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This morning while my friend, Tina, and I were walking our dogs, she said that recently there had been a problem with rodents being poisoned around the golf course. She said one of her neighbor’s dogs ate a poisoned gopher and got sick from it. Also, the poison can kill any animal that eats it such as opossum, which have their place, and small dogs and cats.

My husband is a gardener so I do understand the frustration of waking up in the morning to find all your squash eaten by rodents, but there are alternatives to poisoning.

• Live traps. This is the most humane, of course. You set a live trap, catch the critter and take it somewhere far away. This isn’t always practical, especially if you live in a large urban area like San Diego. You may just be sending them off to destroy someone else’s garden which is probably bad karma.
• Chemfree Blackhole Rodent Trap. I’ve never used this, but I found it on the internet and it says its unique features make is safe for both humans and pets
• Snap traps. These are baited traps which kill the rodents. These are the little wooden traps often used to catch house mice. There is also a quick-kill trap which has a power bar for a quick, more humane kill.
• If you have a problem with rodents in your home, there’s actually a sonic pest chaser that has a high-frequency sound to repel rodents. Of course, you need electricity to use this so it might not work if the problem is in your yard or garden.
• For wild animals, there are live traps specifically designed for all kinds of wild animals which might be pests
• Chemfree Critter Ridder. This spray is made with organic ingredients. When wild animals sniff it, it causes a mild irritant, which is supposed to help keep them out of your yard or garden.

Too often we turn to solutions to rodent problems which are poisonous, bad for the environment and bad for our pets. These days, there are lots of options for rodent control. The site where I found some of the information on the above suggestions is: Victor Pest.

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