The field rats love my tool shed and landscaping. The wife's Pomeranian did his best to kill them all but the rats knew they could escape him by climbing up the trees or the shelves in the shed. We lost the pom and latter got a kitten from a litter of barn cats. She lives in the tool shed. I haven't seen rats or rat droppings in there since she moved in. Occasionally, she will leave part of a rat on the patio to show she's doing her job.
Personally, I prefer snakes to cats but the wife and sons won't let me have snakes.
