Any tips on getting rid of rats?

[macksmom98]

We had a rat run out of our BBQ grill last night. I am hoping for new litters in less than 30 days, so I don't want them hanging in our back yard. We live in town and behind a field, and also have an old shed in disrepair in our backyard. I am just wondering what the best way to get rid of them will be and also how likely I am to have problems. I had one sucessful litter in the spring and the kits were fine, the rats either didn't find them or wernt around then....

 

[Fireclaws bunnbutts]

Get a cat(or cats) Most barns/horse stables usually have kittens or young cats that are good mouse/ratters that they'd be willing to sell or even give you. Or humane traps baited with pretty much anything, peanut butter or bacon work really well. Spreading poison only causes more problems than it solves because things eat the dead rats and die themselves in turn.


The general rule for any type of rodent is that for every one you see, there are 10 more you don't.

 

[a7736100]

I used Tomcat block rat poison. It's kind of pricy I placed one block at a time in a wire cage till they stop disappearing. Now I don't leave vegetables and fruits outdoors and feed is in a metal garbage can.

 

[macksmom98]

I have a cat, but I have been told cats usually won't tussle with rats. They are too big and right back too much. Nice, yes she would get rid of them. And I just worry about the cat eating the rat poision, otherwise is id be eager to use that......gross, don't want to think of 10 more hanging around! Feed is in a metal garbage can except for the chickens and rabbits that have free access to feed all the time in their feeders...

 

[FourRingCircus]

I have a cat, but I have been told cats usually won't tussle with rats. They are too big and right back too much. Nice, yes she would get rid of them. And I just worry about the cat eating the rat poision, otherwise is id be eager to use that......gross, don't want to think of 10 more hanging around! Feed is in a metal garbage can except for the chickens and rabbits that have free access to feed all the time in their feeders...

At one point in time our cat was so kind to deliver a good sized rat to the doorstep :x . It was a one time occurrence, but it can happen!

I saw one run out from an old smoke house building on our rental property while I was mowing. I HATE those things!

 

[alforddm]

Hehe yeah, I woke up one morning to a half eaten rat in the floor. It was a huge rat and the cat was a small little thing. It can be done!

 

[MaggieJ]

We have had two major rat infestations. One we inherited when we bought this property. The second we inadvertently imported in a load of hay bales. You live and you learn, usually in that order.

Using poison, we found just over 30 dead or dying rats. Every morning we would walk the chicken yard and surrounding areas and remove the carcasses. I figure for every dead rat we found there were 5-10 more that died in hidden places.

This helped thin out the rat population. Keeping it in check meant the rats were no longer so aggressive because they were no longer outstripping the available feed. But it was not until a mink took up residence that the rats were truly exterminated.

The second infestation was halted by a weasel. It also took three of our hens when it gained access to the coop via a rat hole. But not until it had cleaned out the rats! Both mink and weasel seemed to prefer rat meat to anything else. I considered losing the hens a small price to pay to be rid of the rats. Once we found and patched the access holes, we had no further problems.

 

[Fireclaws bunnbutts]

Cats can pretty much handle anything, if they're up for it. It also helps if their own mothers hunted rats, as a lot of cats seem put off by the musty/sour rat smells. Got one cat that regularly catches rabbits and squirrels as big as she is opcorn:

One of my 6 month old kittens has taken after her mother and has gotten really good at catching birds mid-air :shock:

 

[Tiny Buns]

Just had this problem... :x

Sticky traps worked on the two wharf rats and the pack rack. Also used a snap trap. Inhumane yes, but I won't tolerate the mess and disease they bring into my home, yard, rabbitry and life.

 

[macksmom98]

Tiny Buns, did you put them out side too?

 

[Tiny Buns]

We had a pack rat (shudder) in my 20'x24' workshop. It got into my entire classroom worth of stuff packed up and stored there awaiting my move to my new room. Gross.

A week later I see a wharf rat hanging out in my tree in the backyard. Gaaaahhh. Snap trap got the first one and a surprise second in the sticky trap the next day.

So yes, indoor and outdoor.

 

[macksmom98]

Ok. I'll start doing that. I think I can find some places where it won't affect the cat. We have several outdoor stray cats so if they were going to hunt they would be doing it. I have heard sometimes mice will smell cats and stay away. But that doesn't seem to case here..... <br /><br /> -- Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:31 am -- <br /><br /> So when the rat ran out of the grill the cat did shoot off chasing it. And today I found 1/2 of the rats body in the backyard, so I guess she IS helping us out with that after all! We have had her for a year now and she's always looking like she's scoping things out but I never see her with much or evidence that she's a hunter. I also found a dead hummingbird that she was just playing with too. Those suckers are fast so she must be pretty good!

 

[akane]

I have plaster! Turn it into bait and kill the rodents for good. :twisted:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Australian Shepherds and Border Collies are excellent ratters. Our dogs caught a rat yesterday as a matter of fact. Two of our young pups had it until Switch snatched it away from them and promptly ate it.

Other than that option, you can try making "killer cupcakes" for them or use a bucket trap. Both methods are discussed in this thread:

post109068.html

 

[wamplercathy]

We had a Westie at one point. They're suppose to be good mouse/rat dogs. So when a mouse came out from under our TV I yelled for our dog and said: "get him". The dog being a good dog went to investigate. Found the mouse and then hauled tail back to the chair I was sitting in and jumped in my lap. We looked at each other and I asked where was the mouse. He looked at the corner and then back at me. At this point it came running out. I yelled at him again to get it and he just sat there.

Anyways if you are concerned about using poison then try soda. They can't digest the seltzer and their tummies explode. :twisted:

 

[akane]

From the linked to thread chocolate does not kill mice and rats. We've had them get into chocolate chips and such all the time and they don't die. We even tried letting them get in to it on purpose. Might have made some sick rodents for awhile, I don't know, but the numbers did not go down at all.

 

[wamplercathy]

From the linked to thread chocolate does not kill mice and rats. We've had them get into chocolate chips and such all the time and they don't die. We even tried letting them get in to it on purpose. Might have made some sick rodents for awhile, I don't know, but the numbers did not go down at all.

My brother has had several pet rats and they can eat anything we can. Well with the exception of soda. That doesn't end well for them. :twisted: :lol: :lol:

 

[TF3]

1) Move!
2) a terrier?
3) traps... rats are crazy smart... but they are creatures of habit, so once you know their travel lines (they will use the same paths as much as possible) you can intervene there with something that outsmarts them.


*shiver* just move.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

1) Move!


*shiver* just move.

*Snort!*

:rotfl:

 

[Marinea]

We started with a rat blitzkrieg and are now fighting a rare skirmish with the furry demons. We have used three methods- a .22 rifle with a scope (when they were brazen in running around the chicken coop), a poison called One Bite (put out in areas unaccessible to other critters), and a simple bucket half filled with water (when we determined their exit path from our raised off the ground chicken coop). All worked well, and we did not see a single rat for over a year, until the other day...

We were lounging near the rabbitry when we noticed our youngest dog Skeeter fascinated with the underside of our Jeep. He kept looking up at the underside of the car and whining. Hubby's first thought was a snake, so I walked over and banged on the side panel. Nothing, and Skeeter was still there, alert and whining. Hubby went and grabbed a sling blade and handed it to me, asking me to be ready to kill the snake if it slithered out when he popped the hood. Side note: hubby HATES snakes, and we have rattlers around here.

So, there I stood, ready to save hubby. He popped the hood, and a brown blur came barreling out. I had just enough time to recognize it was a rat and ready my weapon to dispatch it when Skeeter's mad fury made it change direction, and it proceeded to run up my leg! I admit I screamed like a girl, because, well, I am one, and I think I set a world record for a standing long jump by a 50ish lady, and off went Mr. Rat, to be quickly dispatched by the dogs. Once I calmed down, I asked my hubby what he was thinking handing me a sharp device like a sling blade, because I am almost sure that if that plague carrying vermin had been on my leg for two more seconds, I would now be known, affectionately of course, as Stumpy.