[Luluveg]

I took over a plot in a very rural location, I also live in a rural location so know about rats, or thought I did.
The plot has been growing well and for a first attempt I’ve been very pleased. I had some beautiful sweetcorn coming along which we were very much looking forward to, I went away for a weekend and came back to it having been totally stripped. I checked all boundaries thinking it could have been badgers (we had been warned) but the boundaries were sound. We then started getting long humps, a bit like speed bumps all over the paths under weed membrane and woodchip which collapsed when you walked on them. I then noticed activity around my compost. So I lined my second bay with wire mesh and turned the first bay over to the 2nd bay. Today (2 days later) I uncovered the compost to add more and had a couple of rats jump out. So I turned it again and you can see all the runs under the mesh. It’s awful and to make matters worse I’m terrified of mice and rats!!
I can’t put poison down, any suggestions that will seriously work please.
Thanks

[mumofstig]

If you can't/won't use poison then the only other other option is traps, but then you have to deal with what they catch....

[cc]

I found traps like these very successful. Baited with peanut butter. Screw to a piece of wood. Long piece (12" at least) so you can carry it to the bin press the back down. Rat will fall into bin, without you touching it.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314249472768?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=D-bmt1THRYG&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=30eQo4ReT7S&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[geordiekev]

Unfortunately rats are a fact of life on allotments. They have eaten frogs from my pond ( caught them on a wild life camera fishing for them) they have devastated sweet corn, I no longer grow it because of this reason, in fact once again caught them on my wild life camera testing which corns are ripe then cutting them of. I have tried traps and poison both work. The mounds you were referring to could be moles, I have whole highways of them particularly under wood chip paths.