How to stop rats - Page 2

Hellmanns · June 1, 2017

Like said, rats are SMART! Snap traps won't kill the big rats, and once they get snapped once they won't go to a trap again. If you set traps for rats they need to be modified rat traps that mean business. The best poison option I know of is a bait called, Havoc. Rats love it, a d it just takes one nibble! Google it.

Worth1 · June 1, 2017

There is a huge infestation of rats in Austin.
It is said the main infestation and nest is in between 15th street 11th street San Jacinto Blvd and Colorado street.

Worth

Dewayne mater · June 2, 2017

Know your enemy...looks like a job for:

Seriously, I agree they are smart! I have put the 2 hole stations right along their paths. They work on some, because I've been disposing of dead ones. Others seem to prefer tomatoes! Multi front war!

Quote:

Originally Posted by VC Scott

Know your enemy. Rats have a tendency to run in a straight line along the bottom of a house or fence. If you leave a trap in the middle of the yard, you won't catch the rat. He doesn't like to travel in the wide open space. Put the trap next to a fence or wall closest to the garden. If you have a raised bed, put the trap along the wall below the garden.

The bait stations with two holes work great. Position the bait station next to a fence or wall so the rat running along the wall will run straight into the hole in the bait station. Rats love holes. He will find the bait and so long Mr. Rat.

**carolyn137** · June 2, 2017

And here's a story about just one rat that might show you that rats can bond with humans as well

http://honesttopaws.com/farmer-saves-rat/

With the above link you have to see it stop loading before you go to the next page.

At home on the farm my father insisted in throwing all the refuse down an abandoned well,and the rats came running. My mother said, no more and signed up for a refuse truck to pick up the garbge.

Where I am now there was a rat problem ,they came over the hill from a large dairy farm on the other side, got inside the tool shed and ate the black oil seed stored in there, they came under the floor of the tool shed and got in that way.

So my brother put up heavy metal mesh facing inside to hopefully stop them,then they tore a hole in the one window that was in the tool shed which was mesh,so my brother put up two panels of heavy metal mesh over the window and that seemed to stop them.

So I guess they went back over the hill to that large dairy farm, where they milked about 500 cows every day. Their milk was and is, picked up by a huge tanker truck, where it is kept cold,and driven to MA where it's used for both Cabot cheeses as well as McCadam ones . And what they ate over there,I don't know, possibly where the grain is stored for the cows.

So read the link and just think of at least one rat that bonded with a human.

Carolyn, and yes,I do know what happens over there since two brothers own it,Jim and Bobby, and Bobby's wife Kathy is the one who keeps the books and assigns to their many workers what they will be doing each day,etc. Jim is cutting back his hours,and he's the one who picks up my meds from Rite Aid and his wife the school nurse and their son David is one of those who answer 911 calls at the County Center.

tarheelchick · June 2, 2017

.......and now I've got that Michael Jackson song "Ben" playing in my head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g40WCBaUXR4

Country Breeze · June 2, 2017

I purchased a high powered pellet rifle and a nice scope to deal with the rats in the chicken coop. A .177 pellet to the head puts them down fast and humanely.

A cheap infrared scope would help to watch the garden at night when they're out and about.

peebee · June 4, 2017

If using bait stations with those pellets, be sure there are no pets around that could eat a rodent that dies. One day one of my dogs was trying to sneak into the house with a dead rat in his mouth. I grabbed him and hung him upside down, swinging and yelling until he let go (luckily he was a small dog). Found out later that my next door neighbor had bait out in his garage cuz of his rat problem, as I found another dead rat in an area my dogs could not get too, thankfully. Once I alerted my neighbor, he immediately stopped using the bait, and resorted to traps, thank God he was cooperative.
You just don't know how many rodents ate your bait, and I doubt they all die right then and there.

Nematode · June 4, 2017

They are bad here at times.
Extermination company baits them, and we stop noticing them.
"Get rid of them" is probably not realistic. "Reduce their numbers" is with the right stuff.

zeuspaul · June 4, 2017

You have to be careful with snap traps as they often kill birds, lizards and others. I stopped using them except under the hood of my car and in the garage where I have never had an unwanted kill.

Now I use the Atomic Barbie Rat Trap https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...A2RAG6KSLZNX91 I have caught more rats and mice with this than any other trap. It is very sensitive and will catch the smallest mouse. I have also caught squirrels, lizards, birds and snails with this thing. Just let the critter go if you don't want to send it to a better place.

The rat trap has a small mesh so mice can't get in and out to steal the bait.

Hellmanns · June 4, 2017

The best automatic, selective rat trap available. The Goodnature A24
https://youtu.be/f-YFbktaAAg

peebee · June 5, 2017

How about getting a cat or two?

Worth1 · June 5, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by peebee

How about getting a cat or two?

It would have to be a rat cat, not all cats are rat cats.
AKA mousers.
Like us many have not learned to hunt and kill their food and live out of a sack box or can.
Worth

pmcgrady · June 5, 2017

Not many rats around here, but when I installed elevators in Houston I was sent to an elevator pit on B4 level to clean all the garbage out of it... I walked down a dimly lit hallway to the pit door. When I opened it, the pit was full of rats, that ran towards me and the light, I held the door open about a foot, when the rats would get close enough I would slam the steel door on them and then would hang their carcass up by their tails... So I sat there for about an hour smashing rats and had about 30 hanging up when the superintendent of the building came by and asked what the heck I was doing, I told him I was supposed to clean the pit but wouldn't go in there until I got all the rats.
He said take all those rats down, there is an inspection tomorrow and got an exterminator to finish the job.

pmcgrady · June 5, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

It would have to be a rat cat, not all cats are rat cats.
AKA mousers.
Like us many have not learned to hunt and kill their food and live out of a sack box or can.
Worth

Rat terriers were bred for it.

kurt · June 5, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmcgrady

Rat terriers were bred for it.

Wife commandeered two females,I got one from Bavaria that was farm raised,rat trained.This little mutt is the equivalent of a Tasmanian Devil in the canine world.His name is Rommel,named after the "the Desert Rat"himself.2grand papers and quarantine total cost.Sleeping at night knowing that no rats dare enter his perimeter run,priceless.Miniature Pinchers work for us.

June 2, 2017	#19
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	And here's a story about just one rat that might show you that rats can bond with humans as well http://honesttopaws.com/farmer-saves-rat/ With the above link you have to see it stop loading before you go to the next page. At home on the farm my father insisted in throwing all the refuse down an abandoned well,and the rats came running. My mother said, no more and signed up for a refuse truck to pick up the garbge. Where I am now there was a rat problem ,they came over the hill from a large dairy farm on the other side, got inside the tool shed and ate the black oil seed stored in there, they came under the floor of the tool shed and got in that way. So my brother put up heavy metal mesh facing inside to hopefully stop them,then they tore a hole in the one window that was in the tool shed which was mesh,so my brother put up two panels of heavy metal mesh over the window and that seemed to stop them. So I guess they went back over the hill to that large dairy farm, where they milked about 500 cows every day. Their milk was and is, picked up by a huge tanker truck, where it is kept cold,and driven to MA where it's used for both Cabot cheeses as well as McCadam ones . And what they ate over there,I don't know, possibly where the grain is stored for the cows. So read the link and just think of at least one rat that bonded with a human. Carolyn, and yes,I do know what happens over there since two brothers own it,Jim and Bobby, and Bobby's wife Kathy is the one who keeps the books and assigns to their many workers what they will be doing each day,etc. Jim is cutting back his hours,and he's the one who picks up my meds from Rite Aid and his wife the school nurse and their son David is one of those who answer 911 calls at the County Center. __________________ Carolyn

June 4, 2017	#24
zeuspaul Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: North County, San Diego Posts: 419	You have to be careful with snap traps as they often kill birds, lizards and others. I stopped using them except under the hood of my car and in the garage where I have never had an unwanted kill. Now I use the Atomic Barbie Rat Trap https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...A2RAG6KSLZNX91 I have caught more rats and mice with this than any other trap. It is very sensitive and will catch the smallest mouse. I have also caught squirrels, lizards, birds and snails with this thing. Just let the critter go if you don't want to send it to a better place. The rat trap has a small mesh so mice can't get in and out to steal the bait. Last edited by zeuspaul; June 4, 2017 at 01:17 PM. Reason: spelling

June 1, 2017	#16
Hellmanns Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: kentucky Posts: 1,116	Like said, rats are SMART! Snap traps won't kill the big rats, and once they get snapped once they won't go to a trap again. If you set traps for rats they need to be modified rat traps that mean business. The best poison option I know of is a bait called, Havoc. Rats love it, a d it just takes one nibble! Google it.

June 1, 2017	#17
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	There is a huge infestation of rats in Austin. It is said the main infestation and nest is in between 15th street 11th street San Jacinto Blvd and Colorado street. Worth

June 2, 2017	#20
tarheelchick Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: NC Posts: 97	.......and now I've got that Michael Jackson song "Ben" playing in my head. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g40WCBaUXR4

June 2, 2017	#21
Country Breeze Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: On The Mason Dixon Posts: 93	I purchased a high powered pellet rifle and a nice scope to deal with the rats in the chicken coop. A .177 pellet to the head puts them down fast and humanely. A cheap infrared scope would help to watch the garden at night when they're out and about.

June 4, 2017	#22
peebee Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Southern CA Posts: 1,714	If using bait stations with those pellets, be sure there are no pets around that could eat a rodent that dies. One day one of my dogs was trying to sneak into the house with a dead rat in his mouth. I grabbed him and hung him upside down, swinging and yelling until he let go (luckily he was a small dog). Found out later that my next door neighbor had bait out in his garage cuz of his rat problem, as I found another dead rat in an area my dogs could not get too, thankfully. Once I alerted my neighbor, he immediately stopped using the bait, and resorted to traps, thank God he was cooperative. You just don't know how many rodents ate your bait, and I doubt they all die right then and there.

June 4, 2017	#23
Nematode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: massachusetts Posts: 1,710	They are bad here at times. Extermination company baits them, and we stop noticing them. "Get rid of them" is probably not realistic. "Reduce their numbers" is with the right stuff.

June 5, 2017	#26
peebee Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Southern CA Posts: 1,714	How about getting a cat or two?

June 5, 2017	#28
pmcgrady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 1,836	Not many rats around here, but when I installed elevators in Houston I was sent to an elevator pit on B4 level to clean all the garbage out of it... I walked down a dimly lit hallway to the pit door. When I opened it, the pit was full of rats, that ran towards me and the light, I held the door open about a foot, when the rats would get close enough I would slam the steel door on them and then would hang their carcass up by their tails... So I sat there for about an hour smashing rats and had about 30 hanging up when the superintendent of the building came by and asked what the heck I was doing, I told him I was supposed to clean the pit but wouldn't go in there until I got all the rats. He said take all those rats down, there is an inspection tomorrow and got an exterminator to finish the job.