Help me get rid of my nightly visitors!!!!!

[Marinefam2053]

I don’t have pictures right now. I could take some later (it’s roughly 108 degrees here today!!!) we haven’t placed the wire down very far. But the rats are digging tunnels and the piles of dirt they are pushing up is about a foot or more deep in places!!! And they are tunneling from all the way across the back yard (several hundred feet). I’ve tried everything from putting ammonia into the tunnels, moth balls, gopher gassers. You name it I’ve tried it. The last 2 weeks I’m completely worn out. I find more holes where they tunnel out or in. And they tear up my fencing. We have an old dog out back but he’s completely blind and bless his poor old heart, he tries to find them when he can. Every day I’m coming in from outside in tears because I don’t know what to do. I even told my husband we need to sit out there as still as possible and pick them off one at a time with a firearm.

Try to avoid using moth balls. They are so bad for the ecosystem. If they get into any kind of runoff water/retention pond, it will kill everything in that pond. I don’t have any solution for you. We have found in our shed a rat and her newborn babies nestled within some decorations. All of them we killed and disposed of. I’m sure that there is still one hanging around, but all of the food etc is in metal bins with the kids secured.

 

[CassieD]

Oh my gosh same problem. It started with my garden. Every new plant got eaten to the ground. My chicken run is separated by a high fence. I have a treadle feeder that they can’t get into but I also put out some open food. There was rat droppings in the open feeder. I had to take that up at night. As much as I absolutely hated it I finally put out traps. That was the only way I could grow the garden. I do also have some bait boxes but that wasn’t doing the trick. The best traps I found (and told they were the most humane) were the plastic ones with teeth on one end that slam shut and you squeeze the opposite end to release the dead rat into the trash. I would cry every morning while wearing sunglasses and long gloves to survey the killing fields around the garden. Once I thinned out the population my garden grew and no rat poop in the run. I check the girls each night though and there was a rat again. Bait must be gone and traps may have to go out again. Good luck

 

[HBaisden]

I am at my wits end. We tried to figure out what was getting into the chicken run and coops. Bought a trail cam and it’s rats!!!! And OMG there are quite a few!! Please tell me there is hope to get rid of them. The neighbors cats are trying but I think there’s too many. I know the exterminator is gonna cost me a fortune. Any suggestions to try first? You cannot imagine the horrible painful death I’m wishing on every one of them

You need to get a Rinne Traps flip n slide bucket lid mouse/rat trap, they sale them on Amazon for around $15. Look it up on YouTube and watch the reviews. Shawn Woods has a video review, and a link for Amazon to purchase one. go watch it.

 

[Ecatocsc]

I am at my wits end. We tried to figure out what was getting into the chicken run and coops. Bought a trail cam and it’s rats!!!! And OMG there are quite a few!! Please tell me there is hope to get rid of them. The neighbors cats are trying but I think there’s too many. I know the exterminator is gonna cost me a fortune. Any suggestions to try first? You cannot imagine the horrible painful death I’m wishing on every one of them

I had the same problem I made a rat box cut a hole in it put the one bite rat poison In the box magically it was gone the next day I kept doing that until the last one stayed in it and picked up dead rats everywhere & buried them. Do you have to go on rat patrol every morning and every evening to pick up the dead rats you don’t want your dogs or cats to eat them.

 

[SoCalGal]

Please do not use poison! It gets into the systems of predators and kills them. Barn owls, owls, cats, coyotes, cougars, whatever predators you have locally. We need these guys! Use a trap or something like RatX which kills the rats but is not harmful to other creatures. I am a reformed poisoner who hated the rats, mice and ground squirrels who threatened my pets and yard. Even used ::shudder:: RoundUp. 2 of my pets developed tumors on their feet. . .I quit RoundUp and all poisons. No more tumors, we have pests but manage them (and the weeds!) by non-toxic means. Healthier for all, including the bees and other pollinators too! I have over an acre so I am not speaking as a managing a small area. It CAN be done, poison-free.

 

[Judy Todd]

Also watch JOSEPH CARTER THE MINK MAN. Terriers are the way to go!!

Wow, I had forgotten, it has been 40 years since I had terriers. Yes, they are terrifiv ratters,
and good watch dogs. Trained them to leave the chickens alone, they are very smart. I had wire fox. Never had a rat problem when I had them.

 

[Judy Todd]

We live in the woods and have the occasional field mouse or wood rat show up. It used to be really bad but we keep the Tomcat disposable rat and mice bait stations out all the time now. Haven't seen a mouse or rat, live or dead, near the house or barn in years now, but over time the bait still disappears.

If you have the number of rats you claim, it will take awhile to get rid of them. First thing to do is stop feeding them ... it takes a lot of, easy to get, food to sustain that many rodents. As mentioned by other posters, you need to rodent proof all of your feed storage containers and feeders. Once you start putting the bait stations out you must keep doing it. Even after you THINK all the rodents are gone. Every few days make a round of the bait stations and check that they still have bait left. If they are empty, replace them immediately.

In the beginning you may be replacing bait stations daily, but as they eat the bait and die you will start seeing fewer and fewer rats/mice. You can confirm this by the longer times in between bait changes.

Some folks have mentioned single kill or live traps. If you have one or two pests these may help out .... if you have bunches of them you will never be able to control them by killing them one at a time.

I finally hired an exterminator, becasue I had rats, mice, hornets, stink bugs and carpenter ants. I am 82 and widowed, my results were always temporary at the best. Iknow it is expensive, $125 a quarter, but all problems solved after only 3 visits, so worth the cost.
Not just the rats, but the carpenter ants were eating the big 2 by 10s that were the foundation of the barn. In order to take care of this I ahd to get up a ladder at least 12 feet or hire someone to do this. So, like I said, money spent very worthwhile. Have not seen one rat or mouse dropping for a year. Hornets controled and stink bugs gone for good. The bait stations are large black boxes and the they pomise that if one of my animals chews on a rodent tht got the bait, it will not harm them. Good luck, so far.

 

[rlhagan56]

2 Years ago we were overrun with mice. It was horrible. I got Tomcat Bait Stations and it worked fast and safe. I put them on 2x4's in the litter along where floor meets walls. Chickens can't get into it, only mice or rats. They also die quite a distance away which I really appreciated.

 

[goldenyears]

I wouldn't poison because other animals/chickens could be harmed.
We had a rat we couldn't get rid of trying various traps. We finally got a live trap at TSC and it worked like a charm. Just be sure to take the rats at least 2 miles away or they will come right back.

I wouldn’t move the rats to become someone else’s problem. If you use a live trap, a .22 to the head a good solution. When used properly, poison is effective. It may take a while to defeat the colony, so stay positive and vigilant. Good luck!

 

[45lk9p459gm-w]

I use a tube of fluoride toothpaste with a slot cut into it and place it somewhere the girls cannot access it. In a few days, the rats will eat it and die. It saves on having poison around and does the job.

I had to source this one .... It does seem to work

source #1

source #2 (this is located on a political site so avoid it if politics may offend you)

source #3