Almost everyone who has a personal plot or summer cottage knows firsthand about the problems with rodents. If they settle in a vegetable garden or garden, they can damage various roots and fruits, and they can also get to those places where crops are stored in winter. And they also gnaw the bark of trees, as well as the roots of various cultures. If they get into the house, they will carry your food too. Hares and moles are quite rare guests of a summer cottage or a personal plot, rats and mice settle on it much more often, which will be discussed below.
Content
What rodents are considered pests
House mice
House mice can be found in any corner of the planet Earth; they do not live only in the Far North, in the highlands and in Antarctica. Such mice were called brownies far from due to the fact that they live exclusively in people's homes. Such pests prefer to live in different places at different times of the year. When the weather is warm, they prefer to live and earn their food in nature. And when it gets cold outside and the mice cannot find enough food for themselves, they try to move to the vegetable garden or garden, cellar, pantry, and also to the house.
House mice are very fertile. Within 12 months, one individual can give 5-14 generations, while in one litter there can be 3-12 mice.
Voles (field mice)
In fact, field mice are considered relatives of muskrats and lemmings and are members of the Hamster family. They are not related to house mice. The genus of voles unites 143 species, but common voles annoy people most of all. Their habitat is very wide. As a rule, voles reproduce only when the weather is warm, but not as intensely as house mice. On average, the lifespan of such a rodent is 4.5 months, but in such a short time they can cause significant harm, since they have an excellent appetite and a tendency to store food for future use. Field mice feed on bulbs and seeds of flower and vegetable crops, succulent roots and tubers, and in winter they gnaw bark from trees and shrubs.
Shrews
Outwardly, the shrews look like mice, but the shape of their muzzle is elongated and there is a proboscis on it. The Shrew family includes about 350 species, but no more than 25 of them can be found in mid-latitudes.Such pests feed on insects, as well as their larvae, which is very useful for a summer cottage and a personal plot. But shrews are mainly engaged in digging the soil, during which they injure the root system of various crops. As a result, the bushes are suspended in the air and cannot receive nutrients. After a while, the plants die.
Such pests are distinguished by rather moderate reproduction. Only when the shrews cannot find insects, they eat various plants.
Rats
Rats are fearless and intelligent animals that can live both in the house and in the garden, and it is very difficult to spot them. Only when they multiply strongly can they reveal themselves. Such animals differ in that they gnaw something all the time, and therefore they can very much harm a person.
Ground rats prefer to live in burrows, which are made along the edges of paths, under tree roots, and also near sewer manholes. Gray rats most often live in dark places that are rarely visited by humans and are located higher, for example: in the attic under the floorboards, in the attic or in the roof.
Rats and mice carry a variety of diseases and, by damaging beneficial horticultural crops, can also infect stored supplies. If you do not start fighting with them in time, then after a short time they will breed very much and will walk around the house or garden without fear of anyone. It is because of this that, when the first signs of the appearance of rodents on the site or at home are detected, all the necessary measures must be taken to combat them.
Rodent control methods
In the fight against rodents, 4 methods are used: chemical, biological, mechanical and with the help of a repeller. Sometimes, in order to increase efficiency, these methods are recommended to be combined or combined.
Mechanical method
If there are not very many such pests on the site or in the home, then traps and traps will be quite effective in the fight against them. It should be remembered that you can get rid of all rodents only if traps are used correctly. And for this, you need to place them in those places where pests are most frequent, systematically replace the bait, remove dead mice and rats from the trap, and dispose of them.
Store-bought traps are suitable for catching both rats and mice. If you wish, you can make them yourself. There are traps that kill pests, and there are also more humane traps, if a rodent gets into them, it will be alive, but will not be able to escape. In this case, a person, if desired, can release it in a place located far from the house or summer cottage.
A simple beer bottle can make a good trap. To do this, put a bait inside (toasted white bread or sausage), and coat the neck of the bottle with peanut butter. On the detected mouse path, place it at an angle.
You can also use glue traps to catch mice. They are installed within a radius of 10–25 m from the supposed habitat of rodents. It is recommended to place them along the walls, where mice most often run. After the rodent's legs are on the sticky surface, it will no longer be able to escape. Also, such a trap is effective for young rat pups, but if an adult animal is caught, it can leave.
Today in the store you can buy an electronic mousetrap belonging to the latest generation of traps. A rodent caught in it instantly dies from a current discharge. Such mousetraps can work for a very long time without recharging; therefore, they are recommended to be used in large storage facilities and warehouses.
Chemical method (use of poisons)
If there are a lot of rodents on your site or in your home, then the traps will be ineffective, and you will have to look for more effective ways.In just a few days, they can be exterminated with granules or grains that are poisoned with arsenic, coumarin or warfarin. The poison is placed in the house in several places near the passages of rodents. If they live in a garden plot, then a piece of hose is taken, poison is poured into it and it is placed under a tree.
The toxic substances listed above do not allow blood to clot, and mice with rats die from internal blood loss. But it should be borne in mind that rodents in a fairly short time can adapt to the active substances of the poison, in this regard, they must be regularly changed. In addition, there is a high risk that a pet or a small child may be harmed by the poison.
Biological way
Probably everyone knows that cats are the main enemies of rodents. They can lie in ambush for a long time to catch a mouse or rat. Most often, if there is a cat in the dwelling, then the pests leave it. In this regard, in villages in almost every yard there is a cat or a cat. But if rodents occupied the dacha, then the cat is unlikely to help here. As a rule, it is brought only in the spring and summer, and when the dacha chores are over, the owners take the pet home. Therefore, in winter, rats and mice feel at home in the country. And today, more and more often there are cats that do not know how to catch mice, let alone rats. In this regard, this method of pest control is very often ineffective.
Rodent repellents
Ultrasonic devices that scare away rodents have appeared relatively recently. Such a device is connected to a regular electrical outlet, and it does not need to be monitored. In order to get rid of rats in just 15–20 days, you must first carefully study the instructions, and then correctly calculate how many such ultrasonic devices you need to purchase. In the event that, after three weeks, the rodents are still in the house or on the site, you will need to double-check your calculations. Most often, the problem is solved after several more scarers are purchased and connected. But it also happens that you have to buy ultrasonic devices with more power.
