How do I get rid of mice and rats in my garden?
The trick is to catch infestations early and to be consistent in trapping and killing rodents before they bear more offspring. Mechanical traps are the safest and most effective control method against rats and mice.
After setting traps, check them regularly for dead rodents. You can safely bury non-poisoned carcasses in a shallow hole, well away from the home and garden. Always reset the traps immediately after rodent disposal for as long as the rodent problem persists.
When traps fail to reduce a growing population of rodents after a couple of weeks, a combination of traps and poison is your next line of defense. Poison bait should never be used around pets, children, livestock, or vegetable gardens.
Place bait in areas where pests are most active so long as it’s inaccessible to other animals and pets, outside the raised beds, far away from irrigated areas, and anywhere that food is grown.
Poisoned rodents have a nasty habit of dying in hard-to-reach places; so place bait close to areas that allow you to easily access to poisoned carcasses. While wearing gloves, place any poisoned carcasses inside a sealed, plastic bag, and then place the bag in an outside trash can – never in the compost bin.