Bird netting may be somewhat of a deterrent. It is possible they could chew through the netting but it may prove to be too troublesome for them to do it. That is what saved my pumpkins from squirrels one year.

How do you think they prevent that when producing melons on a large scale, on a farm for instance? I didn't have that problem last year, so I was a bit surprised....

Snap-traps. I know, you probably don't want to kill things. But, if they do that to your watermelons, imagine what else they're doing that to--your house? Your car? Your neighbor's house? Rats spread disease and do terrible damage in residential areas. Do yourself and your neighbors a favor and trap them. Worst case, call the city or county and they'll help you. Code enforcement in your area probably really wants you to not be feeding or harboring the rats.

I have good luck with using peanut butter & durian candy as bait. One of my neighbors has an infestation and they come down the fence line at night and eat my oranges. I'm not operating a rat feeder and don't want to find them in my car engine or in my attic, so I trap away.

I agree, that if anyone is growing anything on a large scale with the hope of making a living, they are absolutely trapping them. I feel kinda bad about trapping gophers but do it anyway. I am almost at the point that I would consider hunting deer, too. The hawks take care of rats around here and if they did not, then we would absolutely trap them, but in the meantime, I would try bird netting while I reduced the population. Marianne is right about them in cars, that can get very expensive.

maybe figure out why you have rats in the first place? to me its not what i would consider normal to have rats roaming around houses. inside or out.. they typically are only found in areas where people live next to dumpsters and where there is a lot of trash.

IIRC in California there were rats even without open trash. They do well in warmer climates, eating what nature offers (manzanita fruits, pyracantha berries, wild oats, etc.). In Michigan I have had rare sightings of wild rats, living in mixed wood/prairie habitats, much less than one per year, plus of course the plentiful river rats in creeks. It is not always us.

Google "roof rats in Arizona." The image of rats only living around trash is from cartoons. In the Southwest, they live in the urban areas and eat fruit off the trees, steal dog food and ruin stuff. I know first hand of cases where houses burned to the ground from rats chewing on the wires in the attic. People, trap your rats.

I am in west texas, I think it is warm enough for them to thrive. I guess the nearby construction is kind of forcing them my way or something. I have growing melons and a variety of vegetable for going on 5 years now and this is the first time I have seen this. We have trapped 6 so far, and shot one with a pellet gun, and the dogs are starting to help as well, they have caught and killed 3. Its kind of crazy they just showed up all at once. I have a compost heap, but it is contained in a couple barrels, and I turn it weekly. I have a mulch pile as well that is in the open. there are nooks and crannies in the yard and garden I will never get rid of. I guess I will just keep trapping until they beat it....

Here are two of the hunters, our terrier used to just chase them, but now she has started killing them, so maybe they will get the hint that the area is inhospitable...

Joe,

Between the two big game hunters your rodents don't stand a chance. We use to have a Rat Terrier & a Jack Russell, no rodent problems. Fast forward a few years, those pups have passed away and we have problem with tree rats. My 85 lbs hound mix has great nose but not much of a ratter. Seems the rodents really like my pole beans, every time the seedlings sprout full leaves they get eaten. I started putting out rat bait stations. Tried the snap traps inside the shed one year & got a squirrel. That bummed me. The squirrels are great exercise for the pups plus they tend to stay out of the garden & in the bird feeders.

Keep up the hunt!

Craig

Tonight we got two more. I can't believe how many are back there. Our Jack Russell and cattle dog are both working together now, but when they go after a rat they destroy anything in their path, including my plants. They are definitely coming from the field behind our house, so I'm just going to keep setting traps in the evening and releasing the hounds. I have 4 or 5 immature melons that will be a good measure of whether or not we are controlling the problem, if they don't get eaten we are doing a good job I guess. I've thought about getting a full time outdoor cat, but the dogs might not know what to do about it...

Joe,

I know what you mean by the terrier destroying things. They have a laser like focus once they start tracking a critter.

Not to sound like a alarmist, check with your vet if "lepto," leptospirosis is a problem in your area. Check this link out Lepto

The dogs can get it by sniffing or ingesting rat urine. After my sister lost her dog to it we had our dogs vaccinated for it.

Dog disease from rats

A few years back I saw on National Geographic's where people are taking their dogs on organized rat hunts in big cities. They make a event of it and it is all done at night when the rats are active. Kind of like a tiny dog coon hunt.

Craig

My neighbors have cats. While I shoo them out of the actual garden (mostly because I don't want them using the mulch as a litter box,) I don't discourage them from roaming the rest of my yard. The rodent population is kept well in check.