Orchids and Rats!! April 1st is the day in the temperate Southern hemisphere to start baiting.
As a simple observation we have noticed that on April 1 in Southern Australia, almost to the day every year rats and mice start doing damage to our orchids.
Today 07.03.2024 they have started appearing already ,so I felt best to republish this blog for the third year in a row.
Its most likely the first cold nights and far shorter days are telling them its time to fatten up before winter.
The damage rats in particular can cause is astounding, we had one rat eat 45 Laelia anceps spikes HANGING on barb wire strands in one night.
Mice just nibble new growth and buds and the damage is harder to notice.
Rats also love Cymbidium bulbs and will hollow them out completely.. The shredded leaves and bulbs are then used to create ball like "Rats Nests" in which they sleep over the colder months. One issue with these nests is that the rats take commonly used Wax Rat Block baits back to these nests and eat them over a period of time
At around $4 per block retail this is an expensive venture. You then have to smell out the dead rat and have to retrieve many half eaten block from the deads rat nest.
Trapping is a better way as the rat can be removed and taken away avoiding THAT SMELL!
As I mentioned ,we have tried everything over the last 15 years.Traps,baits,shooting, horrible sticky traps, even traps taped to the rafters.
The wax baits that are commonly sold are near useless as they are always stolen and taken away. If you are using those, tape or nail them down.
Spring loaded traps are fine,but have a habit of biting the user sooner or later.
We actually found wheat based baits the best
We place these in small jars around the orchid areas and slightly downward facing to stop water entering. The jars empty out and we know things are away.
Hopefully we find the dead rats before they become stinky.
We also use large possum traps as larger rats can't escape those. Bread seems a good bait.
When rats have eaten wax block baits their droppings are waxy and coloured like the baits they have been eating. See Photo below left.
