Writen by 33 year water gardener Nathan Unclebach.
After building ponds for over 25 years HCWG has seen plenty of damage to water features from these tiny chewing machines. For some reason, they enjoy finding a way under our pond liners and chewing through the EPDM rubber liner causing water leaks often un-patchable.
If the pond liner is not patchable, the pond liner has to be replaced. And to be clear, EPDM is basically (almost) always repairable however the cost to have someone repair the liner, and the small chance the repairs will not take, can outweigh the cost of a complete rebuild.
Our friend Alex stopped by the shop last month to show us something none of us had EVER seen before!!! A rat had chewed through his client's rigid poly biofilter! Unbelievable!
So what can we do about this?
Trigger warning: option #1 below is the only humane option. Stop reading past #1 if you are bothered by more inhumane options.
There are products, wire mesh that can be laid under the liner, and concrete can be poured under the liner as well. These CAN fail! The rodents can work their way between the deterrent and the EPDM and it's game over.
We can arrange our rocks and mortar to help prevent them from finding a good nesting spot and eating your investment. In most cases, we've been lucky enough this has worked but I suspect there are other forces at work here.
Most water garden owners have rats or they do not for various reasons. If you are in the former group the issue MUST be addressed sooner than later. Poison is not an option here. Rats poisoned are known to chew harder when exposed to strychnine products! And more importantly, the poison will work its way up the food chain killing other mammals and birds! To me, rat poison is unacceptable. We have several options to go to:
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Live traps. If you are a big softy we can rehome these guys within the city limits. Take them somewhere they can enjoy. I owned rats. I understand.
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Unaliving Traps. The good'ol cheap wood traps we know and love work... sometimes. Patience and ingenuity can be key here.
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Electronic Traps! These traps can be found on Amazon (I have yet to find a local source - let me know if you have one) for a very pretty penny. We hear good results are virtually guaranteed as long as the trap is "cleared" regularly. The trap doesn't work while occupied. Highly recommended.
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Guns or arrows. Depending on where you live, you will decide which option is permissible. A friend's mom on the coast likes her .45 to prevent water moccasins from taking up residence (thankfully we generally do not have this issue in Central Texas) in her water garden! A .45 is a little overkill for rats! A good .177 pellet gun is all that's needed. Be sure to use your best judgment and take care not to aim near the pond for obvious reasons! Somewhat recommended if shooting or archery is a pastime. But do know, I accidentally shot an arrow through the neighbor's living room window when I was 12(?). They were watching TV. Luckily the arrow and flying glass missed everyone! Don't be like 12-year-old me!
TLDR
In conclusion, rats can be nice pets but letting them camp in your landscape can be very costly for pond and waterfall owners. A plan of action to evict them must be formed and implemented. Often, a combination of exclusion and trapping is most successful. Poison (rat bait) IS NOT the answer!
I hope this helps.
Nathan
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