals because of humanity. Lets not mess with the normal way of nature that much.

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Comments (6)

nealzibub
17 years ago
Absolutely! As much as I love all creatures great-and-small, I simply have no tolerance for mice/rats. And once they've got a taste for your plants, don't expect them to feel sorry for your orchid collection and move on! :)
Not that death-by-poison is pleasant, but what do you do when you catch the mouse in the sticky trap? let it starve to death or smash it over the head with a hammer?? Set out the poison and enjoy your orchids!
toyo2960
16 years ago
I've yet to have mice or rats eat my orchids, but my friend said that a hungry rat ate one of his prize orchids. I have no love for either rodent. Since you don't have pets or children, poison baits are fine. The old fashioned rat or mous trap is good. I put a little peanut butter on the trip plate, and within a few hours or a night, the mouse is caught.
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Well, you have my sympathy because I've fought the same battle. The electronic zapper got one rat, so that was a $30 rat as it has not worked again. I find these creatures very suspicious and once one of their numbers dies in a trap, the others won't go near it. I've had luck with D-con (those blue pellets) in the past, but lately they won't eat it. At the grocery store yesterday I saw another product from D-con, it was a brownish block about 1" square which looked interesting. When I put out poison, I put it in an upside down shoebox with an opening or something like that to try to keep out cats and other animals. Good luck. Truly, the best trick is to keep the seed or whatever attracts them cleaned up and sealed up, but I know that is not always easy. I like most animals, but not rats/mice! Good luck. Susan P.S. They get out of sticky traps.
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hello everybody!! ive been hearing scratches in my wall for a couple of months, it doesn't happen every night but when it does it drives me nuts cos it's normally at about 4-5 am, so its difficult for me to fall asleep again, thinking that maybe a mouse is going to share the bed with me!! It normally does the same way, coming like from the ceiling through a column, going down, and then some steps and that's it, only some seconds; it sounds like it was going thru a pipe or sth like that, and i think that my room is just a way, not the nest (hopefully!!) Upsters there are more rooms but i'm the only one in the house that has heared it, so i don't think it goes into from the roof...i've checked the house but haven't seen any possible entrance...any idea about how i can finish with this??i've been thinking of poison maybe, but dunno where i can put it, and wouldn't like it to die inside.. but i'm afraid it's going to join more friends!!
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bob8_gw
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My wife thinks I'm crazy when I find evidence of mice in the green house. I use everthing at hand. Sticky traps, poison, and the old fashion traps. Kill them before they kill your collection. I lost a number of orchids to mice and I hope you kill them before they eat another one of your orchids.

Hope this helps
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williamr
16 years ago
I live on a canal and rodents have been such a problem that I have practically given up on growing orchids outdoors despite the favorable climate here. I had about 40 and they have been gradully eaten by the little beasts, I now have only 3 outside! The only others I have are my lepanthes in my terrarium inside.
ron_tacoma
16 years ago
had the same problem several years ago. i tried everything decon, traps, poison, i even glued cashew nuts to the triggers of the mouse traps hoping to lure them to it. why should they eat cashews when they could eat orchids. in desperation i got some gas bombs from the hardware store. the kind you put down mole holes. closed the door and windows in the greenhouse and set off two bombs. i don't know if i killed the beasts or just scared them away. they have not been back since. did not hurt the orchids at all they did not miss a beat.

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