u/Disastrous_Emu_6591

So we just moved into a new place and just today we planted our tomatoes, some herbs, etc. on the garden bed.
After a while, we just saw some rats coming along the garden bed and running along the patio. We didn’t know about this before buying the house.

Is there anything we could do to keep our crops without these rats eating at it?? The cayenne pepper thing does not seem to be working.

TIA.