Rats in my yurt :0 (

[Sazzaroo]

Hi,
I have discovered rats are coming into the yurt!
I've heard them a few times and after some investigation today I've found some holes in the felt

insulation

and cotton cover.
I think they've got in by coming in between the skirt and outer layer. There are no holes on the outside canvas/pvc outer layer.
At the moment I'm not sure if they are coming in nightly or have decided to make their nest amongst the 3 layers of thick felt.
I'm feeling quite overwhelmed at how to deal with this and would really appreciate some advice.
I am not really up for using poison due to the cummulative impact on wildlife.
I have a cat but she prefers to purr on the bed rather then hunt.
I know they urinate to lead other rats into a space and have found bits of carpet that are saturated. I have cut these bits out and sprayed some mint water around the edges.
I'm wondering if putting metal sheeting in between the trellis and cotton cover would work? Or, would they just dig under it?
Please help I'm feeling out of my depth!
Thank
Sarah

[Bob Rowlands]

How about a younger cat that isn't accustomed to a life of ease?

You need to figure out exactly how the rats are getting in, and a course of action to stop the rats from entering your home. Raise the entire lower cover and felt up a couple feet and check things out. Once you've figured out what's going on and where they are getting in, formulate a plan.

Rats can't climb exposed sheet metal, so I think that is a good idea. Traditional caches in the north have exposed sheet metal collars wrapped around the supports to stop critters from climbing the poles. Sheet metal covered with cloth they would easily climb, so don't think of sandwiching the metal between the cover and the felt. They'd just climb up to where they could chew their way in. So overlay the outside of the yurt with the sheet metal up at least two feet. Secure the sheet metal to the deck with screws.

If the sheet metal band around the yurt doesn't look so red hot, paint it. Whatever it takes. Sheet metal is cheap and when the bottom rots out, just lower the entire assembly a few inches. You'll get it figured out. Sheet metal is the way to go. Anything else they can climb. Good luck.

[hierony]

Over the summer I had a mouse that was getting into my yurt, making a cache of dog food in a bundle of fabric (wool blanket material needing to be sewn into insulation). At the time, my

yurt platform

was wood pie slices sitting on 45 or so cinder blocks. I had a webbing strap holding the outer canvas to hold it against the platform (and reduce those darn drafts!), but one wood slice was jutting out so it wasn't a good seal. I think the mouse was actually climbing an extension cord or the water hose to get into the yurt though. My two cats, one of whom caught a baby rabbit or two, didn't seem to care--there was good small critter carnage under the platform when it was moved though...

Are you sure it's rats and not mice? I've successfully made & used a simple mouse trap--a ramp to a bucket of water with a string tied across it with a circle of paper in the middle. With a dab of peanut butter on the edge of the paper, mice will climb the ramp, clamber along the string and try to walk out on the paper to get the peanut butter but the paper isn't stable so they fall in the water and drown. Safe for cats/most other critters. A quick internet search for 'homemade mouse trap' (or rat trap) should get you some visuals.

I really like Bob's idea of hitching up the yurt skirt to look for their entry point--that will tell you a lot about what's going on.

[Bob Rowlands]

Snugging the cover to the deck with a ratchet strap is a great idea hierony. I'm gonna have to do that myself!

[froit]

move. Or kill.

[Wintergreen282]

My

yurt platform

is 2-4 feet off the ground. The first 3 winters I put huge bags of leaves and a tarp around the bottom. The mice loved it. This year I left it open and zero mice. When I first moved into the yurt, the former owner had wood stacked under the platform and a terrible ant problem. Again the answer was, if possible, cleaning out that area. Actually, that was the long term answer. While fretting about what to do, one day I bought a Bosc pear (and other fruit) and had it on the counter. Two days later I looked over to see a moving black mass -- the pear was *covered* with ants. In a panic I grabbed the basket, ran outside, and threw it into the woods. That pear must've had many of the colonies members as that solved my ant problem. Later I wished I had just placed it far away by a rotten stump, but perhaps my actions doomed the nest.

But back to your issue, I'll bet some combination of all these things will work without resorting to poisons. Good Luck! Keep us posted as we all learn from each other. -- Cindy

PS: If they really are rats and not mice or squirrels, I think that means you live near water - which is a nice thing! As with most things in life, everything has it's pluses and minuses.

[Jafo]

A good Jack Russell would eliminate your rat problem pretty quick.

[Bob Rowlands]

There you go. Good suggestion.

[Bob Rowlands]

Regarding use of poison, remember everything that dies gets eaten by something else.