Rats moved into the courtyard again. Relocated a large rat. Then saw at least three small rats visiting the bird feeder and several plants were eaten. Removed all food from the bird feeder. Sorry birds.

Baited the trap, but for some reason the little rats were able to snag the bait and not spring the trap. I suspect it was their size, or lack of.

Tried adding weight to the spring and bound the bait into the trap. The rats still managed to clear out the bait.

About the bait. I tried fresh fruit. I tried saltines smeared with peanut butter and sprinkled with seeds. Something interesting happened. One of the rats snagged the bait from the large trap. Apparently the rats really love cheese covered beef flavored Snausages.

Back to the trap–placed a block of wood in front of the trap.

The rat stood on the block of wood and removed the suspended bait.

I moved the block of wood closer to the weighted spring with the hope that the obstacle would force the rats to jump onto and stay on the spring while grabbing the bait.

Success

Rat 1 August 9 8:12 pm

Rat 2 August 9 8:40 pm

Rat 3 August 10 9:50 am

Rat 4 August 11 9:16 am

Just when I thought we were done with furry ones eating everything in the garden, I found one of my bromeliads shredded.

That night a raccoon ran across the roof and onto the wisteria covered deck. Pretty sure the raccoon was the culprit. Hope there is only one and that it is not living under the deck.

Today, after cleaning the courtyard patio, I moved several Datura and Milkweed seedlings to a protected area to prepare them for transplant to the garden.

I looked out to see this little one. It gave my Datura and Milkweed seedlings a long sniff and then disappeared.

It would be great if it doesn’t find my pots of kale, basil, beans, peas, carrots, and parsley that I am growing for my house bunnies.

If I am lucky the squirrel was passing through. More likely it will move in and invite its friends.