How to get rid of rats?

[The Phantom]

Have you seen the five gallon bucket filled with water? You put a bar across the top and smear peanut butter on it.. when they try to get it they fall into the water a drown... google it or go on YouTube...

Yes! I have heard where you fill it with water and put sunflower seeds in it because the seeds float and look like their solid.

 

[TheRealWitwiki]

If you don't want to use poison try this pneumatic rat/squirrel killer. Go on YouTube and look up a guy named Shawn Woods he does a video serious called Mouse Trap Monday. He has a video with this particular device on how to set up and use properly. It is extremely effective.

 

[The Dapper Duck]

You have to immerse the whole trap with the rat in it . do not just dump the rat into the bucket, it will get away..

My bad, I didn't fully explain that one. Yea, you dunk the whole cage trap in the bucket and give it at least two minutes to make sure it's down for the count. And it's important to note that the bucket be filled prior to adding the rat. I've seen someone put the rat/trap in an empty bucket and fill it with a hose. Yikes, talk about a messed up way to go.

Have you seen the five gallon bucket filled with water? You put a bar across the top and smear peanut butter on it.. when they try to get it they fall into the water a drown... google it or go on YouTube...

Grandpa had that setup in his shop for mice. He skewered a soda can on the bar so it would spin and put the peanut butter on that. You could use some PVC or something too.

 

[The Dapper Duck]

View attachment 1740421 If you don't want to use poison try this pneumatic rat/squirrel killer. Go on YouTube and look up a guy named Shawn Woods he does a video serious called Mouse Trap Monday. He has a video with this particular device on how to set up and use properly. It is extremely effective.

I don't mean to throw shade on Goodnature, but I have used these extensively for my profession. I know I will upset some people when I say this, but they're a very expensive gimmick. They will kill rats, no doubt. But I have done some baiting trials with them on an island in Southern California and in the Mariana Islands using cameras to record kills/visitation and it's less than 1%. Nobody sees how few you are actually catching compared to how many come take a sniff because they just see bodies or a number on the hit counter. But that's akin to what someone said at the beginning of this thread, where you see one dead rat under an A24 there are a dozen that have been sniffing at the thing all week and they're all too wary to stick their head up there.

Again, not saying adding one of these won't help, because diversifying your methods is a good way to maximize captures. I'm just speaking from experience. I captured, tagged, and recaptured over 700 black rats for my M.S. and I settled on live traps with coconut because that was the most effective trap I knew. Maybe that's by bias

 

[TheRealWitwiki]

I don't mean to throw shade on Goodnature, but I have used these extensively for my profession. I know I will upset some people when I say this, but they're a very expensive gimmick. They will kill rats, no doubt. But I have done some baiting trials with them on an island in Southern California and in the Mariana Islands using cameras to record kills/visitation and it's less than 1%. Nobody sees how few you are actually catching compared to how many come take a sniff because they just see bodies or a number on the hit counter. But that's akin to what someone said at the beginning of this thread, where you see one dead rat under an A24 there are a dozen that have been sniffing at the thing all week and they're all too wary to stick their head up there.

Again, not saying adding one of these won't help, because diversifying your methods is a good way to maximize captures. I'm just speaking from experience. I captured, tagged, and recaptured over 700 black rats for my M.S. and I settled on live traps with coconut because that was the most effective trap I knew. Maybe that's by bias

Hey Dapper Duck...my suggestion wasn't from experience it was just an idea. There's always more than one way to skin a rat I thought maybe if the person didn't want to poison the rats that this method would be more humane since it kills instantly. Of course other rats would be wary as their brothers and sisters are piling up dead. My suggestion would be to check the unit twice a day and immediately dispose of any dead rats and to even change the location of the unit a few times a week to keep them interested. It's not a guarantee that you will eradicate every rat, but to people who may be sensitive towards killing animals even though they are pests I thought it was the humane way to go. Personally I like to use the large wooden snap traps they work great, but like catching mice it's not a guarantee either. Just throwing out ideas to help fellow chicken keepers

 

[The Dapper Duck]

Hey Dapper Duck...my suggestion wasn't from experience it was just an idea. There's always more than one way to skin a rat I thought maybe if the person didn't want to poison the rats that this method would be more humane since it kills instantly. Of course other rats would be wary as their brothers and sisters are piling up dead. My suggestion would be to check the unit twice a day and immediately dispose of any dead rats and to even change the location of the unit a few times a week to keep them interested. It's not a guarantee that you will eradicate every rat, but to people who may be sensitive towards killing animals even though they are pests I thought it was the humane way to go. Personally I like to use the large wooden snap traps they work great, but like catching mice it's not a guarantee either. Just throwing out ideas to help fellow chicken keepers

Oh, I definitely see the appeal and appreciate that you brought it up. My beef is with efficacy and that they are very expensive. Your wooden Victor Museum Specials are actually better at killing rats than this thing and you could buy a couple cases of them for the price of an A24.

 

[Celticdragonfly]

I share with you a Robert A. Heinlein quote I'm fond of, from his book _Friday_

• Boss, killing a rat is no problem. Stuff it into a sack. Beat the sack with an ax. Then shoot it. Then drown it. Burn the sack with the dead rat in it. Meanwhile its mate has raised another litter of pups and you now have a dozen rats to replace it. Boss, all we've ever been able to do with rats is fight them to a draw. We never win. If we let up for a moment the rats pull ahead.

 

[jvls1942]

rats are resilient, for sure.
if you plan on drowning them, two minutes is not enough.. I have seen rats revive after a five minute dunking..
you can eliminate all of them, but you cannot let up until you have won.
steel spring traps are very good.
for any trap, tie it down. the rat will run off with any trap that is not secured.
BTDT lllllljiminwiscllllll,

 

[The Dapper Duck]

for any trap, tie it down. the rat will run off with any trap that is not secured.

Good point! And yea, it never hurts to give them a little longer soak I suppose. I once saw an opossum come out of a 5min soak in a creek and when we dumped him out of the trap he took a deep breath of air.

 

[Nats Chickens]

Thanks guys!