Rat “Midden”
One of the draw backs of having a lush garden is that it often becomes a breeding ground for snails, as if this is not a big enough problem in itself but then the snails become a focus of Rats that love an Escargot feed.
In the image above it can be clearly seen that there is a pile of snail shells. This was found under a house in Bargo near Tahmoor. The wiley rats have gathered the snails one at a time and come underneath to devour them.
Often over the years I have come across a pile of shells like these sometimes under a house but often in a roof void occasionally in a little disturbed garden shed or garage. When there is a Macadamia Nut tree around it is common to see similar with the Macadamia nuts gathered and a small hole “nibbled” by the rat to enable extraction of the delicacy.
Using the old fashioned hand pluck method of gathering snails is a good way to reduce snail numbers or snail bait can also be used, lowering the amount of food reduces the risk that rats will bother to visit your garden at all. Picking up any fallen and ripe fruit on trees and picking macadamias as soon as they are ripe will help as well.
I have often seen a pile of these discarded snail shells and thought maybe I should leave some garlic here just to be helpful, if I could leave a helpful link I would as well 😀.
For more information on Rats and Mice see our Rodent section or give us a call.
If you can’t deal with a rodent problem around your home or business just give us a call and we will sort it for you. 1800 111 616 or email