[doganjo]

Suppose you have to plant it and not just leave clumps hanging around?  What about opening a few jars of mint sauce, surely the vinegar content would be a bit off-putting too - or would that smell rat-licious?

Don't know about rat-licious but the flies would love it. I use jars with vinegar in and clingfilm with a small hole in to catch flies

 Reckon my mates in  their  pest control business would roll over killing themselves laughing about planting mint to keep rats away  .... if I tell them .

I'd  imagine if this little gem were true the whole of the UK and the rest of the world would be knee deep in mint with not a rat left anywhere.

Ok, go ahead, laugh!    I'll be on here fast and shoutng it from the roof tops if I see them rushing off down the burn with their little rucksacs

[jaykay]

OMG, what an image 

[AengusOg]

 None of the panel had ever heard of such a thing but a little squeaky voice said 'yes, it does work' and they introduced Amy the producer onto the show -    

OMG!...Amy is a rat???

Seriously, though, I have a huge area of mint by the hen runs and this year I have not seen any sign of a rat. There was one hole and a bit of shite just after harvest last year, but I put a bit of poison down. I've seen nothing since. The difference this year is that I am always cutting into the edges of the mint patch with the lawn mower in an effort to halt its spread, so there is usually a strong smell of mint there.

[doganjo]

 None of the panel had ever heard of such a thing but a little squeaky voice said 'yes, it does work' and they introduced Amy the producer onto the show -    

OMG!...Amy is a rat???

Seriously, though, I have a huge area of mint by the hen runs and this year I have not seen any sign of a rat. There was one hole and a bit of shite just after harvest last year, but I put a bit of poison down. I've seen nothing since. The difference this year is that I am always cutting into the edges of the mint patch with the lawn mower in an effort to halt its spread, so there is usually a strong smell of mint there.

So maybe I'm not that daft thinking it might work? 

[Plantoid]

 None of the panel had ever heard of such a thing but a little squeaky voice said 'yes, it does work' and they introduced Amy the producer onto the show -    

OMG!...Amy is a rat???

Seriously, though, I have a huge area of mint by the hen runs and this year I have not seen any sign of a rat. There was one hole and a bit of shite just after harvest last year, but I put a bit of poison down. I've seen nothing since. The difference this year is that I am always cutting into the edges of the mint patch with the lawn mower in an effort to halt its spread, so there is usually a strong smell of mint there.

Keep the poison to hand .. it looks like you have managed to make a fairly rat free area ..keep making up your bait stations  and looking to see if the poison is being consumed.. once you get signs of reinfestation  , place more strategic bait stations in pet , bird & child protected/secure  places .

 One thing that may have led to the fable is that rats like most wild animals ( foxes especially ) are wary of new things, so cutting your mint regularly may un nerve a rat by producing strong scents every few days .

[mab]

Having googled 'mint rats' I did find this:

Using Mint

    Although mint is a pleasant aroma to most humans, rats shy away from it. Soak rags or cotton balls with a few drops of peppermint oil and place them in areas where you have seen or suspect rats. Kentucky Colonel mint (Mentha cordipholia) is recommended as a type of mint that works well when you use it fresh, but try peppermint, spearmint, pennyroyal and other varieties. Another method is to make a strong tea from mint leaves and then spray it wherever rats are present.

Other Helpful Plants and Substances

    Other herbs and plants that deter rats include orange peel or orange essential oil, black pepper, cinnamon and cayenne. The smell of daffodils, wood hyacinth, allium and camphor plants is unpleasant to rats. Because dogs are natural predators of rats, their scent will scare these unwanted creatures away if you place dog hair or urine where rats congregate. If you soak a rag in ammonia and then place it in a coffee can near their home, rats will relocate in short order.

Hints and Tips

    Don't expect a little mint oil or a few mint plants to completely rid your property of a large rat population.


Read more: Does Mint Repel Rats? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5335999_mint-repel-rats.html#ixzz1MpTCeyJa

so it could well be that your mowing them is releasing the oils.

m

mab

[doganjo]

Because dogs are natural predators of rats, their scent will scare these unwanted creatures away if you place dog hair or urine where rats congregate.

Ha, that's a laugh!  They're not scared by my four predators!

[Plantoid]

Because dogs are natural predators of rats, their scent will scare these unwanted creatures away if you place dog hair or urine where rats congregate.

Ha, that's a laugh!  They're not scared by my four predators!

 The small holding we purchased had a guy on it who also bred and showed Kerry Blues.. During the second visit to the prospective seller I opened a top stable door to find his prized Kerry Blue stud mutt curled up fast asleep on a pile of straw up with a bit fat rat snuggled in by its tum.
It took one look at me and  lazily ambled off  into a corner and then went down a hole.

 Once we got there one of the first things I did was use my electric mixer to make up a barrel of corn , crushed barley , pin oats , a tin of coca , 1/2 litre of corn oil mix along with three measures of a lovely red substance called " Dratt poison " ( had to sign the poisons register and have proof of ID ) This first batch of poison  lasted just over three weeks , they were eating it like popcorn on a Saturday night. I ended up making several more mixes before we could  consider a fairly rat free set of buildings and land .
 Once we reached this stage we still had some 40 home made bait stations around the perimeter fences and  along several buildings walls , they were checked and restocked as needed at the end of each month  even when we finally reached the stage of no apparent takes of the bait .

 Had we not done the rat treatment scheme & kept it up they would have eaten us out of house and home by eating the animal feedstuffs & ruining things .

[northfifeduckling]

I had heard about this a few years ago and put lots of mint in all my kitchen drawers when we had an invasion. Worth a try but a week later it was a call to Environmental Health.....