Bobcat/Coyote/Fox Urine as Rat deterent - Has anyone had any luck?

[animalgrl]

So, I have rats in my backyard, apparently. I take the chicken food in each night and pick up the waterer. I've cleared the yard of most good rat hiding places that I can. I put a couple of traps in the shed, but no luck with those yet. The stupid creatures won't go away and have started tunneling under the edge of my run. They can't get into the coop, but they do get into the run. I rent and can't do anything permanent like dig up the ground and bury hardware cloth, but I do intend to place pavers around the outside edge of the run this weekend to try to stop the tunneling under. I won't use poison because I have dogs and so do my neighbors and I don't want to poison wildlife. I plan to put out more traps. I want these rats gone! Has anyone had any success in using bobcat, coyote or fox urine that you can buy to convince rats to go away?

 

[TalkALittle]

Do you have a lot of spillage? Even though you take in the feeders, if there is any spilled/scattered feed on the ground it will attract them.

Sorry, no advice on the urine.

 

[BBQJOE]

Has anyone had any success in using bobcat, coyote or fox urine that you can buy to convince rats to go away?

Yes.
Use any of the above mentioned urines. Dip a .22 cal bullet in it, and the shoot the rats.

 

[animalgrl]

Quote:
Not normally. I check for spillage and never see any, and I rarely feed scraps on the ground and pick up any leftovers daily. I do have a little feed spillage right now from two new pullets, but they are still in quarantine on the other side of the house from my chicken run, so that isn't what they are digging into the run for. I guess I'll order some predator pee and try it. It will probably drive the dogs nuts, but I'm willing to try just about anything at this point. I want the filthy rascals gone!

 

[animalgrl]

Yes.
Use any of the above mentioned urines. Dip a .22 cal bullet in it, and the shoot the rats.

Unfortunately I live in a fairly dense urban area. I fear that method would be frowned upon. Although I'm sure it is effective if you have the skill to hit a running rat.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

For any of theses biological byproducts to be efective at discourging rats you need the pee producers on hand to distribute the biological byproducts. I and my chickens will take our chances with the rats thank you. A .22 or .17 caliber pellet gun is more than powerful enough to kill rats, just sit still until the rodent stops moving then lower the boom on him.

 

[animalgrl]

For any of theses biological byproducts to be efective at discourging rats you need the pee producers on hand to distribute the biological byproducts. I and my chickens will take our chances with the rats thank you. A .22 or .17 caliber pellet gun is more than powerful enough to kill rats, just sit still until the rodent stops moving then lower the boom on him.

Yeah, I'm skeptical since my "biological byproduct producers" (AKA Dogs) distribute their byproducts all over the yard and my male likes to lift his legs on the outside of the chicken run and that hasn't kept the rats away. I did catch two in traps last night, though. I noticed that they had been in the quarantine pen as well as the main run. Since the quarantine pen is only about 12 square feet, I left some of the spilled food on the floor, baited 5 snap traps with a combination of a suet containing chicken treat (that my chickens don't seem to care for - so repurposed it as rat bait) and layer pellets and arranged them along the inside walls of the quarantine pen (after removing the quarantined pullets to a dog crate for the night). This morning, all traps were tripped and two had dead rats. I hate to have to kill them, but I know they'll just overrun us if we don't. Since we've only ever seen two at a time, I feel like maybe we got them all. But alas, I know that there are others lurking in the shadows. So I will bait the traps again tonight.

 

[BBQJOE]

An excellent almost always reusable bait for a snap trap: Hot glue a pistachio nut on the trigger.
They rarely get it off, and it usually remains in place after the trap has done its job.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Yeah, I'm skeptical since my "biological byproduct producers" (AKA Dogs) distribute their byproducts all over the yard and my male likes to lift his legs on the outside of the chicken run and that hasn't kept the rats away. I did catch two in traps last night, though.... This morning, all traps were tripped and two had dead rats. I hate to have to kill them, but I know they'll just overrun us if we don't. Since we've only ever seen two at a time, I feel like maybe we got them all. But alas, I know that there are others lurking in the shadows.....

Rats reproduce faster than... well faster than rats.

Noah saved one pair of rats to what purpose I have yet to understand. Ever since that day humans have struggled to stay even with Herr Rat. Some times i think that the rats are gaining on us.

Perhaps training your dog to increase the accuracy of his "biological byproduct applications" would produce better results. Get him to aim squarely between the rats' beady little eyes. I know that this won't work but for those of us who have dealt with rats before, you gotta love the imagery.

 

[BBQJOE]

Rats reproduce faster than... well faster than rats.

Noah saved one pair of rats to what purpose I have yet to understand. Ever since that day humans have struggled to stay even with Herr Rat. Some times i think that the rats are gaining on us.

Perhaps training your dog to increase the accuracy of his "biological byproduct applications" would produce better results.

Jack Russells hate the daylights out of rodents. Just sayin'.