I spy with my two eyes... RATS

[AnaD]

Well, our good neighborhood rat killer has moved to a new home and I have noticed early in the morning a rat(s?) running along the fence. I don't want to set up poison because I'm not a poison kinda person. I don't want to set up traps because the dang squrrels are my friends, not to mention our not so good killing cat uses the fence to walk on. What do I do?

 

[bywaterdog]

"By the way Blanche, we have rats in the cellar."

 

[Matt A NC]

If you will not trap or poison, then you are going to be over run with rats in a very short amount of time. Even faster if they can gain access to food of any kind.

You could try the live traps and release the squirrels.

Matt

 

[1-duckling]

Ah, the sweet rat issue. Had the same problem due to newer neighbors stacking their household garbage in piles only taking it to the dump once a year. Had a great time popping them with the .22 loaded with bird shot. (The rats not the neighbors. Hee hee!)Also had to put out the big plastic rat traps. The geese also would grab the young rats and drown them in their water. Even with all that effort I still ended up resorting to one bite bars. I made a wooden box with a hole big enough for the rat to go in. On the inside I tied the one bite bar. It took several weeks and a talk to the neighbor about taking care of their trash before the problem subsided. Hope you can find a way that works for you before they take hold and multiply.

 

[AnaD]

I think I need a chicken loving rat killing cat. Small dogs are useless...

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Quote:
X2

 

[aubreynoramarie]

i was gonna say why not try getting another cat... My cats are pampered housepets half the time, and ferocious mouse killing machines the other half. They are also terrified of the chickens, and run away from them whenever they are in the yard together, lol...

 

[john in wa]

I don't know about your cats but mine wont touch a dirty rat but i just got a puppy and she has killed 3 rats in the last couple weeks. she is some kind of a terrier mix not much bigger than a chihuahua and 100 times smarter than a chihuahua. here is a little pic of her, she is ADHD and is always going 100 miles an hour. I am trying to teach her to leave the chickens alone and that seems to be going good. As you can see from the pic she is a thinker and problem solver.

And i do have a chihuahua to back that up. she is dumb as a box of rocks but we love her anyway.

 

[Imp]

My next door neighbor's golden retriever is a great ratter.

But I'd go with a poison, with appropriate precautions.

Imp

 

[AnaD]

Aww, terriers are great ratters, not to mention cute as all get out. Mine are just lapdogs. I need a good cat. It is the only natural solution. Poison isn't an option. Live trap is also a good idea.