Peanut butter and Portland cement for mango eating pests

[zands]

They eat this and the cement expands in their stomach and intestines which kills them. The critter's body provides the water or maybe they drink from a puddle. But the dry cement plus water does them in

I am pretty enthused about this deterrent. I am not sure what was attacking/eating from my Kent mango tree but there have been no attacks for three days. The previous bon-bons were devoured. In photos are the new bon-bons. I know this is a short time to really test this but...This deterrent might be a problem for dogs you have...

Mix the cement and peanut butter in a 1:1 ratio then add what you need to make it more solid or more pliable. Not dry. You want to roll it into a bon-bon ball. A candy for them. I sprinkled these with sugar too but not the previous ones. You can top these critter bon-bons with pure peanut butter to better get their sense of smell homing in on it. Maybe put a half eaten mango near the bon-bon dish.

You have to give the bon-bon dish a roof so they don't get rained on. I used an old plastic election sign. Better to paint them white for your neighbors. So they don't ask questions. Make them as inconspicuous as possible.

It seems to me you can extend the peanut butter with a bit of vegetable oil. Add bacon fat? Add some raw or cooked bacon? add salt? Experiment with what you think they (possums, rats) want to eat but the basics are simple-

1)Portland cement
2)Peanut butter
3)no water!

I used from a bag of 100% Portland cement. Not one of those sakrete pre-mixes that have gravel mixed in. But you can take one of those pre-mixes and sift the gravel out so you have 100% cement to work with. So you get the ratios right. You could even use a large kitchen strainer outside to sift out the gravel (aka aggregate)

[bsbullie]

Wont the liquid in the peanut butter cause the cement to set ?

[zands]

Wont the liquid in the peanut butter cause the cement to set ?

No because that liquid is the oil in the peanut butter. Oil will not make cement set. There is no water in peanut butter.

If someone has a large dog this could be designed as a box that has an opening only a smaller pest/vermin can get into to eat the peanut butter/cement balls. And make one or more sides of the box with 1/4" mesh to allow the peanut butter aroma to escape. I think and hope these critters (squirrels, possums, rats, raccoon) like peanut butter more than mangoes.

So topping each peanut butter/cement ball with some peanut butter should draw them in even better

[Radoslav]

I like animals the same way how I like plants. So definitely nothing for me.
I always let wild animals and birds to eat my crop, because there is always enough fruits for both - me and them.

[Yorgos]

Those must be some couteous critters in Slovakia.  Over here the squirels, deer and bird wontt leave a single untouched fruit. Its like Sherman through Georgia (an American Civil War reference). So its nets guns or poison.  What sounds good about this method is that if a hawk or racoon eats the afflicted animal the predator won't be adversely affected.

[FruitAddict]

Thanks for a great tip!!  I know rats love peanut butter and hopefully this will do the trick.
Do you really think that it won't harm owls or hawks, because we have a lot.

[ricshaw]

If it does not kill them they will $hit bricks!

It will be interesting to find somebody that actually had success with this.

[FruitAddict]

If it does not kill them they will $hit bricks!

It will be interesting to find somebody that actually had success with this.

hahaha - You sure made me laugh!!

[Rannman]

I have not had a problem with raccoons and squirrels, but for rats and mice in plague proportions in western Queensland, Australia, we find that a cement and icing sugar 50/50 mix does the trick. They eat it, walk through it and lick it off their fur. Works a treat.

[starling1]

If it does not kill them they will $hit bricks!

It will be interesting to find somebody that actually had success with this.

This actually a really old trick. Cruel as hell, but it works. In England they'd mix the crete with anything sweet. Preserves the corpse of the rat somewhat, so expect to find mummified rancid dead rats everywhere.

[FruitAddict]

If it does not kill them they will $hit bricks!

It will be interesting to find somebody that actually had success with this.

This actually a really old trick. Cruel as hell, but it works. In England they'd mix the crete with anything sweet. Preserves the corpse of the rat somewhat, so expect to find mummified rancid dead rats everywhere.

So they won't smell either?

[KarenRei]

Honestly I think this is one of the most cruel ways you could kill an animal pest.

[starling1]

If it does not kill them they will $hit bricks!

It will be interesting to find somebody that actually had success with this.

This actually a really old trick. Cruel as hell, but it works. In England they'd mix the crete with anything sweet. Preserves the corpse of the rat somewhat, so expect to find mummified rancid dead rats everywhere.

So they won't smell either?

They'll still stink, just for much longer.I won't do it as I believe everything, even vermin, deserves a quick and painless death. I hope I get one

[Carbo]

.  .  .I won't do it as I believe everything, even vermin, deserves a quick and painless death. I hope I get one

I agree.