Owl along the watchtower: How these garden guardians keep rats at bay

Q. This spring we had a rat problem – they were eating all our vegetables, getting into the cars and causing all sorts of destruction. We eventually put out poison in bait boxes, but now we’re finding that the rats are coming into our garage to die, and we don’t find them until they start to smell. Is there a more effective way to get rid of them?

If you could hire a skilled hunter who was able to kill up to 40 rodents a night, would you do it? What if that hunter had friends and they were all willing to work for free?