Vineyard Rodent Control

[vtoddw]

I've used ultrasonic strobes to successfully keep raccoons out of my corn. Raccoons love corn. So anything that is an outdoor ultrasonic strobe on a timer should work. Raccoons feed at night. It feels like you have raccoons.

Actually trapped one last year, but they're pretty obvious:
1. they leave dog-sized poop behind
2. they will devour way more fruit than I've seen disappearing at night
3. I had a trail cam pointed at the vine last night from like 2 ft away and nothing tripped it, so it's likely it's just the mice as they are very small and don't set off the trail cam

That said, the situation is fluid and who knows what creates will decide to join the party in the nights to come, so it would be good to have a global solution.

I'm gonna try these out and we'll see how it goes:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0D7VFF8D3/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A65U3YUOD16AA&th=1

 

[Hazelemere]

Actually trapped one last year, but they're pretty obvious:
1. they leave dog-sized poop behind
2. they will devour way more fruit than I've seen disappearing at night
3. I had a trail cam pointed at the vine last night from like 2 ft away and nothing tripped it, so it's likely it's just the mice as they are very small and don't set off the trail cam

That said, the situation is fluid and who knows what creates will decide to join the party in the nights to come, so it would be good to have a global solution.

I believe that outdoor ultrasonic strobes will repel all of your predators. Good luck with your choice!

 

[vtoddw]

I believe that outdoor ultrasonic strobes will repel all of your predators. Good luck with your choice!

Thanks, fingers crossed this does the trick!

 

[hptasins]

For rats, have you looked into https://ecoclearproducts.com/collections/ratx ? It's basically corn gluten and salt, and kills them by disrupting their digestive system. I haven't used it personally, but heard good things.

I had raccoons eating all my grapes a couple years ago. Tried building a cage around all the vines (I only have 8), but the recoons kept getting in. I finally just picked what was left before the raccoons polished it all off.

 

[vtoddw]

For rats, have you looked into https://ecoclearproducts.com/collections/ratx ? It's basically corn gluten and salt, and kills them by disrupting their digestive system. I haven't used it personally, but heard good things.

I had raccoons eating all my grapes a couple years ago. Tried building a cage around all the vines (I only have 8), but the recoons kept getting in. I finally just picked what was left before the raccoons polished it all off.

Wow, that's pretty cool if it actually works, that'll be my next purchase assuming the strobe lights fail.

I have considered harvesting early, but 2 things would happen:
1. I'd have yet another year where I failed to take the grapes all the way to term due to some natural event (last year it was the Tropical Storm) in September
2. I also have a full row or Merlot and a row of Cab Sauv, so if I harvest the Zin now to cut my losses, the rodent swill just switch focus to those varietals which have been largely untouched up to this point. And I definitely do not want to harvest everything all at once.

 

[GSMChris]

I feel your pain… in my case it is Ground squirrels that are munching away. I’ve caught 8 thus far in the three squirrelinator traps that I put out there. Unfortunately, yesterday caught skunks in two of the traps so progress has been slowed.

Prior to buying this house, we were renting a house without a garage. I had rats that took up residency in my Mustang. $1000+ in repairs later, I was ready to go to war. Snap traps in the engine compartment baited with peanut butter were effective but better still was this zapper trap.

https://hiowltra.com/products/owltra-rodent-trap

It runs on D cell batteries and zaps both mice and rats. You gotta keep emptying it as it only holds one rat at a time. I probably caught 20 before the problem slowed down.

 

[Hazelemere]

I feel your pain… in my case it is Ground squirrels that are munching away. I’ve caught 8 thus far in the three squirrelinator traps that I put out there. Unfortunately, yesterday caught skunks in two of the traps so progress has been slowed.

Prior to buying this house, we were renting a house without a garage. I had rats that took up residency in my Mustang. $1000+ in repairs later, I was ready to go to war. Snap traps in the engine compartment baited with peanut butter were effective but better still was this zapper trap.

https://hiowltra.com/products/owltra-rodent-trap

It runs on D cell batteries and zaps both mice and rats. You gotta keep emptying it as it only holds one rat at a time. I probably caught 20 before the problem slowed down.

If you put peppermint oil under the car hood you can keep rats out. They hate the smell of it.

 

[Maheesh]

I've used ultrasonic strobes to successfully keep raccoons out of my corn. Raccoons love corn. So anything that is an outdoor ultrasonic strobe on a timer should work. Raccoons feed at night. It feels like you have raccoons.

 

[Maheesh]

bee netting…it’s heavier material, and nothing gets thru it.
Also much much easier to hang and secure

 

[Maheesh]

bee netting…it’s heavier material, and nothing gets thru it.
Also much much easier to hang and secure

Here's a pic

 

[ChuckD]

I use TWC so I went with the full bee netting.

 

[vtoddw]

I feel your pain… in my case it is Ground squirrels that are munching away. I’ve caught 8 thus far in the three squirrelinator traps that I put out there. Unfortunately, yesterday caught skunks in two of the traps so progress has been slowed.

Prior to buying this house, we were renting a house without a garage. I had rats that took up residency in my Mustang. $1000+ in repairs later, I was ready to go to war. Snap traps in the engine compartment baited with peanut butter were effective but better still was this zapper trap.

https://hiowltra.com/products/owltra-rodent-trap

It runs on D cell batteries and zaps both mice and rats. You gotta keep emptying it as it only holds one rat at a time. I probably caught 20 before the problem slowed down.

You gotta try this tube trap:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...ch_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=forumyield-20

As long as you can block off most of their holes with a rock and funnel them all through one spot you'll catch one or more per day until the whole colony decides your yard means death, at least for the rest of the season, then they'll be back next spring to do it all over again but you'll be ready.

Skunks are my worst nightmare, I've been lucky enough not to catch one yet but I'm dreading the inevitable day it happens (knock on wood)... at least if they are killed by the trap you won't get sprayed directly though, isn't the squirrelenator a live trap?

 

[winemaker81]

Skunks are my worst nightmare,

A guy I knew trapped animals for skins, and one time caught a skunk in a foot trap. He tried to release it, but the skunk didn't get the memo, and sprayed him across the thighs.

His jeans bleached (turned white) where the spray hit, then the material later "rotted", even though he washed the jeans within a couple of hours. I assume there's something caustic in the spray, so I suggest rinsing with water anything that the spray touches. It didn't burn his skin, but the stench was horrible.

 

[GSMChris]

You gotta try this tube trap:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...ch_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=forumyield-20

As long as you can block off most of their holes with a rock and funnel them all through one spot you'll catch one or more per day until the whole colony decides your yard means death, at least for the rest of the season, then they'll be back next spring to do it all over again but you'll be ready.

Skunks are my worst nightmare, I've been lucky enough not to catch one yet but I'm dreading the inevitable day it happens (knock on wood)... at least if they are killed by the trap you won't get sprayed directly though, isn't the squirrelenator a live trap?

I’ll have to think about how I can use this tube trap. I have five acres with three rail ranch style fencing on three sides. So the squirrels come in typically above ground along that fence line. Perhaps place in line with the grapes and bait.

Yes the squirrelinator is a live trap. For squirrels I can send them to the great beyond in a number of different ways - but all of them require close proximity to the trap. Skunks, on the other hand… so I rigged up my 16 foot swimming pool pole with a screw protruding from the top sideways. I maneuvered it under the top trap door clip and was able to get them to release. Pulled the trap door open and then got out of there as fast as possible. An hour later, when I checked skunk was gone…

 

[vtoddw]

A guy I knew trapped animals for skins, and one time caught a skunk in a foot trap. He tried to release it, but the skunk didn't get the memo, and sprayed him across the thighs.

His jeans bleached (turned white) where the spray hit, then the material later "rotted", even though he washed the jeans within a couple of hours. I assume there's something caustic in the spray, so I suggest rinsing with water anything that the spray touches. It didn't burn his skin, but the stench was horrible.

yeah its bad enough when you drive past a dead one on the road, I can only imagine...

 

[vtoddw]

I’ll have to think about how I can use this tube trap. I have five acres with three rail ranch style fencing on three sides. So the squirrels come in typically above ground along that fence line. Perhaps place in line with the grapes and bait.

Yes the squirrelinator is a live trap. For squirrels I can send them to the great beyond in a number of different ways - but all of them require close proximity to the trap. Skunks, on the other hand… so I rigged up my 16 foot swimming pool pole with a screw protruding from the top sideways. I maneuvered it under the top trap door clip and was able to get them to release. Pulled the trap door open and then got out of there as fast as possible. An hour later, when I checked skunk was gone…

Shoot, that may not be viable, I have an 8k sqft residential property with 6' vinyl fences on the sides and a 7' concrete wall across the back, so it was feasible for me to create a chokepoint in my yard, but that sounds just about impossible in your case. Seems like the trap will only work for you if you get the right bait.

 

[winemaker81]

yeah its bad enough when you drive past a dead one on the road, I can only imagine...

It's ugly.

When I was a teenager, the neighbor's dog had a pattern -- this week he'd find a skunk, next week he'd find a porcupine. Repeat all summer. Then he disappeared, never knew what happened to him.

I experienced skunk fresh and up close via that dog. I don't recommend it.

 

[vtoddw]

Alright so I tried these lights out and I really couldn't tell if they worked as there is so much damage on the grapes already that it's too hard to tell if there's any new damage day to day, but based purely on how they look when their on at night I think these things are useless so I sent them back. They barely illuminate any area at all, and apparently per the instructions I need to place 4 of them facing outward around each vine to keep rodents away, which is nuts as a 4 pack is $40, so if I want to protect all 30 of my vines I need to spend $1,200...not a chance.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...e_1?smid=A65U3YUOD16AA&th=1&tag=forumyield-20

On a side note, given that we've just had a crazy 7 day heatwave here (complete with daily brush fires of course) I was checking brix and the zin hit 25, so I just harvested and crushed today. Boy was this a painful and disturbing crush. In the past 4 seasons since I started making wine, I've never once washed my grapes before crush, as I've read somewhere that it messes with the terroir plus it can cause wild fermentation and will water down the must / affect the PH.

Well once I saw all the mouse shit left behind in the harvest bucket when I dumped the grapes to another bucket there was no way I was going to make wine with these grapes without washing and sanitizing them thoroughly. So I made a 3 gallon solution of tap water with 6 oz of K-Meta and spent 3 hours rigorously double-washing every single cluster of 53 lbs of zin, while also hand picking off any damaged / party bitten grapes. Then just before crushing and after letting the k-meta washed grapes sit for a half hour in separate clean buckets I then rinsed every single cluster in fresh water, shaking and dipping rigorously to knock loose any remaining rodent crap and rinse off the excess k-meta. The entire process, plus crushing by hand because I don't have a de-stemmer / crusher, took me 9 hours. After the final rinse, I didn't see any rodent droppings accumulating in the bottom of the rinse bucket, so although I know it's impossible that I got every last one, I at least got most of them rinsed off. I'm hoping that the 2 oz per gallon k-meta solution was sufficient to kill whatever they may have left behind, but honestly I'm not planning to even risk tasting this wine until it's gone through full AF and bulk aged for 9 months along with multiple rackings, so hopefully that will be enough to ensure I'm not drinking some disgusting rodent disease.

If there's one thing I've learned in the few years I've been making wine, it's that if I threw away the grapes / wine instead of finishing it every time things don't go my way in the vineyard or the wine making process, I'd never have made a single bottle, as there is ALWAYS something that goes wrong. Case in point, in 2022 I picked Petit Syrah from a couples' property in Temecula, the berries were large and bunched up in really tight clusters. When I got home and started crushing, there was live earwigs flowing up to the top of the bucket like crazy. I removed every earwig I saw immediately, then the next day after 24 hours of pectic enzyme working on the must I picked out a bunch of dead earwigs off the top, then pitched yeast. The following subsequent days I picked out 30 to 40 dead earwigs in a 6 gallon bucket over the course of primary, it was nasty and unnerving. But I didn't throw out the wine, and to be honest actually it's pretty darn good now, it doesn't have any off or "vegetal" flavors as described in some of the horror stories I read online, so I suppose I got enough of them out.

So anyway, going forward I'm going to attempt to continuously control the rodent population in my yard, first by trying the ratx stuff, hopefully this does the trick!

https://ecoclearproducts.com/collections/ratx

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

Wonder how much rodent stuff gets in commercial wines ?

 

[ChuckD]

Wonder how much rodent stuff gets in commercial wines ?

there’s likely an “allowable” amount. The safety of the end-product is what’s important. Quality is important too, but making people sick is bad for business.