It's rat carnage out there!!!

[N2Shown]

Wolf,

While I think that we can all appreciate your concern for life, rats are a filthy, disease and pest carrying creature. The only effective method to get rid of those creatures is the poison bait. I tried many other forms including ALL of those that you have list and none were able to completely rid my place of the rat problem. After losing a couple of my exotic bird hens to them I gave in and put poison boxes in some of their known locations. A short time later, no rats, end of problem. Since that time I have maintained those boxes and have never had a rat "problem" again.

 

[Merryment]

Points on both sides noted. I think it's time to ratchet down the rhetoric & return to civility.

I'm glad the rat problem is abating, and hope you don't have to do a second round. Even one rat is a sucky problem, and some of them are just too smart for snap traps.

I had to resort to a Rat Zapper - taser technology for vermin -and it worked well. Got one rat that was so big & fat its butt stuck out the end a couple of inches, with a tail as big around as my pinky. It was coming under the privacy fence from my neighbor's, where it had apparently been richly dining on fast food leftovers. I've had really good luck with the Rat Zapper, but then again, it wasn't a big rat problem. I use it in the garage in the fall & winter for mice. Also, I quit using straw in the run, just wood shavings, put the feed up every night, & that has helped a lot. Every situation is different, though.

Rats & mice are one the unglamorous facts of life with chicken keeping that tends not to get much press.

 

[jason_mazzy]

Thats awesome! KIll 'em all!!!!!!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Did the Rat Zapper really work? Did you put it outside in an exposed place or inside (like in a barn or garage)? Have you ever uesed it around your chickens? It says to bait it with ordinary pet food and my chickens LOVE cat food. I'd hate to put it somewhere they could stick their head in and get zapped. How long have you used it?

 

[DickGJ]

Quote:
I wonder if the rats "smoked" after getting zapped/toasted!

 

[Merryment]

I've had it about a year. I put it in a tupperware bread box with an opening cut into it. I baited it with seeds & corn, or peanut butter in a bottle cap, or bread. I just picked it up in the morning before I let the chooks out, set it out again when they're put up at night. I wear throw away nitrile gloves, so they don't pick up the human scent.

It helps to study where their pathways are & place it along there, bait it without arming for a few days, then set it after you've seen feeding activity. The zapper is in the back, and the thing is almost a foot long, but I've seen how far a chicken can stick its neck out when motivated!

We'll probably set it up out by the wood pile this fall & reduce any population that may have set up there. We haven't had any rat activity since late last fall. Mice were under control before Xmas. It's an investment, but we had good luck with it. Keep it dry.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Oooo... the bread box is a good idea. I will have to explore this further. I hate using poison for many, many reasons. I just want the rats to go away. If only that darn cat were any good...

 

[Merryment]

Not much 'smoking'! Though once I thought I smelled singed hair. Otherwise, they just look like they're asleep. It hits 'em hard & fast.

We do call the Zapper Ol' Sparky, though...

 

[ailurophile23]

CityGirlintheCountry - I feel for you both with respect to the rodent probelm and perhaps more so with respect to the rat-loving cat! I currently have 8 incompetent cats - 4 outside for the barns and 4 inside. We frequently have mice in the house and in the barns. One of the outside cats was actually caught watching a mouse climb over the top of his food bowl, but he chose to ignore the mouse and return to the kibble. The inside cats are similarly useless. Up until recently, I had caught more mice than they had - all four would gather in a semi-circle and "point" to a mouse but it took me and a box to catch the creatures. If the cats actually caught one, they tended to play with it or fight over it and the mice frequently got away. Thank goodness, we now have a rodent destroying dog - he spends much of his time in the house and, if by some miracle, the cats catch a mouse, I tell the dog and he takes it from the cats, kills the mouse, and takes it outside. If the cats are merely "pointing" to a mouse, the dog gets involved, catches the mouse, kills it and takes it outside. The dog also patrols the yard for rodents and kills them with enthusiasm. And he is training the new dog for rodent patrol as well. You would think the cats might have the decency to be embarrassed and step up their efforts but no such luck.

 

[jason_mazzy]

Quote:
sure it wasnt a possum??? LOL