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My father used to tell us kids never have fruit trees in your yard unless you want rats and mice . I told some people that once and my husband says that is not true he says his family had fruit trees a lot growing up and they never had rats or mice . im just wondering if anyone else ever heard that ?
We lived in Arizona and had lots of grapefruit, lemon & orange trees in our area. Yes, they did draw rats, but not running through the streets. We had a few here and there. Same w/ others.
It really depends on what kind of animal life you have in your territory and how accessible your fruit trees are. Fruit trees that have ripe or ripening fruit on them will attract anything that likes to eat fruit and can gain access into the trees. That includes rats and mice. And insects. And sneaky people too. Up here that means bears, raccoons, porcupines, squirrels, possums, rats, mice, bats, birds of all kinds. And if fallen fruit is left on the ground it will attract all of those plus deer and elk, coyotes, dogs, feral cats, slugs, rabbits, skunks ...... and lots and lots more bears.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We had over 40 fruit trees on the half acre back yard when I was a kid (SF Bay Area). I spent many an hour pruning, spraying and picking. We never had a single issue with rats or mice out there, though we did get a mouse in the house once in a while. Here, I have to fight the squirrels to get any of the apples off of my two trees. My neighbor has apples in the front, and the deer get most of his. Neither of us has had rat problems. Whatever critters are in your area will steal your fruit, if there are rats around, they will be drawn to your yard.
Wherever humans live, rats live too. That's just a fact of life.
Most animals like to raid fruit trees. From the standpoint of loss of fruit, I will guess you will lose more to birds, squirrels, wasps, chipmunks (if they exist in your area) than to rats.
As far as whether you will see more rats with fruit trees than before, I think it would depend so much on your situation that it's impossible to predict. For example, if you have feed stored in the barn you probably have rats in the barn. You may never see them because there are lots of places to hide; but if you add fruit trees in the open space between the house and the barn, now you might see some rats on the ground there, as they come out of the barn to enjoy the fruits when the fruits are nearly ripe. Are there more total rats? I dunno.
I would not say Rats, but Field Mice yes (cute rascalls, they all look just like Ratatouille)...... Here in SW Miami where we live, just under a mile from the Agricultural Area known as the Redlands, and IF you have the food that grows in the ground or on trees, be ready for the critters visiting you at all hrs of the day.
I own no cats, but somehow in my neighborhood there happens to always be a few stray ones with no homes, but fed by some of the people...They keep the rodents in check, so we let them hang out.
You'll be in your screened in porch and @ high noon and all of a sudden a Papaya tree with nice ripe fruits in it 30-40 yards away there is more MICE traffic up and Down than in the Florida Turnpike.
Also the Burrowing Owls at Night do their part in eating Mice Brains....The next morning plenty of dead Mice with their heads cracked open all over the Fields...It's a good thing Nature has that Food Chain, and it really works.
NO pesticides needed, and we all live happy here.
Once in a Blue Moon one sneaks in your living quarters, the good old snap traps come in handy.
Three times we set a snap trap and three times it was empty in the morning but no mice. Are they not making the traps with a strong enough spring? We have tried traps made from plastic and wood, the sticky pad things don't do much either!
We have cherry trees in our neighborhood which attract rats so two of my neighbors have spent huge amounts with a pest control company to get rid of them.
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We had a few here and there. Same w/ others.
