Pest control in the vegetable garden first requires close and careful observation of the kind of damage that is happening to determine whether it is insect damage or rodent damage, so that the appropriate measures can be taken. An article by Love Apple Farms ably demonstrates this where initially it was thought that insects were responsible for damage to pea pods, and the developing peas inside, but closer examination revealed that the actual culprits were mice.
The damage to the pea pods was on the edge of the pod where it had been eaten away to gain access to the developing peas inside. First impressions suggested that slugs, pill bugs, or earwigs could be the culprits, and diatomaceous earth was sprinkled around the plants to prevent further damage, but had no effect.
Much closer observation of the damage revealed that tiny teeth marks had serrated the edges of the pea pods, which meant it was mice and not insects to blame. The answer to the problem, as outlined by Love Apple Farms, was to place snap traps around the plants, baited with a mixture of peanut butter and tomato seeds, which was hoped to prove irresistible to mice. Read the full article entitled, Mice in the Vegetable Garden: How to Deal with Pest Control, to discover exactly how they did it.
There are probably better ways to achieve the same result than through the use of snap traps. These traps can often only cause severe damage to a mouse, meaning you will have to finish it off when you discover it, or that it will die slowly and in agony if you don’t check the trap regularly.
This is our idea at Pest Control Products:
A better plan is to use either an electronic mouse trap or a humane mouse trap. The electronic trap will kill the mouse with certainty in a few seconds through a powerful electric shock, without blood, gore, or a suffering mouse. The humane trap will leave the mouse unharmed, and you will have to remove it at least two to three miles away before releasing it into the wild again.
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