Posted on 08/16/2017 6:24:37 AM PDT by logi_cal869
Neither a joke nor metaphor, I have a rat problem and seek learned wisdom from others who've combatted these cunning creatures.
I have a lone rat (I believe) lurking somewhere in my house. Without regard to the accuracy of that statement or my seeming inability to find its lair, this smart SOB freed itself from a sticky trap and has been Ninja ever since, sometimes not taking my popcorn bait for days (there are NO other food sources other than our occasional lapse in leaving the dog's food out).
Spring traps don't work; it's too smart. Or, to be more accurate, they don't work with the bait I've been using. I prefer not to use poison, as my neighbor has incurred significant expense in tearing into walls to remove decomposing flesh.
I'm hopeful for meritorious advice, as all of my requests to borrow/rent a farm cat have fallen on deaf ears...
Peanut butter all over the end of a big trap
Maine Coon cat.
.410 with a flashlight and #6 shot. Put the dog in the bedroom, leave the dog’s food out and wait. Oh yea... earplugs.
Rat terrier or Jack Russell.
https://pethelpful.com/dogs/Top-10-Dog-Breeds-Ideal-for-Catching-Rats
They’re more like cats than dogs. When my rat terrier was a pup I had to throw her dry food to get her to eat. Anything that moves is fair game and they have exceptional hearing. From the basement she can hear someone open the front gate.
How about the Havaheart (sp?) live trap? I’ve used it on attic squirrels; they have to get inside to reach the bait, peanut butter on a piece of foil in my case. Should work with a rat unless he’s too lightweight to trigger the release. Then you can drown, shoot, poison or release him, as you see fit.
I use “rat cakes” from local farm supply store. More powerful than mere “store bought.” Will normally kill fairly quickly. Thus avoiding smell from carcass. But must keep cats away from dead rats. Traps placed in runway (rat trail) will normally work eventually.
Cheddar cheese in a spring trap.
I occasionally have these type of nocturnal visitors. They are indeed clever. I have had good luck with spring traps but it took some time to find the right bait.
The best bait seems to be a combination of peanut butter (smooth) sprinkled with bird seed. Also you must keep the bait fresh; change it out every two-three days. Clean the trap with water only; don’t use dish soap or any type of scented cleaner.
Next always try to put the trap in the same place. They are suspicious of changes in their hunting area. If the trap is always located in a similar location, they will eventually try the bait.
Finally dispose of any carcass well away from where you place the trap.
Chow chow dogs love eating mice as well.
Believe me,I know from experience...you do NOT want rats to start breeding in your walls or attic.
At the end of my ordeal I pulled an 18 inch pregnant sow out from the dropped ceiling in my basement- dead from the poison I had placed.
Traps, poison, whatever works...I killed around 16 of them that had bred/invaded my house within a 3 month span.
My son managed to shoot a couple in the garage with a pellet gun.
Good luck.
I’ve had some success with the water bucket trap, baited with peanut butter.
Get a jack russell terrier
No more varmints
Or cats I might add
Better yet get 2 jack russells
They work as a team
He had nibbled it. Alas...it wouldn't fit and it had made a noise trying...I flipped out when I saw the freshly nibbled candy bar under the stove burner grate.
The maintenance man was stunned, found the door to the mouse's condo under the stove....blocked it with steel wool and insulation.
Little bas***** they can be.
Some poisons are designed to kill and desiccate the carcass to reduce the time of smell. One bait for mice is cotton as the mice will try to remove it form traps for nesting. Something on this order might be interesting. You might be able to feed them some bait with an ultraviolet tracer or something to find a path to where they live.
There are rat problems in the White House, New York and other large cities. This would look like a business opportunity to train cats, snakes, what not to dispose of the rodents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSk79YcuIRQ
For rats, step it up to a 30 gallon trash can. I'd use galvanized, but you could go with heavy duty plastic if you anchor it.
This works for mouse traps. Get the old fashioned kind with the little loop on the trigger part. Don’t get those weird yellow plastic ones. Then wedge/jam a peanut into that loop so the mouse has to bite it to get it out. Works everytime.
If you can still find warfarin-based poison, and if the only available water source for the rat is away from the home, that can work (I did have to dig through underbelly fabric and insulation to get a carcass once though.)
I don’t know what kind of dog you have but you need one that’s at least part Terri or. Our dachshund killed a rat two months ago. Grabbed, shook it, broke its neck.
Turn a couple of barnyard geese loose in the house. Even the most elusive of rodents would have a hard time evading a pair of aroused geese, who can be absolutely fearless in taking a rat apart. Those pecks from the beak of a goose can be as deadly as ball-peen hammer blows.
Of course, the geese themselves can be pretty formidable and sometimes not entirely welcome “guests”.
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