bertsmobile1
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You will need more rats than there are on Capitol Hill for that and rats don't pee all that much .
OTOH we got about 200,000,000,000 excess mice right now if you want some .
Clean your cooling fins yearly
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OTOH we got about 200,000,000,000 excess mice right now if you want some .
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Darn, i wanted 300,000,000,000.....
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Scrub be careful what you ask for as Bert can ship them and by the time they get here there cam be 8x as many.. I took out a field rat several yrs ago that had 8 little ones inside her. MY chickens ate them like pop corn.
bertsmobile1
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Got a riding buddy at Dubbo who uses a modified drain cleaning vacuum to clear them out of his winter feed silos
I think he said it is 5,000 gallons and he fills it between 2 & 5 times a night .
All of the feed that was not eaten is contaminated beyond use .
And yes, 2 to 6 pups event 14 days that are ready to reproduce in 21 .
City folks just don't understand how fast the numbers can multiply.
They have already eaten almost the entire winter crops and will probably eat the entire coming summer one as well before they get on top of them.
I think he said it is 5,000 gallons and he fills it between 2 & 5 times a night .
All of the feed that was not eaten is contaminated beyond use .
And yes, 2 to 6 pups event 14 days that are ready to reproduce in 21 .
City folks just don't understand how fast the numbers can multiply.
They have already eaten almost the entire winter crops and will probably eat the entire coming summer one as well before they get on top of them.
Agree you guys have rodent issues. My thought was this is a KNOWN issue. Why isn't the food source stored in a more protected manner? Rat terriers, water moat filled with snakes, ferrets and so on can help. Those little minks are cool.
slomo
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bertsmobile1
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Mice can swim
A big carpet snake, say 12' will eat 4 mice once a week.
IT was forseeable
West of the hill has been in drought for 4 to 11 years depending upon the actual place.
Thus nearly all of the natural preditors were in short supply.
Then we had the bushfires which killed around 1/3 of all of the birds so no birds that feed on mice
Then there was flood so lush vegitation & the first species to recover are the imported mice , the native species breed a lot slower .
Usually with a flood / drought cycle it would take 2 to3 seasons for mouse numbers to stabilize
However the fires cooked a massive number of snakes , dingoes and other small carnivores as well as burning down the nesting sites for owls, hawkes, eagles & other birds that eat mice.
Then there is the problem of what to do with the dead mice.
Mark ends up with a pile around 10' wide 8' high & 20 ' long most nights
These have to be burned or they become breeding places for blow flies.
Excessive blow flies lay eggs in the dags hanging off the sheeps bums and the maggots then crawl into the sheep and eat it alive from the inside out.
Not a pretty sight and can knock your breeding flock down to nothing in no time flat.
They do the same to the vulvas of ewes after they give birth so you loose the mother and of cause the lambs then starve because mum is dead
A big carpet snake, say 12' will eat 4 mice once a week.
IT was forseeable
West of the hill has been in drought for 4 to 11 years depending upon the actual place.
Thus nearly all of the natural preditors were in short supply.
Then we had the bushfires which killed around 1/3 of all of the birds so no birds that feed on mice
Then there was flood so lush vegitation & the first species to recover are the imported mice , the native species breed a lot slower .
Usually with a flood / drought cycle it would take 2 to3 seasons for mouse numbers to stabilize
However the fires cooked a massive number of snakes , dingoes and other small carnivores as well as burning down the nesting sites for owls, hawkes, eagles & other birds that eat mice.
Then there is the problem of what to do with the dead mice.
Mark ends up with a pile around 10' wide 8' high & 20 ' long most nights
These have to be burned or they become breeding places for blow flies.
Excessive blow flies lay eggs in the dags hanging off the sheeps bums and the maggots then crawl into the sheep and eat it alive from the inside out.
Not a pretty sight and can knock your breeding flock down to nothing in no time flat.
They do the same to the vulvas of ewes after they give birth so you loose the mother and of cause the lambs then starve because mum is dead
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Yes it is people don't understand how nature can be so imbalance by things. This climate change is really screwing things up.
There are folks that don't understand why I had to kill one my pet roosters after something attack my chickens by getting into my coop. But I didn't find him until the next morning where half of his skin was gnawed off. Being hot weather here flies had already flyblown him. I was surprised he was even still alive. It hurt me to do it but it was necessary to prevent him from suffering. I have been through this enough times to know what will happen even with meds available. What it was that attack him is still to be determined but I did wrapped most the building with 1/4" hardware cloth.
Currently a neighbor has loaned me his field camera to find out what it is. So far only one possum has triggered it but I did also trapped a raccoon. It will take a few days for things get back to coming around as my present goes away. Whatever it is did major damage to the building to get in.
For some reason the sun seems to be extra hot this year too. Temperatures are not that bad yet. I think it is just the UV that is giving me such problems.
And invasive species are a problem everywhere. Here even some plants are invasive like our Bradford pear trees and the Japanese Privet brushes. They are everywhere in places you don't even want them to be.
There are folks that don't understand why I had to kill one my pet roosters after something attack my chickens by getting into my coop. But I didn't find him until the next morning where half of his skin was gnawed off. Being hot weather here flies had already flyblown him. I was surprised he was even still alive. It hurt me to do it but it was necessary to prevent him from suffering. I have been through this enough times to know what will happen even with meds available. What it was that attack him is still to be determined but I did wrapped most the building with 1/4" hardware cloth.
Currently a neighbor has loaned me his field camera to find out what it is. So far only one possum has triggered it but I did also trapped a raccoon. It will take a few days for things get back to coming around as my present goes away. Whatever it is did major damage to the building to get in.
For some reason the sun seems to be extra hot this year too. Temperatures are not that bad yet. I think it is just the UV that is giving me such problems.
And invasive species are a problem everywhere. Here even some plants are invasive like our Bradford pear trees and the Japanese Privet brushes. They are everywhere in places you don't even want them to be.
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I bet that racoon was your culprit...ive got rid of most of them from the property, but i leave the possums as they eat deer ticks and the Lonestar tick... My dad got bit by one years ago, he couldn't eat red meat for months.
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Yelp I think it is a raccoon too as one showed 2:30 this morning per camera images but I don't it the same one. Plus he is a lot fatter. He hung around for about 15 minutes checking things out. Time to set him up tonight. But possums are a chicken eater too. I have killed several over the years for attacking my chickens. The coon is a new problem but resolvable now that I know I got one messing around. I reckon I can return the favor of him eating my chickens by eating him but I not that into meats lately.
Thanks to Covid my diet has changed a lot. Beside my teeth just won't work on beef enough more; unless, take extra steps to get it tender.
