Rodent Management Advice
This guidance is for members and garden committees on how to management rats and mice in COGS community gardens. Consistent with COGS’ adoption of organic principles the use of baits and poisons and glue traps are not allowed in COGS community gardens.
Make the garden less attractive to rats and mice
The safest and most effective approach to manage rodent numbers is to reduce food, water and shelter and to protect crops and compost.
- Action should be coordinated across the whole garden. Isolated action on one plot is unlikely to work if compost, rubbish or dense shelter remain nearby.
- Members and gardens should:
- Harvest ripe produce promptly and remove fallen, damaged or rotting fruit and vegetables.
- Keep compost systems rodent-resistant: use fitted lids, repair gaps, avoid meat, fish, dairy and oily foods, and bury any food scraps deep in active compost.
- Turn compost regularly.
- Store seeds, fertilisers and similar items in sealed rodent-resistant containers.
- Remove items not being used that may provide shelter or a nesting place / material such as piles of timber, pallets, bricks, pots, netting, cardboard and dense weeds.
- Keep paths, fence lines, sheds, water tanks and compost bays clear and regularly inspect for burrows, runs and droppings.
- Use bird friendly netting tightly fitted to the ground to protect vulnerable crops and seedlings.
Use of traps
Traps should only be used as part of a wider prevention program (see above). Trapping alone will not solve the problem if food and shelter remain available. Gardens may purchase traps for garden wide use within the delegation of the Convenor and be reimbursed. The following types of traps can be used across COGS gardens:
- Snap traps – it is best to use a strong and sturdy variety which are available online or at stockfeed outlets, rather than cheap and ineffective plastic snaps typically available at large hardware stores. [Note do not use pre-baited traps as this would contravene COGS rules.] Garden members should be alerted to their use to avoid accidental triggering.
- Live-capture traps where there is a humane plan for immediate handling. Do not release live rodents elsewhere as this will only spread the problem.
- Enclosed traps (with no poison baits), including flip and slide bucket systems.
Place traps along walls, shed edges, compost areas and known rodent runs, not in open areas where rodents are less likely to travel. Check traps at least daily while set.
The following baits have proven to be effective – peanut butter, oats, seeds or dried fruit or vegetables being eaten/targeted by the rats and mice eg tomatoes, corn, brassicas.
Dispose of dead rats and mice by either burying them in an isolated part of the garden designated by the Convenor/garden committee or double-bagging them and placing in the rubbish bin at home. Wash hands thoroughly afterwards.
COGS Committee
July 2026
