[ScottGo]

I live in McClure village. Go out after dark and rats are everywhere, along the top of the walls. I killed a big one on my porch with a trap last night. I've seen them running across Fenney Way in the daytime. Is mgmt responsible for removal or am I stuck?

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by ScottGo

I live in McClure village. Go out after dark and rats are everywhere, along the top of the walls. I killed a big one on my porch with a trap last night. I've seen them running across Fenney rd in the daytime. Is mgmt responsible for removal or am I stuck?

I don't know who "mgmt" would be.

If you found that the rats were coming from an unsanitary home or restaurant you could probably file a complaint agains them. If the rats are coming from the nature areas then they are not much different than snakes, birds, or rabbits.

McClure is likely within Wildwood. You could look for a Wildwood animal control or a Sumter County animal control but I don't think they would help with rats.

[asianthree]

Palm rats are destructive especially from palms close to your house. If you have issues within your home call your pest control.

At dusk you will see hundreds of rats on the golf courses, neighborhoods, squares, living in the brush and in the palm trees. Developer nor county will intervene. Kill100, 400 still breed.

Our previous villages had hundreds of palms. Thankfully in the south younger residents palms are few and far between.
Unlike their parents and grandparents who have multiple palms on their property.

[Taltarzac725]

I recall there were a very large number of rats invading some of the pools in the Ashland area of the Villages when they were clearing fields just to the South years ago. This would have been around 2005 to 2007.

[Pondboy]

Not helping the situation is people feeding the wildlife….i.e Bird Feeders

[Boomer]

Are they palm rats?

When we bought our Gardenia in the LSL section, there were two.huge queen palms in the small back yard. Queen palms were a thing in TV. Inexpensive. Grow fast. Look oh soooo Florida.

BUT! Queen palms do not belong here. As they get big, so do their seed pods which have to be removed so they do not fall. Those seed pods can be very heavy.

AND! Big, tall queen palms are condos for palm rats.

The ones in our yard had been in for 5 or 6 years when we bought the house. They were big and the palm fronds were touching our roof, which would have made a perfect entrance ramp to the attic.

We had them taken out. Even though I had never seen a palm rat, I knew about them.

The next day at a neighborhood get-together, someone who lived nearby said that palm rats had suddenly showed up in their garage and gotten into dog food there. Had those palm rats moved from our cut down queen palms? I will never know for sure, but the timing was interesting.

The other thing that invites palm rats are bird feeders. I like birds just fine but I will never have a bird feeder.

All that being said. . .are those palm rats you are seeing and if so, where is the cause?

Boomer

[MrFlorida]

They like bird feeders and bird baths... also get rid of trees close to the house.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

My Hit Man

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...1&d=1749571842

[Ruger2506]

You'd think they'd allow us to shoot them. .17 cal pellet rifles on the golf course at dusk. That'd be a blast.

[Michael G.]

If you would only know what crawls around our houses at night.

A couple years ago my wife was mowing the lawn and spotted a rat.
I went to tractor supply and bought a rat trap and caught two.

A couple days later I pulled my web grill cover off,
only to find the complete back of the cover was chewed out. 🐭

There out their people

[airstreamingypsy]

I was strolling down Canal St, in LSL, one afternoon. I looked down, and strolling next to me was a rat. We walked along, side by side for about 15 years, when it jumped under a golf cart parked on the curb. I wish my dog would heel as well as that rat.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by airstreamingypsy

I was strolling down Canal St, in LSL, one afternoon. I looked down, and strolling next to me was a rat. We walked along, side by side for about 15 years.

So you and the rat were like best friends for 15 years?

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by Ruger2506

You'd think they'd allow us to shoot them. .17 cal pellet rifles on the golf course at dusk. That'd be a blast.

No! You'll lose and eye. 😱

[Boomer]

You will know if it is a palm rat and not a big city rat. Palm rats wear teeny, tiny Hawaiian shirts.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

If you would only know what crawls around our houses at night.

A couple years ago my wife was mowing the lawn and spotted a rat.
I went to tractor supply and bought a rat trap and caught two.

A couple days later I pulled my web grill cover off,
only to find the complete back of the cover was chewed out. 🐭

There out their people

They are certainly out there. After deciding against palm trees in our new build, we downsized to a pre-owned villa with a big palm tree in the front. When I found evidence of them being in the totally enclosed glove compartment of my car, and elsewhere in the garage, plus a dead one out in the driveway after I backed the car out, we had the tree taken out.


When the tree removal crew showed up, they got five more jobs from our neighbors. We none of us miss those trees.