Rat problem almost solved, and the one thats left...

[dawg53]

Rats ARE very wary, AFTER the fact LOL. I only purchased the electronic trap when all the other traps failed ie; standard snap traps baited w/ cheese or peanut butter, glue traps work well for mice, but not rats. Various poison baits, they get used to those and then avoid them altogether after awhile. Cayenne pepper works for mice, but not rats. (It worked on me too.)

What truly works and deters them for months are ammonia soaked rags hung out on the chicken wire around the pen at night. Then removed the next morning before letting birds out in the mornings. Do that for 3 or 4 nights and it's bye bye rats. The ammonia fumes burns their sensitive noses. They remember that! Wear a mask and those yellow gloves (forgot the name) when setting out ammonia soaked rags. I use a 5 gallon bucket to soak the rags.

 

[BelovedBirds]

I am dumbfounded.
Im waiting on the electric trap to arrive, so still using my livetrap until it gets here. I accidently left it outside of the pen last night, typically not a big deal, but it leaves the trap open to anything.

Well, today I found it gone off, several feet from where it was set, on its side. But empty. The trap is undamaged.
I looked closely and found a few, small, drops of blood inside, mainly on the trigger plate. I combed the area thoroughly, no other traces of blood.
So my first thought was, well, perhaps a fox found a rat in the trap and that explains it being moved, and the blood. But, there is absolutely no way a fox could have opened that trap door to get the rat out. it's difficult enough for me, it's a two handed, rather fiddly job. Even if it had tried, I would have expected a lot more blood in the scene, and remains.

We don't get raccoons or anything like that here. I can't think of anything more able than a fox.
So I don't think that's possible.

Could a larger critter have tried getting the food and been injured somehow? If big enough, their lower body could have prevented the door from closing, and they could have wiggled out. I just can't figure out how they'd injur themselves.

Any thoughts? Either way, lesson learned, I'll double check I leave it inside the pen next time.

 

[Krugerrand]

Sounds like a trail camera could be useful.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Sounds like a trail camera could be useful.

Sure wish I had one set up, really confused as to what went on last night

 

[NatJ]

Could a larger critter have tried getting the food and been injured somehow? If big enough, their lower body could have prevented the door from closing, and they could have wiggled out. I just can't figure out how they'd injur themselves.

Depending on the size of the trap, could it have been something like a cat or a stray dog?

A big enough animal might put a paw inside rather than their whole body, or might have tried to drag or shake the trap to get the bait without going inside it. Anything poky on the outside of the trap might have a chance of injuring them.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Depending on the size of the trap, could it have been something like a cat or a stray dog?

A big enough animal might put a paw inside rather than their whole body, or might have tried to drag or shake the trap to get the bait without going inside it. Anything poky on the outside of the trap might have a chance of injuring them.

The bait inside was eaten, so I think whatever it was must have put its head inside, I can't see any sharp edges, but the metal trigger plate could possible have been sharp enough to cut.
Cats rarely come in the garden, but are a possibility, dogs can't get in

 

[BelovedBirds]

Well, I'm probably speaking much too soon, but I haven't seen a single rat, or sign of a rat, since the trap confusion. Maybe still out there, but I think my neighbours or their cats may have eliminated the remaining ones. Either way, population is continuing to decline.
I'm having a spring clean out of the pen end of this month, I'll try and bump my security, and raise my coop a bit. Take more precautions to prevent them coming back.

Feeling positive about it though

 

[BelovedBirds]

Nope, I was definitely being naiive, unless more rats have moved in, they were just laying low after all.
I keep seeing two at a time, eating my ducks food, so that my poor girls are not only dealing with the stress of the rodents, but also going hungry for large parts of the day, and I'm not having that.
I heard yesterday that there's a boom of rats in our area, too, so many massive rats that they're causing damage to our landscape, so I heard.

So I can't in good conscience relocate anymore, they definitely need to be culled. So I'm using my preferred humane method of electric traps, though the rats are cautious around them. But I'm also using home-made poison, I'm being careful about other wildlife of course, but I need to use both methods together to eliminate the issue, unfortunately.

I'll update on how the kill methods work once it's all under control, I hate causing any pain to any animal, but I will always prioritise my girls health and wellbeing

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

The rats are just out of control this year we are live trapping and shooting them to at least try and keep the numbers down. Relocating for me is just putting the problem onto someone else. They will never be eradicated though but numbers under control possibly. Where I work on a morning they are lining up under the coop waiting for the chickens to be fed! My mother has had god knows how many on her bird feeders and we have them in the feed room at the stables but I have snap traps always set there to catch them! These are good snap traps ~

Straight on his head and dead!
@BelovedBirds you can’t relocate grey squirrels over here because they an invasive species. They are forcing our native reds out of their habitats and are taking over. As my son and his dad say “tree rats that need keeping under control with culling”

 

[BelovedBirds]

The rats are just out of control this year we are live trapping and shooting them to at least try and keep the numbers down. Relocating for me is just putting the problem onto someone else. They will never be eradicated though but numbers under control possibly. Where I work on a morning they are lining up under the coop waiting for the chickens to be fed! My mother has had god knows how many on her bird feeders and we have them in the feed room at the stables but I have snap traps always set there to catch them! These are good snap traps ~
View attachment 3422539
View attachment 3422540Straight on his head and dead!
@BelovedBirds you can’t relocate grey squirrels over here because they an invasive species. They are forcing our native reds out of their habitats and are taking over. As my son and his dad say “tree rats that need keeping under control with culling”

I get that about the squirrels, but in my view, and this is just my view, nature finds its balance. Grey squirrels have been part of our wildlife for such a long time. We don't really have reds anymore. Why shouldn't the greys be accepted at this point? They're never going to disappear. Keeping the numbers in line if they spike? sure, but we can't eliminate them at this point.

Relocating is a nice option, if and only if they're far enough away from farms and homes. Relocating the odd rat or mouse doesn't hurt, but at this point, they're an issue for my area, so I have to use kill methods now.

Snap traps can work well. And in truth would be more humane than poison, except when it doesnt work correctly. In some situations it doesnt kill instantly and leaves them suffering, which is why i choose other options.