Our lemon tree has been completely devastated. The leaves have been eaten. The lemons are gone. The bark has been peeled off. And the branches have been broken off. I could not figure out what was doing it. At first when it was just the leaves, I thought it was slugs. But it kept getting worse.
I called my neighbor who is a gardner and he told me the horrible truth. We have rats! We are the fourth neighbor to ask him about this problem. One neighbor had his vegetable garden eaten up. Another had his lemon tree chewed up. My theory is two fold: 1) our neighbor with two outdoor cats moved away so they are not controlling the rat problem anymore and 2) there was this run down yard 1-1/2 blocks away that was overgrown that recently was cleaned up. All the animals that lived there had to move somewhere! Maybe my backyard.
I asked how to rid myself of these horrid creatures. This is where all the fun comes in. Rat traps! I went to the hardware store and bought five of them and got instructions on how to set them. Who knew wearing rubber gloves is mandatory because rats can smell you on the trap? It took forever to set the first one. I kept thinking it was going to shut on my hand.
The traps are set and under pails waiting for the cover of darkness when I will uncover the traps and hopefully catch me some rats!
I will give you the rat update!
Until tomorrow...
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