# The rats must have been starving



## Candace (Aug 1, 2009)

This is a new one for me. I did lots of repotting today and stumbled across this. I don't know if it's recent or over the winter and I just found it. Plastic must taste yummy.


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## goldenrose (Aug 1, 2009)

OMG!!! Better the plastic yummy to them than the roots!


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## rdhed (Aug 1, 2009)

CREEPY....must need some hard ruffage in their diet.

--Allen--


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## rdlsreno (Aug 1, 2009)

Scary!!!

Ramon


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## Rick (Aug 1, 2009)

Maybe just sharpening their teeth, or cleaning the gumsoke:oke:

Nice looking roots though!


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## Greenpaph (Aug 2, 2009)

Well the plant was well aerated and roots look pretty good! LOL!


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## JeanLux (Aug 2, 2009)

yes, this allowed for a really cool picture  !!! Jean


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## SlipperKing (Aug 2, 2009)

So you call this semi-arid?


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## Roslyn (Aug 2, 2009)

It's interesting to see how well the roots are doing in the expanded clay pellets.


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## Kavanaru (Aug 2, 2009)

Funny is that they ate the pot but did not touch the roots... weird!


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## Candace (Aug 2, 2009)

All I know, is I have enough repotting to do without the help of sabotage!


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## biothanasis (Aug 2, 2009)

Interesting!!!!! Rat weirdos!!! LOL At least the roots are safe...


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## Hien (Aug 2, 2009)

rats have very keen sense of smell . They had been used in detection of explosive devices, cancer , tuberculosis etc.. perhaps they are looking for the hormone chemical in the plastic?


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## SlipperFan (Aug 2, 2009)

Are you sure it was rats and not mice?


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## Candace (Aug 2, 2009)

> Are you sure it was rats and not mice?


I'm lucky enough to get both, so a DNA swabbing would be necessary for complete accuracy.


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## NYEric (Aug 3, 2009)

Man, the water is really harsh where Candace lives!


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## cnycharles (Aug 3, 2009)

I don't know about the west coast, but east here the red squirrels love to chew on anything plastic just because it has good 'tooth'; lots of maple sap lines have been chewed in half just because they were there. I've even seen golf balls in the woods get chewed down to the core


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## rdhed (Aug 3, 2009)

:rollhappy::rollhappy:Squirrels = Flying Rats:rollhappy::rollhappy:

--Allen--


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## Candace (Aug 3, 2009)

Thankfully, I don't have squirrel problems. The rats and mice keep me busy enough. We sealed up the g.h. pretty good with expanding foam at the bottoms. We'll see if they still get in.


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## John M (Aug 4, 2009)

Stupid rodents! I have to keep moth balls in the electrical box of my generator to prevent the mice from packing dry grass inside and making a nest. My biggest concern is that they'll chew the wiring in there! Until I discovered the moth ball trick, I was pulling nest material out of the electrical guts of my generator on a daily basis.

I always have mice in the greenhouse and usually, they don't do any damage; but, now and then I get a field mouse. They are the devil! Just one field mouse will destroy hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of plants each night! I KNOW when one has got in. The damage is very tell-tale. I set traps and as soon as I catch one field mouse, the damage stops.

I don't have trouble with squirrels; but, I do have trouble with chipmunks. They are very mischievious and do a lot of vandalism....just for the heck of it! I recently planted some flats of Disa seedlings and a chipmunk hauled most of the seedlings out of one flat and threw them all over.....no reason....just for fun. I was watering the other day and noticed a chipmunk leaving the propane heater, running along the gas pipe to a shelf of Pleiones and on to the windowsill and along the edge of the vent to the other side of the greenhouse. He went right past me, so I blasted him with the watering hose and knocked him off; out the window. Then, I set up my live trap and caught him the next day. Hopefully, he's not a "homing" chipmunk!


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## NYEric (Aug 4, 2009)

Now that sounds like fun!


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