"Paul" writes:
I am new vegie gardener, this is my first year. We are just starting to get
a few things ripening and now something (I suspect rat) is eating them!
I am reluctant to use baits or traps and was wondering what you folks do?

I need to regularly bait for rats, otherwise they'll take any snail bait
I put out. At first I was puzzled by the disappearance of the snail bait,
every last pellet, but finally spied a rat in broad daylight skipping
about gathering it up! I thought if he ate enough it might bring about
his own demise, but that wasn't to be.

I place rat bait under an upturned polythene crate, leaving a small gap
under one corner. The crate protects the bait from rain and my hosing,
and stops neighbours' pets from getting to it.
--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")