Protect your pond from rats

When we build ponds in locations near rivers, bayous or lakes. Or when we live in or near rat infested cities, we find rats. Rats are destructive creatures and will chew a hole through your pond liner near the bottom of the pond. They arrive on their way through a rat hole and oops, there is your pond, in their way. So they chew a hole in the liner. Of course, you don't know about the hole or the rat until your pond begins to lose water fast. Now you must change the liner - an expensive and hard job because the entire pond must be taken apart to replace a liner. And liners are expensive.

Things You’ll Need:

• Chicken wire
  • 1 roll 15# roofing felt
  • New liner

Step 1:

Suddenly one day, you notice your pond has lost most of its water. After pumping all the water out of your pond, you see a large chewed hole in your liner that is too big to repair. Under the liner is a hole in the ground big enough to put your hand in. Do not put your hand in the hole or you may encounter the rat that chewed the hole.

Step 2:

Fill the hole with soil. Pack it in well.

Step 3:

Buy a new liner, but before you install the new liner, line your already dug hole with chicken wire. Bring the chicken wire all the way up the sides as well as on the bottom of the pond.

Step 4:

Cover the chicken wire with 15# roofing felt. Cut it in strips large enough to cover your pond's width and place the felt in the hole until it is completely covered.

Step 5:

Place your new liner in the hole. Reinstall the rocks, pump, filter, plants and fish. You will never have rats eat holes in your pond liner again.

Tips & Warnings

• 
  Instead of waiting for a disaster, put the chicken wire in the dug out hole before you build your pond.
• 
  Always be careful of electricity and water. Be sure you use a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) for your pump or lights. It cuts off electricity instantly if water touches the outlet.

Read tips like this one and more in my book, A Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond. You can download it here.

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