Generally I bring all feed and water inside feed room and lock away, but I didn’t figure they could get into the Summer House, it actually squeezed between the door and the support post. There is small 1x2 gap at the post, I watched it squeeze in there. I will fix that tomorrow.Oh, so sorry! Yes, they chew small holes a bit larger to squeeze into things except metal barriers like hardware cloth or solid paver stones is about the only way to barricade.
The little rascals ~ we just keep our traps out all the time now since our live trap has been working so well. Years ago we had to buy lidded metal trash cans to store bagged feed & straw & for our recyclables cuz anything sweet or fragrant attracts them. That's why sweet grapes work so well as trap bait. We never planted sweet stone fruit trees either but our neighbors have so it's inevitable that rats are in the 'hood.
If rats only had one or two babies at a time it wouldn't be so bad but they breed tons of pinkies every 2-3 months! Yuck! Just protecting our supplies isn't enough, we have to be aggressive at getting rid of the prolific pests cuz they overbreed an area in no time. People are forced/motivated to eradicate in any way that works best for them.
Our Kensizer Humane Rat Trap, Chipmunk Rodent Trap That Work for Indoor and Outdoor Small Animals ~ we plunge the cage into a small trash can of water to drown the captured rodent. Electronic zappers take about 2 minutes to kill a rat & so does drowning. Not pleasant to kill but being overrun by wild rodents is worse.
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Tonight the zap trap and the snap trap. I am tired of vermin.