Fruits that rodents (rats / squirrels) won't eat?

[barath]

Anyone have any suggestions of what fruit trees rodents (rats / squirrels) will leave alone?  I'm guessing there aren't many, but I'm curious if there's anything other than various cactus fruit or something like that.

[Jct]

I do not believe that they will bother citrus.  Could be wrong.

[spaugh]

If you want to be proactive and trap rats and squirrels you probably wont have much issues.  Birds seem to get way more fruit than rodents.

[raimeiken]

I do not believe that they will bother citrus.  Could be wrong.

oh they do, they very well do. Roof rats are known to eat ripe citrus fruits here in Arizona. That's why people are advised to remove all ripe fruit from their trees to not attract more rats in the neighborhood.

[forumfool]

Yes rats and squirrels loved my navel orange tree they left highly acidic fruit like lemon and kumquat alone.

[Jack, Nipomo]

Roof rats (tree rats, Rattus rattus) leave just a simple shell (peel) of citrus after consuming the fruit interior.  Many think snails did that. The little incisor marks are usually left. On the contrary, with lemons the peel is eaten leaving the bare naked fruit hanging.  They will also eat the bark girdling the limb.  I get one or two tree rats a week in my macadamia trees with suspended rat traps enclosed with wire to keep out birds.  They have on occasion eaten citrus, avocado, plums, walnuts, etc.  Their favorite here is macadamia.

[Yorgos]

Squirrels eat just about everything except my citrus (grapefruits, lemons, oranges, mandarins are ignored).  One winter 4 or 5 years ago they ravaged my meiwa kumquat tree but that has not been repeated since (that was a low production year for my pecans, and acorns, so they must have gotten desperate).  Curiously they left my carambola alone (it froze last year so I don't have it anymore) and it was very productive.  Squirrels will eat my peaches, persimmons and pomegranates when they are still small and hard. They are murder on my figs and clean up what the birds leave. 

Best option is to trap, shoot or poison but poison has collateral damage I do not like to consider.   

[spaugh]

+1 on shooting squirrels.  No mercy. 

These little turds will ruin young trees also.

[Samu]

Here is what I use, if triggered, no mercy to the squirrels or rats:

[barath]

Thanks everyone.  I agree that getting rid of them / keeping them away from tree is the way to keep the most fruit.  I'm partly asking for situations of public plantings where there's no way I will be able to keep them away -- my hope was there are some fruits that they leave alone.

[zephian]

My citrus trees are not affected. Rats and squirrels seem to prefer my persimmon trees, zucchinis and tomatoes. also any melon... I haven't had luck this season with anything but pumpkins and peppers thanks to the rats in my area. (I live near the river and tree orchards)

[AndrewAZ]

Roof rats love key limes.   My mother had to cut her tree down. We were absolutely inundated with roof rats in my townhouse community in Scottsdale. I even saw them crossing on top of the red lights to go from community to community.  One winter, I killed over 100 with rat traps and peanut butter.
Finally, this year it is under control.  The remedy?  Feral cats moved in, ate them all and left.  From my experience, if you have roof rats, that is the only way to get rid of them!!

[BrianL]

They don't eat ginkgo fruits.

[Ulfr]

Do they eat macadamia? I know rats don’t really but no squirrels here. I imagine they would have a go.

[zephian]

The darn things love my bay tree now too. saw 4 of them in it last night :/
Time for some mass 'removal' anyone have tips for catching large quantities fast? live or dead... I don't really care just fastest removal method besides poison.

[Samu]

The darn things love my bay tree now too. saw 4 of them in it last night :/
Time for some mass 'removal' anyone have tips for catching large quantities fast? live or dead... I don't really care just fastest removal method besides poison.

You may want to try with this for "Mass removal"...:

[barath]

Do they eat macadamia? I know rats don’t really but no squirrels here. I imagine they would have a go.

Yeah, they love macadamia here.

[spaugh]

The darn things love my bay tree now too. saw 4 of them in it last night :/
Time for some mass 'removal' anyone have tips for catching large quantities fast? live or dead... I don't really care just fastest removal method besides poison.

For rats, just buy some of the rat sized snap traps.  Put out 5 or 10 a night with peanut butter.  You will catch a lot of rats.  After a few days you will.catch less and less until no more for a while. 

[zephian]

I currently have one of the tomcat rat snap traps (https://www.amazon.com/Tomcat-0361710-Rat-Snap-Trap/dp/B012RGM7BO/ref=dp_ob_title_garden) and it works great with peanut butter 8/10 times. occasionally a rat will get its front legs stuck and I find my trap moved with a live rat in the morning. I let my cat in my garden a couple of weeks ago and he found a nest under some pumpkins and had a fun time.

was that a squirrelnator? those are too pricey for a cheap guy like me.

[Jack, Nipomo]

I tried the Tomcat rat traps, but they deteriorate in the sun outside and the spring simply collapses the trap.  I have had success with Victor traps, but after a few years in the weather they too deteriorate and rust and become ineffective.  I did find all metal traps on Amazon and they work well and even have a safety catch to release when trap is in location.  The arboreal rats (Rattus rattus) here never go on the ground, but travel from tree to tree.  Nests are also in the trees and in ivy covered fences.  Called "attic and palm rats" too, that is their preferred location.  I won't use poison as I leave the dead rats in a specific location and they are eaten overnight by our possums and raccoons.  One year I buried over 100 rats until I discovered the helpful night creatures would take care of it.  The only bait that works for me is a cracked macadamia nut.  I have set up bait stations like you do with ground squirrels and rarely is any other bait eaten other than macadamias.  As long as the neighbors are raising tree rats, they come over to feast on the macadamias.  I am running 16-18 traps in the trees every night, getting about a rat a week.

[raimeiken]

peanut butter works best for baiting, but hate it when ants get to it before the rats do.

[Empoweredandfree]

Every herbivore or omnivore loves fruit. I don't grow fruit for my survival so I live and let live...anything i get is strictly a bonus. I won't kill, trap or relocate anything. Most of the times I don't get fruit due to my own mistakes more so than other creatures!

[zephian]

I ripped out a bunch of my tomatoes that I failed to stake up in time and were taking over the garden and found 3 rats nests! Haha! Be gone suckers!
too bad they were all empty... I may have already got the inhabitants...

[Guanabanus]

What rats or birds will eat depends partly on what they have observed being eaten, and is much influenced by current convenient availability of what they already know of as food.

For several years my Carambolas were not bothered, while other fruits and veggies were heavily consummed.  Then birds discovered Carambola pulp, and rodents discovered Carambola seeds.

[Yorgos]

Roof rats love key limes.   My mother had to cut her tree down. We were absolutely inundated with roof rats in my townhouse community in Scottsdale. I even saw them crossing on top of the red lights to go from community to community.  One winter, I killed over 100 with rat traps and peanut butter.
Finally, this year it is under control.  The remedy?  Feral cats moved in, ate them all and left.  From my experience, if you have roof rats, that is the only way to get rid of them!!

Empirical and video evidence indicate shows that cats rarely wil attack an adult rat.  An adult rat is too aggressive and will put up a fight the cat would rather avoid.  There are videos that show rats and cats ignoring each other as they both go thru trash looking for food and of rats running past a cat as if the cat was not there.  Cats will decimate the bird, lizard, frog, vole and mouse populations though.
 
What rats are to fruit growers cats are to the environment.

[sapote]

Here is what I use, if triggered, no mercy to the squirrels or rats:

Nice trap, but they don't know how to read so they reach the food from opposite side, then what?

[Samu]

Good observation!
I attached a small wire screen on the "back side", I got this idea from YouTube posters.
Like this:



In my opinion, while the above "Koro" trap works great in killing the squirrels/rats, and have been adequately serving me well, I find that setting the trap is kind of tricky and  could be hazardous to your finger (due to it's strong spring). I think a better trap is this "Tube Trap" below:

https://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/animal/WCSTUBERR.html

It's my next go to arsenal, if needed.

[Coach62]

I do not believe that they will bother citrus.  Could be wrong.

Squirrels do get into my citrus late in the season. They tunnel into the fruit and eat the seeds oddly enough, leaving the rest of the fruit behind.

[Coach62]

Roof rats love key limes.   My mother had to cut her tree down. We were absolutely inundated with roof rats in my townhouse community in Scottsdale. I even saw them crossing on top of the red lights to go from community to community.  One winter, I killed over 100 with rat traps and peanut butter.
Finally, this year it is under control.  The remedy?  Feral cats moved in, ate them all and left.  From my experience, if you have roof rats, that is the only way to get rid of them!!

Empirical and video evidence indicate shows that cats rarely wil attack an adult rat.  An adult rat is too aggressive and will put up a fight the cat would rather avoid.  There are videos that show rats and cats ignoring each other as they both go thru trash looking for food and of rats running past a cat as if the cat was not there.  Cats will decimate the bird, lizard, frog, vole and mouse populations though.
 
What rats are to fruit growers cats are to the environment.

Well you need to show that empirical evidence to my cat. She was formerly feral and is unaware of this evidence apparently.

[Fiddler]

Back to the original question: The one fruit in my yard that is never molested by any mammal, bird, or insect is the Thai Giant Jujube. I've got two of these rather large, productive jujube trees, and while all my other trees are generally under siege by raccoons, possums, squirrels, rats, and red-bellied woodpeckers, nothing ever touches my jujubes.
    Why this is so, I have no idea. I'm just grateful.

[Guanabanus]

Your jujubes may not have been recognized as food.  Avoid eating them when wildlife is watching!

[Yorgos]

Roof rats love key limes.   My mother had to cut her tree down. We were absolutely inundated with roof rats in my townhouse community in Scottsdale. I even saw them crossing on top of the red lights to go from community to community.  One winter, I killed over 100 with rat traps and peanut butter.
Finally, this year it is under control.  The remedy?  Feral cats moved in, ate them all and left.  From my experience, if you have roof rats, that is the only way to get rid of them!!

Its been shown that cats will not tackle a grown rat. Cats will decimate birds, lizards, frogs and mice.  Adult rats they meekly avoid.

[pineislander]

A neighbor has a Mabolo/Velvet Apple/Diospyros discolor tree and fruits are all falling off the tree none are being eaten by rats or squirrels. Almost none are being eaten by people either, for obvious reasons if you've ever tried.

[Yorgos]

Empirical and video evidence indicate shows that cats rarely wil attack an adult rat.  An adult rat is too aggressive and will put up a fight the cat would rather avoid.  There are videos that show rats and cats ignoring each other as they both go thru trash looking for food and of rats running past a cat as if the cat was not there.  Cats will decimate the bird, lizard, frog, vole and mouse populations though.
 
What rats are to fruit growers cats are to the environment.
[/quote]

Well you need to show that empirical evidence to my cat. She was formerly feral and is unaware of this evidence apparently.
[/quote]


In the battle of cats vs. rats, the rats are winning: Researchers show ...
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180927083342.htm
Sep 27, 2018 - The study -- the first to document interactions between feral cats and a wild rat colony -- shows that rats actively avoid cats, and only recorded ...

[Guanabanus]

Release non-poisenous snakes.  Rats leave.

[RoseManny]

I think it is worth fighting rodents so that they won't appear in your garden anymore, even if their favorite treats are planted there.  Why should you limit yourself when you're choosing your favorite trees? I think it is better to completely destroy the cause of the problem, which means to kick the squirrels out of your garden. I try to treat all living creatures kindly, so I am against cruel death traps and poisons. When I first noticed that squirrels began to visit my garden, I turned to a squirrel removal service for help. The service was able to remove a family of squirrels from my property, using some chemicals to protect my property from unwanted visitors. I think their suggestions will help answer any of your questions.