Not your normal RATS!

[TennesseeTruly]

This subject just turns my stomach but being a native NY'r, I'm used to rats. Rats...not RATS!

We had a very slobbish neighbord down the road get evicted from their property. We had problems with their chickens coming over to our property, their pigs were so hungry that they came into our barn and got into a bag of dog food we had in there, just constant problems. Their landlord finally said, enough is enough and threw them out. Great! Yahoo! Except we weren't expecting what came next.

An army of rats, the size of these things, I swear they're on steroids came a calling and they're not leaving! The one in the picture below was 18 inches long! It's tail looked more like an possums tail due to the size and width of it. It was as round as a chihuahua. I've seen sewer rats, river rats, normal rats but I've never seen anything like THESE!!

We are using bucket traps, T-Rex traps, regular traps, my husband is shooting them and it seems like there's just no end. We're feeding the poultry in the mornings, no more food out at night. Every time I see these things, I get the willies!

We're not resorting to poison, although our neighbor has and unfortunately we found a dead bobcat behind our barn.

This is just one animal that we found, I'm sure there will be more.

Anyway, does anyone have any ideas on how to take care of these creatures on steroids??

Laurie

 

[BWKatz]

Poison in a PVC pipe that ur chickens can't get in. Another BYCer swears by them.

 

[Apollo's Mum]

I wont use normal poison due to the risk of secondary poisoning in other animals. It is an anticoagulent that works by taking the Vitamin K out of the blood and causes the rat to 'bleed out' (ears, nose, eyes, anus and internally). It takes 4-6days to kill them and if you have cats and dogs like me a poisoned rat is an easy target as they are slow and easy to catch. If another animal eats the rat carcus it will poison them that way too. Rats also like to move the bait so if they take it out in the open the chickens could eat it.

A friend of mine had her cat die due to eating a poisoned rat and I wont take the risk with my 3. However you can buy a rat poison that is harmless to other animals including chickens that I would highly recommend - here in New Zealand we have a product called Natural No Rats that comes in pellets of which I chuck a handful down the rat holes and it seems to work well.

I recently read an article on another site that recommends mixing together a container of half cornmeal, half plaster of paris. It works by going rock hard in the rats stomach and causing internal blockages. I'm keen to try this out myself, abit cruel, but I'm getting desprite (I just lost one of my Polish last night as it was killed by something).

 

[TennesseeTruly]

Quote:
The problem with poison that my neighbor IS using is that the local wildlife, like owls, bobcats, etc, will then eat the poisoned rats and die. We've already had a dead bobcat and I'm sure there are other animals around that are eating these poisoned rats and eating them.

Also you have to worry about things like chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, etc getting into the poison.

Laurie

 

[TennesseeTruly]

Someone told me that these look like something called Gambian rats or hybrids with Gambians. It seems that the state of Florida is having a heck of a time with them. Anyone ever heard of these?? I googled them and I guess its possible.

When I saw this rat that I took the picture of, it didn't look like any rat I've ever seen. It looked smooth, almost groomed. And someone mentioned that these Gambians are kind of like a hamster and the funny thing about that is that when I saw the first one, that's what I compared it to. Hmmm

Laurie

 

[drumstick diva]

In the U.S. I've read some chicken folks use peanut butter & plaster of paris and the rats love it to death - if you know what I mean.

 

[Apollo's Mum]

I'm having the same problem as you at the moment and like you I don't use poisons apart from the natural one, but I havent used any of that either for a while and I think I am going to have to get some more.

What I'm doing is the following:
I am feeding the chooks in the morning then removing any left over food at night.
I am setting traps at dusk and taking my 3 dogs out each evening as soon as it is dark (they have a great time tearing around the chook runs and digging out the odd hole - the only bad thing is my Staffie goes 'chomp chomp gulp' before I can get them off him!)
All food and grain is kept in rat-proof containers
I go shooting in the weekends - I put some grain out in one of the runs next to a solar light which as it is dull doesnt frighten them away like a spotlight but I can still see clearly.

I have cats as well but at 10 and 17 they don't catch much, my 14month old burmilla would catch plenty but as I am planning on breeding and showing her if I let her outside she will get pregnant to the neighbourhood toms

Our problem is not only the chooks and pigeons attract the rats but also the other animals like the pig and horses. Our fruit trees don't help either especially the walnut tree! We rent our largest paddock out for horse grazing and unfortunately the food they have left out at times and the hay in the tack shed has brought in the rodents.

I think the only thing to do is perservere - and don't make the same mistake as me: When you finally do get on top of them and arent catching any still always keep some traps set. I got rid of them all or so I thought and next thing you know I've got a second invasion!

 

[bobbi-j]

Ewww... *shudder* - some friends of ours were overrun with rats. They put Quickcrete (or sackcrete, or whatever you want to call it) in chicken feed, put the feed where the chickens couldn't get it, and pretty soon they had no more rats. Had a bunch of dead ones and the survivors moved on. No more rats, no risk of secondary poisoning. Good luck. *shudder* again.....

 

[CopperCT]

Quote:
If your neighbors had alot of livestock they were not caring for perhaps they had pet rats and even African rats (or Gambian rats). These have gained some popularity as pets in recent years. We have pet rats and were once offered the opportunity to adopt an African rat and they are indeed VERY large. Twice or three times the size of a regular domestic or even wild native rat. They do have very smooth grayish coats but to me they look more like a skinny possum than a Hamster (definitely not as cute as a hamster) so perhaps yours are some kind of cross with a domestic rat. We decided against adopting one because African rats are not very social or friendly like domestic rats are and they are difficult to tame and handle. I can see your neighbors giving up on keeping the African rats given how they treat their other livestock and letting them go feral. If so I would imagine that the rats being the survivors they are would multiply quickly....yikes! I hope that's not the case....I can easily see a species like that quickly becoming invasive like wild rats can only 2 or 3 times bigger. I love pet rats but an infestation like that would really worry me. I hope you can find a way to stem the tide. I agree with you that poisoning is too risky to your other animals and the wildlife. Something that large and dead would be a big snack temptation to a variety of other animals. I'd go with trapping or an exterminator if the problem continues. Not fun.

Edited to say: African rats are pouched in that they load up on food and keep it in pouches in their cheeks like hamsters do and in that way they are similiar to hamsters but they usually have longer faces and larger and pointier ears than hamsters or your typical domestic rat.....it's hard to see if your picture but the rat's ears did look larger than usual.

 

[BellevueOmlet]

Call the pied piper