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Garden Gate:  I have a Templeton....  |
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IMDBLJ
Farmgirl in Training
11 Posts
Jennifer
Mineral
VA
USA
11 Posts |
 Posted - May 04 2006 : 7:21:50 PM
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Charlotte's Web was one of my favorite books (along with The Secret Garden) and we've nicknamed our resident rat. Unfortunately, he's taken up residence in our compost pile. It's a green plastic rubbermaid thing, that we've been using for quite a few years now. He's been at the house ever since we moved in (tried to live in our grill for a bit, scaring hubby when he went to light it.  Anyway, he's moved to the bin, and is having a field day. We don't put meat in there, and he's loving the red peppers that I brought home from work. He's even taken to knocking the lid off the enamel ware pot we use on the back porch to hold a few days of stuff before taking it out to the pile.
I need to turn the compost (basically moving it, and shoveling everything back in), but I'm not sure what to do about Templeton. Much less, I really don't want him living in my compost pile in the first place. Any ideas? |
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sonflowergurl
True Blue Farmgirl
349 Posts
Katee
Tampa 'Burbs
FL
USA
349 Posts |
Posted - May 04 2006 : 8:33:45 PM
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Personally, I'd be inclined to kill him, but that's just me. If you don't want to do that, you can get a trap to catch him in and release him away from civilization somewhere. Otherwise, I have no suggestions. :)
Good luck! (I'd be freaking out myself. LOL)
Katee
The end will justify the pain it took to get us here.
"Looking Toward the Son"---- http://sonflowergirl731.blogspot.com
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2006 : 09:33:01 AM
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How does he get into the bin? Is there anything you can do to secure it, or maybe use a different, more secure bin?
I hate having to kill things, so I'm glad that's not the first option you're looking at.
Are you sure you've been seeing the same rat every time? Seems strange that there would be just one, and he's had a pretty long life span (must be all the scraps he's getting from your compost keeping him youthful!) |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2006 : 10:04:03 AM
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Send him to the happy cheese factory in the sky!!! Where there is one, there is more. I don't deal well with killing any kind of creature either, but you'll not be pleased when he decides it's warmer in the attic of your house for the winter, along with his relatives. An exterminator told a girlfriend that for every one you see, there are twenty more. Sorry, no compassion for rats here.
Di
http://www.daisyfarm.blogspot.com |
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Eileen
True Blue Farmgirl
1199 Posts
Eileen
USA
1199 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2006 : 10:06:09 AM
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I had a rat move into my worm bin 2 years ago but I have a Pomeranian who was certain that it should not be in there so one morning I went out to add compost to the bin, when I removed the top the dog jumped in caught the rat and killed it instantly. I had not known it was in there so was surprised at how fast the dog did this unpleasant job for me. Rats are meat eaters and if you are not putting meat in you can be certain that the rat is eating all your earth worms!!! You need your earth worms in your compost to help do the composting and enriching of your compost pile. I say get rid of the rat. They multiply and spread disease!
Eileen
Songbird; singing joy to the earth |
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Fabulous Farm Femmes
True Blue Farmgirl
792 Posts
Diane
Lakebay, Tacoma
WA
792 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2006 : 11:45:59 AM
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We have had the Rat-in-the-compost-bin thing too. Let me tell you why you want to get rid of him!!
We had seen ours off and on during the summer. No big deal, so we thought. Until the cool weater hit. Sometime between Halloween and Thanskgiving, he decided to move into the nearest shed.Within that 3 week gap, he had:
1. Ripped out an entire wall of insulation and made a nest.
2. Brought food from both the garbage bin and compost inside the shed, and stuffed it up under the walls for snacking later.
3. Also brought used girl products from the garbage for the same reason(eww)
$. Dug through all the Rubbermaid storage bins in the garage, ate thru doll & baby clothes we were keeping, all the christmas lights strings, Christmas candles (which were my grandma's)oil artist paints, paperwork, in short decinated the garage.
4. Chewed thru the wiring on the freezer.
Our local health dept. worker suggested we tear everything out, clean with bleach, and disinfect everything that could have been touched by them. They DO carry diseases. It was a VERY expensive lesson!! They can compact their bodies and crawl thru a hole as small as a quarter. This rat was bigger than a loaf of bread!
We have now changed to throwing our food compost into a plastic bin that has no plastic bottom but a screen across the bottom (purchased), and a snap close lid. The big compost pile is just yard waste now. We baited the rats with wax based bait (their favorite, they are attracted to wax..that's why they ate my candles!)in very out of the animals way places nearby.
Hope this helps.........Go AWAY TEMPLETON!
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2006 : 12:40:11 PM
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I would set a rat trap in the bin and compost the body.
Robin
www.thymeforewe.com
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JennyWren
True Blue Farmgirl
201 Posts
USA
201 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2006 : 2:29:29 PM
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Hi...
Me.. I loved Charlotte's Web too.. I have to say that I would get a live trap and move him (faaaaaaar awaaaaaaay) ... Just like in the book.. there were little "Templeton's".. You for sure don't want that problem.
Good Luck!
Carla...
If you treat an individual as what he is, he will stay that way, but if you
treat him as if he were what he could be, he will become what he could be.
-- Goethe
www.jennywrensurbanhomestead.blogspot.com/ |
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brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2006 : 3:47:51 PM
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I would not get a live trap - I would get a DEAD trap. Yuck. I hate rats - and even cute little mice and chipmunks when they are in my garden. One year, in the fall, when there were still a lot of tomato plants and so forth before the final frosts of the year, I took the lawn mower over close to the garden, making a lot of noise, and saw about 10 dark shapes streaking out of my garden. I don't know if they were moles or voles or mice or rats or squirrels --- but I didn't like them one bit.
One year I had mice in the basement. I thought I would try a new type of mousetrap I saw in the store - it was a sticky pad that you put where the "evidence" is found. Duh. I was not thinking straight. What the heck was I gonna do with a live mouse stuck to the stupid pad????? I would rather just have the trap kill them and have to dispose of the body, instead of having a sticky, mad critter hissing at me while I decided what to do with it....
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
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JennyWren
True Blue Farmgirl
201 Posts
USA
201 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2006 : 4:17:01 PM
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I know you are probably right.. but the one and only time I culled a chicken (really mean rooster)I was so upset that I had to take a valium and sleep for 4 hours  ... I'm just not good at the killing stuff.
Carla...
If you treat an individual as what he is, he will stay that way, but if you
treat him as if he were what he could be, he will become what he could be.
-- Goethe
www.jennywrensurbanhomestead.blogspot.com/ |
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n/a
deleted
10 Posts
10 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2006 : 8:28:37 PM
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I'll see if I can stop laughing long enough to type. You all are sooo funny. I love reading all your replies. As far as the compost pile, as I understand it, if you have the proper ratio of soil, manure, green matter, dry matter, sun, and water, it should heat up to a temperature too hot for Templeton to survive in. At least that's the ideal. I try but can not get mine to heat up and properly compost in a short amount of time. Have you thought about getting a very large cat? tee hee hee
"...Advance confidently in the direction of your dreams..." Thoreau |
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JennyWren
True Blue Farmgirl
201 Posts
USA
201 Posts |
Posted - May 05 2006 : 9:14:09 PM
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I have some cats I could donate! 
Geez Louise.. My son loves cats, we seem to have collected a few extra over the winter. We were watching television the other night and I turned to my husband who was draped in cats. And said, "is it me or does this feel vaguely familiar?"..
He said, "Yeah I think this is a scene out of 101 Dalmations, where Roger, Anita and the puppies are all sitting in the living room watching televison!"..
How many would you like?
If you treat an individual as what he is, he will stay that way, but if you
treat him as if he were what he could be, he will become what he could be.
-- Goethe
www.jennywrensurbanhomestead.blogspot.com/ |
Edited by - JennyWren on May 05 2006 11:49:00 PM |
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IMDBLJ
Farmgirl in Training
11 Posts
Jennifer
Mineral
VA
USA
11 Posts |
Posted - May 06 2006 : 12:32:24 PM
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Thank ya'll for all your thoughts. We're still trying to figure out what to do. As an Licensed Veterinary Technician, I know well the problems with rats, but I really like rats too....at least the pet ones. I'd take one of those before taking a hamster anyday. Anyways...we're thinking over our choices. Hubby keeps telling me we'll trap it and he'll take it into his work in the city (Richmond) because he'll fit right in. [:)}As to how he's getting in there, he's got a hole dug underneath and then comes up on the top. It's a plastic dog house shaped thing, with no bottom, and a removable top.
As for the cats, you'd think the two neighborhood cats that I have stalking my compost would actually catch the darn thing, but no luck yet! |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2006 : 11:21:45 AM
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I'm 36 years old and hate to admit I finished re-reading Charlotte's Web just the other night. Nothing like a little ultra-light reading before bed.
We still frequent our state fair every year. It's a tradition. Same stuff basically, but it's the atmosphere and THE FOOD |
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Garden Gate: I have a Templeton.... |
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I have a Templeton....
