Do rodents eat dog food?

[Ace in the Hole]

Got an email this morning, tenants complaining of rodents.
The PM asked if they can arrange a pest controller to go to the property.

However, after checking the lease I see the tenants have 2 dogs, which they keep outside.
It's a 12 month old modern townhouse with only a small yard.
I can only assume they keep the dog food outside and also that the dogs crap out there too.

Surely this must be attracting the rodents, as none of other tenants in the surrounding 4 townhouses have complained.

Am I in my rights to decline pest control because of the tenants situation?

 

[The Fence]

I put dog biscuits as lure in my mouse trap cage.
Works a treat, they love it!

Not only that, but If dont get to the trap for a day or two you find one mouse has survived after eating the others.

 

[simron]

Of course they'll eat dog food. The dog food can be kept in a mouse proof container (we use a heavy plastic bin with a secure lid). Not sure what the pest controllers can do as most of the poisons are also poisonous to canines. Re: traps, someone still has to kill them or let them go, just to come back again! I suggest to investigate a bit more what is bringing the mice there in the first place. In the past, I have had mice in my recycling bin eating minute scraps from the inside of an empty dog food tin! Have bins and food storage containers that seal and they will probably move on.

 

[handyandy]

Send them one of these.

http://rat-hunter.com/stories/2007/tex-victor-electronic-rat-trap/

As mentioned, the tenant will still need to attend to dispose of carcases.


I have put rat bait in a length of square pipe to avoid ancillary poisoning. Unfortunately the rat just dragged out the bait.

Do I feel a sense of entitlement. The tenant can't deal with a little issue like that. It's s**t like that that really makes me dislike tenants.


Cheers

 

[The Fence]

Trouble is, many folks like to leave a full dish of dog food out all day for the dogs to have a bistro.

Feed the dogs once a day, when you get home from work, they will eat the lot leaving nothing for the mice.

I empty the mouse trap out to the chooks and they towel them up nicely.

 

[simron]

Just for information's sake; hiding bait isn't foolproof, if a dog chooses to eat a poisoned rodent (either dead or alive but in process of dying from bait) the dog will also be poisoned.

The Fence's bistro comment is funny; well I thought it was! I've never had dogs who don't devour their meal in two seconds flat. I've never known any dog that doesn't devour their food in two seconds flat either! I'm sure they're out there in existence?

The Fence, I've always felt uncomfortable about giving chooks meat (mice or any other meat). Is there any reason not to or do I just have a weird idea in my head? I know they like meat.

 

[fokas]

I empty the mouse trap out to the chooks and they towel them up nicely.

Are you talking live? Or dead mice from the traps that kill? Your chickens are gladiators if they manage to kill them quickly.

 

[Scott No Mates]

chooks eat worms & grubs. mice are just a little higher up the food chain.

 

[simron]

I understand what you mean by how far up the food chain; I guess that's what I'm questioning, I'm differentiating between insects and grubs etc and larger things like mammals (including rodents), fish etc. They are all "meat", but for example, would you give chickens steak bones to pick at or leftover ham soup? Is there a possible disease or health risk?

 

[Ace in the Hole]

So in the end, can I basically tell the PM to tell the tenants that they have created their own problem?

Or, do I legally have to take responsibility and action to resolve this problem?


Thanks

 

[kathryn d]

When our tenants complain about rodents, they usually have dogs and dog food hanging around. They usually have a bag of garbage sitting on their doorstep too, instead of taking it to the bin.

As frustrating as it is, we do offer to bait and trap, but refuse to take any responsibility if their pet dies. They agree.

We don't want a rodent problem, because of the damage they do.
Funny enough, our tenants with cats rarely complain

 

[The Fence]

Ace, Im not sure, maybe if your pest report mentioned the risk of attracting vermin from leaving pet food out in the open you might have a chance of putting the blame on the tenant..?
I dont really know to be sure but I would be trying to explain to the tenant these things happen and if they cleaned things up and kept the dog tucker contained the mice just may leave and look elsewhere.

Back to the chooks for those who asked...

yep i throw the mice (dead or alive) to my 7 chooks and it's gladiator time !
One at a time though as 2 mice running around confuses the poor dears...
The mice we have are field mice as we are on acres so they are not hanging around suburbia.
The shed is full of chook and horse feed and attracts the mice, hence the trap.

Simron, chooks need protein. Meat, incl mice = protein.

We often feed our chooks cheap mince AND, you guessed it, leftover bones.

And we get THE best eggs on the planet and the chooks are very healthy and lay pretty much every day.

The dog gets mostly raw chicken necks and about 10% in dog buscuits, meat based if possible not too much grain.

Never any cooked food.
Ive never seen a dog in the wild starting a fire to cook their tucker, has anyone else?

 

[The Fence]

Funny enough, our tenants with cats rarely complain

I'd love to have a cat to eliminate the mice but they take all the birds too.

So, no cats here.

 

[D.T.]

I'd love to have a cat to eliminate the mice but they take all the birds too.

So, no cats here.

Pfft
Birds come and steal my cat's food, my cat just sits on one of our chairs watching them.

 

[The Fence]

Pfft
Birds come and steal my cat's food, my cat just sits on one of our chairs watching them.

Probably overfed fat 4rse cat cant get up.

Dont leave the cat food out. Easy fix.
Pffft !

 

[fernfurn]

rats will also come after the fat container in the bottom of the bbq. We had one eat a hole in the flywire to come in after it.

 

[geoffw]

Pfft
Birds come and steal my cat's food, my cat just sits on one of our chairs watching them.

Your cat is a pussy!

 

[Peterw]

Ace, the LL is responsible to offer a property that is clean and complies with all health requirements etc. From there, it is the tenant?s responsibility to maintain the property to that condition. The fact that the other townhouses do not have the problem, seems to suggest that it?s the tenants activity, ie having dogs, is contributing to the arrival of the rodents, and as such they should be doing what is necessary to fix the problem.

 

[Ace in the Hole]

Hi Peter,

I pretty much suggested this to the PM yesterday in an email to see what they say.
Might even just copy and paste your message for more back up.

Thanks

 

[Blueberry]

Yes they eat dog food. We had some field mice come in to attack our dog food a few years back (new estates are notorious as they are displaced) and called pest control. They said your dog would have to eat many kilos of mice to actually get a toxic dosage. They put them in mice catcher stations so that the bait couldn't get out (until it was chomped on a bit anyway).