You may have noticed that our 2014 budget includes a prudent and timely increase in the amount designated for packrat control. We can look back to the two previous winters for the reason why. Each winter we have experienced an extraordinary cold spell (about 17°F) that lasted several days and damaged much community vegetation and froze many rattlesnakes and other snakes to death.
In a healthy desert environment there exists an extremely conducive balance between predators and prey. The rattlesnake represents the principle predator of the packrat. Because the snakes are not “warm blooded”, like mammals and birds, they must move between sun and shade to control their body temperature. When it gets too hot or too cold they go into burrows to survive in the Sonoran desert.
In the winter the rattlesnakes stop feeding. They seek out a packrat nest or other shallow burrow in which to hibernate. The rattlesnake curls up in the nest and the rats instinctively simply seal off that passage for the winter. Come the spring, the temperature rises and the rattlesnakes emerge and once again seek packrats for a major food source.
Since the packrat nests are rather shallow, consisting of piled up cactus, soil, & debris, nests are adequately protective for the warm-- blooded packrat but if the temperatures drop below 20 degrees, they can become a death trap for the snakes. These cold blooded snakes simply freeze to death, especially in the lower areas where cold air settles as it did in the past two winters in the SMVE Community.
So what resulted was a huge unchecked packrat population explosion with invasions into our yards, autos, pool areas, and even an electrical transformer on Sempreverde. Packrat front teeth never stop growing so they must chew 21 incessantly to keep their incisors from growing too long. A large excess of packrats have been chewing on our outdoor lighting wiring, auto wiring, and establishing new nests in and out of Homeowner’s yards. This resulted in a vast increase in telephone calls (27) from Homeowners to the Landscape Committee Chair (Bob Vaughan) about the damage in the last years. Consequently, the Board had to address immediately an urgent need to increase the amount of funding (in 2013-14) dedicated to attempting to control destructive rats. Also the outdoor lighting wiring to our monument and pool areas has been severely damaged by packrats causing outages and expensive replacement costs. We are currently removing and replacing many electrical wires in a “rat proof” metal conduit at added expense to the capital budget going forward.
Your SMVEHOA Board of Directors, aware that poisons end up killing the rats’ other predators (bobcats, coyotes, hawks, and owls), chose the labor intensive but environmentally prudent option by employing “Mr. Packrat” (i.e. Owner: Chris Brown). This company uses live traps to catch the rats. They euthanize the trapped rats and freeze them for donation to a raptor rescue and rehabilitation center for food. Then they destroy and remove the nest and spray the area for dangerous parasite kissing bugs (which live in rats’ nests). This helps reduce the possibility that the area will be re--populated by other rats. We are getting the community back into the predator/prey balance we enjoyed before the exceptionally frigid weather. Going forward to restore environmental balance, the Board has chosen an incremental removal of packrat nests in selected areas on a quarterly basis. A comprehensive on site surveillance and monitoring assessment is performed quarterly with written feedback & “mapping”. Common area packrat nest removal has been done using the following Board chosen criteria:
- Proximity to SMVE homes with establishing a 50-75 ft. perimeter of nest exclusion,
- All nests removed at both north and south recreation areas,
- All guest parking areas are protected to avoid damage to electrical wiring under the hood of vehicles parked in the evening,
- Potential and identified damage to electrical power transformers in the SMVE Community.
The Board certainly recognizes that total packrat nest removal is unwise for the whole 240 acres. The absolutely best control measure remains to prevent the imbalance of prey and predator through adequate exclusion to restore balance in a healthy ecosystem.
If you have a problem with packrats IN COMMON AREAS or see a nest near your yard, it is important that you call Bob Vaughan. He accumulates reports to inform “Mr. Packrat” quarterly. This company has been and will be scouting for packrat nests within 75 feet of our back walls and around our recreation areas every quarter.
It is very important not to use poisons to eliminate these animals! If you should find a snake in your yard, it will leave as soon as it finds no food. If you want it removed and you call Rural Metro, they will remove it to another area where it will do us no good. Instead call Bill Page and the snake will be relocated in our common area where it will help reduce the amount we must spend on packrat removal.