we discovered rat holes under our day lily's. we were digging up our day lilys and discovered rats, we had intended to plant a vegetable garden here. We have been putting bait blocks in the holes. Can we still plant vegetables here or is this soil now contaminated and no suitable for vegetables and herbs ?????
Rats in wikldlife garden
It sorta depends what kind of bait blocks. Check the label to know what chemical it is you're putting out. There should be info about toxicity, and a phone number for questions. (Just guessing, but it might well turn out that above ground veggies are fine, but maybe this wouldn't be a good location for root crops.)
If it's those anticoagulants, they're not species specific, so you may well be killing the native wildlife, as well as the invasive rats.
Thanks for replying I did write to a company about their product no reply as yet. A exterminator told me that these bait blocks have a very bitter taste and that rats don't have taste buds . he said the other wildlife wouldn't eat them. after we put them in the holes we use a stick to push them far into the ground. I havn't really found the answer yet ??? The problem is if a rat dies then a hawk might come along and eat it. but so far we have only seen two rats and put them in plastic bags sealed and then inot trash cans.
In the future you may want to consider traps of which there is a wide variety . eliminates the concerns of poisons . I have found them effective , there are both lethal and non lethal . Here are some examples ;
http://www.safeguardproducts.com/mice_rodent_traps.php
If you are looking for a humane trap for these pesky little critters you want to look into the rat traps Havahart have to offer at http://www.havahart.com/store/live-animal-traps/rat