Can't get rid of rats

[llamedos]

Yes had really good results with them, they vary in quality though, for rats you need the bigger ones with stronger glue than cheaper mouse boards

They were sold for rats, perhaps they were just not of very good quality, the poor Robin took some getting off.

 

[Sonny]

Get a couple of terriers[/QUOT so part 2...I didn't see any in house rodents all spring. There are 2 old out buildings I can't afford to remove. Really disability is 0 cents for uncostumary incidents. Put some 6 x 6" rat bait boxes in questionable sheds and smaller mouse boxes in and out. Hardware store just says "you too?" Country rodents acceptable? Heck no. Ants; heck no. Next, near Halloween my dog who sleeps bed side said "woof" at 1:30 AM. Not a bark. She just whispered and walked the house length. She stopped to sniff at her cereal and water station then sniffed her way down the hall to my home office under my desk. This black thing scurried behind the office couch. Am I the only one who is horrified? I can't say Im a clean freak, cuz my husband was the reason not a water spot existed in my house. My door mats were laboratory quality tablets to remove dust from shoes, like a giant post it note adhesive where you peel off the top sheet after entering. No house plants, pets, smoke. Probably why I have immune disease- no reason to need immune system. The black rat in my office behind the couch was terrified. I have a 4 foot ottoman I took the legs off for my dog bed in living room covered with a bath sheet and her big CVS teddy bear she drug around as pup...washed, still white and whole. I blocked the hallway with the ottoman and in blink of eye I saw lump of towel, like lighting scury up the Ottoman, turn right and back to the corner the Ottoman used to be in. There behind tubes to the kerosene exhaust pipes was a chewed hole big enough for a mans shoe. I slid in a spotless aluminum cookie sheet. You have to know how disgusting it is for my immune disorder. It gets more disgusting and the WORST DANGEROUS. AT 1:30 AM I should be sleeping but am spraying for fleas. The house can't be sealed. The water table is only 10" due to latitude and sea level. I don't have affordability to cement nor useless traps for animals that return immune. I cancelled trash pick up months ago, just taking tall kitchen bag to disposal 1 or 2 x week.

 

[Clive]

They were sold for rats, perhaps they were just not of very good quality, the poor Robin took some getting off.

I think quality does vary a lot, they all mostly China made !

Down side as you say is they are indiscriminate so a lot of care over placement is needed. We put them in pipes and under slabs on bricks etc but still caught a few innocent bystanders

They did the job though VERY effectively

 

[Sonny]

Yes had really good results with them, they vary in quality though, for rats you need the bigger ones with stronger glue than cheaper mouse boards

Oh crap. Beagle howling in my bedroom again after using HARTZ flea killer.0ct 25 I baby sat 2 cats for what was going to be one month turned in to two. The rescue gave me bamboo litter no one else would use, plus these were the most gorgeous indoor cats. They kept the rat in the wall. The cats go home 12/9 and by then I was having respiratory problems from fabuloso cleaner and walls were clawed by their little daggers. I was taking care of them for a detective. When plane landed I was not breathing from surfectant. I put the last cat pee in the trunk of my benz for morning transfer station. It was raining, no street lights when my car stalled. Towed it. Told the wife about trash in back who replied her husband won't be bothered. 12 days later I picked up a dumpster! Coffee grounds on a paper plate solved the cockpit smell. Could it be the same singular rat???? The wall noises increased. I went to kitchen trash rat hole and my dogs frigging too big toy was jimmied in a hole. My lesson is this: everywhere dog food is rat attraction occured. My beagle will be 12, a service dog who, when I screamed as the rat ran past today lifted her sleepy face. I've put ammonia in short glasses in cupboards starting high. My dog is indicating my room, the only place I didn't apply solvents. I have hardwood floors so furnishings is the place. I used to hide dog treats in basket of toys so my old dog had work. Now we are poisoned. I cut a kitchen sponge up. Soaked in ammonia and put in holes. I can hear it tapping on cookie sheet. Bring your cats. The beach and trails are amazing.

 

[Kidds]

Have you managed to clear them using these? Couldnt get them to work for us, found lots of belly fur stuck to them along with a bit of blood, and then caught a Robin stopped using them after that

I'm using spring traps and have caught 3 robins in my shed so far. A lot more effective on robins than rats.

 

[Dry Rot]

The best form of rat control is starvation!

I used to have rats but also had chicken self feeders. All feed now in old oil drums and the chickens are hand fed what they can clear up in 30 minutes, same for the dogs.

I haven't seen a rat since I started that. If one or two move in, they soon discover the cupboard is bare and move out again!

 

[Kidds]

The best form of rat control is starvation!

I used to have rats but also had chicken self feeders. All feed now in old oil drums and the chickens are hand fed what they can clear up in 30 minutes, same for the dogs.

I haven't seen a rat since I started that. If one or two move in, they soon discover the cupboard is bare and move out again!

I have a rat problem yet there is no food for them to get to. I seriously think they are living off the corn in the goose muck.

 

[llamedos]

The best form of rat control is starvation!

I used to have rats but also had chicken self feeders. All feed now in old oil drums and the chickens are hand fed what they can clear up in 30 minutes, same for the dogs.

I haven't seen a rat since I started that. If one or two move in, they soon discover the cupboard is bare and move out again!

We have just a few poultry and had never seen a rat or evidence of them until recently, and our neighbour was over run with them, he finally got around to putting poison down this autumn, now they have moved in with us the goose shed seems a favorite place, he is bedded on straw, it seems to be a favorite snack for ratty they have eaten their way into the shed.

Last problem we had was in the stable and sheep shed at the old place, again, straw bedding.

 

[itsalwaysme]

Have you managed to clear them using these? Couldnt get them to work for us, found lots of belly fur stuck to them along with a bit of blood, and then caught a Robin stopped using them after that

I had a lot of problems with mice around here a few years ago, made some wooden tunnels to hide conventional mouse traps, and placed them along outbuilding walls, baited them with peanut butter and was having good results until I caught two Wren's so stopped using them.
I do wonder with some baits (strong smell) are we actually attracting more vermin to the area

 

[Dry Rot]

Interesting that two posters have problems with rats and also keep geese.

When I used to lamp foxes, one place to get a fox was around the yards with cows and young calves. Foxes apparently have a liking for the excrement of new born calves!

Maybe time to change the feed? Could there be undigested grains in goose dung that the rats are finding?

I expect I'll get a few rats moving in when the hens start to lay. But I'll have the traps down ready for them and hope to kill the scouts off before they lay the 'safe' trails.

 

[Kidds]

I've lived on this farm for over 40 years and not seen rats until a few years ago when I started keeping geese.
Even had sheds full of straw with the only evidence being one or two dried out carcass that had taken poison.
The sheds are empty of straw these days yet rats are evident all over the place, the only food I can think they are after is indeed corn in the goose muck. They can't get into my stock of grain and there's nowt else for them to eat on the place.

I have resisted using poison because of the many owls about the place but multiple traps have failed to reduce them. So poison it is at the moment.

 

[llamedos]

Had not given the thought of undigested corn much thought, but it does seem likely.

 

[MarcFloyd]

Had not given the thought of undigested corn much thought, but it does seem likely.

Have you tried bringing in someone with air rifle? It's very efficient.

 

[Pasty]

Have you tried bringing in someone with air rifle? It's very efficient.

Agree with this. I was getting over-run on my chicken sites and it was getting me down. Didn't want to do poison as we have massive amounts of tawnys and a few barn owls about too in the valley. So I invested in a night vision scope for Dad's air rifle and my god did I shoot some rats. To the point where I struggle to get any sport these days. There were other bits. I bought a silencer and mag kit for his S200 but a decent springer (Cometa 400S from MVF) with an NV scope will do an awful lot of damage to populations and provide a lot of sport at the same time.

Over time it's quite cost effective if you have a few minutes and like the sport. Or get some good guys to do it for you. Plenty of sensible and insured airgunners out there looking for 'permissions' and most of them will do a very good job with no impact to you.

 

[DRC]

I think this chap was keeping a few rats away. Shame I found him dead under the barn.

 

[ladycrofter]

We were hoaching with them. No amount of tubs of poison and bait boxes would eliminate them. Struggled with them for years, then decided to let an expert deal with the problem - got an outside cat.

Result - in three years, one gnawed bale. Hardly ever catch a mouse in the loft. Not a rabbit to be seen and garden is flourishing instead of being eaten. IMHO they really are the only way to eliminate the problem.

 

[ladycrofter]

@llamedos I also caught a robin on a glue trap , threw them away after that. Also tried every manner of electronic buzzer thing - waste of money. @Kidds yes they will eat the droppings they have no scruples.

We had free range hens for years, I started lifting the feeders at night and the rats promptly started killing one hen per house per night, dragging it ourtide and leaving the stripped skeleton.

 

[MarcFloyd]

We had free range hens for years, I started lifting the feeders at night and the rats promptly started killing one hen per house per night, dragging it ourtide and leaving the stripped skeleton.

They were running a proper chicken farm than? :-D

 

[ollie989898]

Glue boards are far less terrible than blanketing the place with poison. Just place them carefully and check often.

Airgunners in teams at night you would not believe how effective they can be, look on youtube its like a scene from that film 'Eraser' NV scopes and lead in all directions. Kills dozens of em.

 

[nelly55]

Never see a rat,too many cats.If I do see an odd one it's not about for long.Yes they cost me a large bag of cat food a week ,plus keeping a sand area at the back of the yard as a large litter tray which is cleaned daily by OH ,but it's worth it to keep the things away.No rabbits down the fields either just got to train them to catch moles.