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My friend's neighborhood has such a problem with rats, that a "pest control" company came out to treat the entire neighborhood and offered everyone 50% off the normal service cost.
I said: "Of course they did. They more than make it up by having EVERY homeowner buy their services, rather than just selling to 1 or 2 people at 100%."
No pest control will come out. They all say there's nothing they can do about "exterior" rats. Right now this 'smart rat' is devastating my garden. All my cantaloupe and tomatoes are gone. It refuses to get caught in a trap (electronic or manual), but it will occasionally eat the bait. Cats are not an option as there's no place to contain them, plus a mountain lion just moved into the neighborhood (with my luck he's probably a vegan and won't eat rats).