Rodents and Polyethylene pipe

[funfullson]

Hi everybody.
My question is not exactly from plumbing but it is not irrelevant.
I have problem with Rodents in my farm.
I used Drip irrigation in my farm. It's pipes are made from Polyethylene and Rodents chewing them.
Some body said that change the pipe to PVC pipes to evoide them from chewing but the problem is that my farm is about 300 hectares and I can not do this.
Some body else prefered to me that use from Robitex poison.
I don't know what realy I have to do now.
please help me or introduce me a source to solving my problem.

Thanks.

 

[hj]

You either get rid of the rats or the tubing, because they cannot co-exist.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Ballvalve]

Try to be human before that be a nationalist.
The since was born before the borders get shape.
Every body born and will die so just try to leave a good name after!
I learned to find my answers by help of other humans.

Thanks alot.

Imperfectly written but well said. 99% of the people in Iran just want to live a peaceful life. It's the 1% that has always destroyed the earths peace.

Really now funny guys, you cannot shoot rodents on 300 hectares, which is much more than 300 acres. worse than that, since his country monitors the internet closely, they will likely end his connection here.

I have the same problem with my drip lines, and there is very difficult solution. gophers, mice, rats, squirrels, use the tube for a water supply. Some people put up "perches" on tall poles for hawks and falcons to sit on [ do not know if you have any hawks in Iran]

Best solution is poison put into pipes for the rats and animals of small size. another solution is some bowls of water under a dripper to give them a drinking place, and then maybe they loose interest to open up pipe.


http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=rodent+bait+station&qpvt=rodent+bait+station&FORM=IGRE#x0y1246

I am looking at a BIG hawk sitting on top of tall pine tree just now, and diving every now and then for food in the vineyard. If you are growing grapes, you can move the pipe UP above the ground, hang it to the stakes or posts, this will stop most chewing.

 

[LLigetfa]

First off, rodent is a generic term for many species. Identify the species and introduce natural predators to control them. For example, Black-footed Ferrets were almost wiped out when man decided to use poison to control rodents but they are being reintroduced to control them now.

Changing out the pipe is probably not the best solution. The rodents are almost certainly chewing on the crop and not just chewing on the pipes.

As for unnatural rodent control, there are a few options. There is a guy that converted an old septic tank vacuum pumper to suck the rodents right out of their holes. The guy called his business Dog Gone something or other.

Then there's the Rodenator. That has to be more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
[video=youtube;2umEFHeo6mw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2umEFHeo6mw[/video]

 

[Ballvalve]

Somehow I dont think the ayatollah will let you tube into the country.

Try to find a poison that does not have secondary poisoning problems with predators.

the gas is a very temporary solution.

Gophers dont eat drip lines anyway, they burrow under a dripper and have a nice faucet to drink from.

 

[LLigetfa]

the gas is a very temporary solution...

The pleasure may be short lived but so too would the rodent. Around here, death is considered permanent by most, not temporary.

 

[Ballvalve]

I rototill my garden of 35 years with a John deere 710e backhoe. This is the biggest backhoe on rubber tires. I have pulled up entire families of very shocked gophers from as much as 4 feet deep.

Finally, I discovered 2 solutions: a .22 caliber handgun loaded with birdshot, and a 4x4 piece of plywood laid down in a shady spot with some corn under it. Lift it every 5 days and have a festival of shooting. The chickens gobble them up. Use steel shot.

Other is just a good warfarin type bait under the board or a old feed bag.

My neighbor hired the gopher blaster with a big truck of propane. All came back in 2 months.

 

[Gary Swart]

I don't know if you could get access to a tool that is used with some success in orchards in my area for field mouse and gopher control. It is a hollow steel bar that is pulled behind a tractor and drops poisoned grain into the ground. Sooner or later, the bar crosses the gopher run and leave a tasty meal.

 

[Ballvalve]

Yes, they sell a pullable torpedo that makes a gopher run and drops bait into it. But the soil must have the right texture and moisture to keep the new 'run' open. After vineyards and trees are established, the gophers do not much matter anymore.

Best are hawks and owls, which I see lately as common as sparrows. Quite a few eagles also. I guess the hunters have stopped using them for target practice as in the old days.

Best for me is a 3/4" steel sharp bar with a tee handle, probe for the run, and then drop in some bait. But if one puts out a rodent wax-grain type bait in the WINTER, pretty much all are gone by spring. California winters, that is - which in most liveable areas mean generally non-frozen ground, even when you get a lot of snow.