Growing pleiones - the hard way...

[Diane Whitehead]

Rats can climb easily and don't need much of a hole to squeeze
through.

I have heavy hardware cloth (wire screening) covering every tiny
entrance into my house and greenhouse - places where pipes,
electric conduits etc go through the walls.

I've never seen such wholesale mayhem.  My rats are generally
tidy as they excavate bulbs from pots, eat off flower buds, etc.
I wonder if something was chasing them, or trying to get into
the greenhouse to kill them.

[Maren]

Hi,
thanks for your kindness. I still don't know what it was, am thinking of installing a night vision video camera to try to find out.

Ian suggested that the invader may have been tempted by the slug pellets I had sprinkled generously. He may have a point there, all the pellets had gone and the mayhem could have been a consequence of someone snuffling around for the pellets.

When I went today, it was worse.
- Pots turned over: 75;
- pseudobulbs on their sides on top of pots: 220;
- pseudobulbs roots in the air: 56
- flowers eaten: 17
- buds bitten off: 47 and so on.

I am spending all my time re-potting these poor pleiones. No more slug pellets, though, if that's what the invaders are coming for.

Two of the mouse traps had tripped, but nothing in them. The rat trap was untouched. All the rat poison sprinkled on the gangway had disappeared. But no droppings anywhere. I wish I could move the pleiones out of that greenhouse, but I don't have anywhere else to put them.

I have cleared out everything underneath the benches, but there was no rat nest anywhere. Some mouse holes though...Traps have been re-primed. Fingers crossed.

[fleurbleue]

May be sheets covering pots until you find the dead culprits...With all they have eaten 

[ThomasB]

Oh Maren, that's so sad and horrible - all your effort and lots of time you spent growing and repotting these bulbs. 

Maybe you can dust some flour onto the floor to get traces of the animal responsible for this mess?

[Maggi Young]

Maybe you can dust some flour onto the floor to get traces of the animal responsible for this mess?

Clever idea.

[majallison]

It sounds like a rat; if you're using rat bait, best to use the most expensive one you can find (I use one called Neosorexa Gold), my experience is that rats are pretty much immune to any lesser poisons.

[angie]

I would be moving into my greenhouse with my campbed. Give whatever is coming a big fright when he sees me with a hammer in my hand. Only joking I couldn't hit anything with a hammer, yet again if it was my pleoines I might just  

Good idea the flour, would have never ave thought of that.

Angie  

[ThomasB]

Just another thought.
If some beast likes the slug pellets that much you could put some into a deep bucket (add a big stone so it can't turn over the bucket) and place it so that the animal might get (fall) in but won't be able to climb out again. Of course you have to check the next morning just in case useful and innocent animals fall in.

[johnw]

It sounds like a rat; if you're using rat bait, best to use the most expensive one you can find (I use one called Neosorexa Gold), my experience is that rats are pretty much immune to any lesser poisons.

Malcolm - I see Neosorexa Gold Pro Rat and Mouse Bait contains Contains 0.005% difenacoum. We have found the best to be Ratak and contains Brodifacoum Technical (0.005%). Sounds rather similar and works very well indeed.

Maren - Which kind of slug pellets did they eat? If they contain metaldehyde that should have done the trick by now.
From the internet - 1/2 cup peanut butter
3 crushed vitamin D tablets
Roll in oats, place inside a 2-inch cardboard tube and bury in a tunnel or where damage is occurring. This creates a calcium deficiency and so our unfavorable rodents perish!

Also a few well-placed glue boards along walls or benches might help.

johnw

[Maren]

Hmmm, lots of good ideas here. In reply:

The slug pellets were the 'bird friendly' kind called Growing Success Advanced Slug Killer. Being animal friendly, they probably had no effect on the rat.

I've thought of the flour and have packed a bag for tomorrow.

Rat poison used is called Ratak.

I'll try the glue boards and will bait the rat traps with the desirable slug pellets.

Have made an appointment to see someone about installing a night surveillance camera.

Wish me luck.

[johnw]

Good luck Maren!

When I had the outbreak of mice in the greenhouse I found they have been living in a huge pot of Rhododendron Fragrantissimum. They were entering through the drainage hole as the pot was on an angled piece of floor and one edge of the pot was sitting on a 2x2 to level it out.  A whole family was in there and still have no idea how they got onto the 4ft high benches.  Many of the cyclamen came back though they took quite some time to make new growth buds.

The lesson we learned: Annually put Ratak bait down in inaccessible places in September and repeat as it is eaten - greenhouse, basement and the garage (upstairs and downstairs) which is heated to 5c.  Once the really cold weather comes we check periodically and reapply if any disappears.

I hope you can solve this one and that peace of mind will return in short order.

johnw 

[Darren]

Maren - just caught up with this. What a horrible story and I really feel for you and hope you catch the culprit soon!

[Slug Killer]

Maren

Do a quick search for Swann outback Camera. Far cheaper than getting something installed as it's not just an IR Camera that's needed but also a recorder. This little unit is both.

[enrico]

Hi Maren,

I'm very sorry for what happened and I wish you good luck with your hunt!

[LarsB]

Hi Maren,

If it is rats you might want to put a radio in your greenhouse. a guy who came to help me get rid of some rats that had gotten into my cellar said that rats didn't like noise. My rats was a little too housetrained to be bothered, but if yours are a little more shy that might leave until you have cleaned out their nest or whatever and have traps and poison in place.