NY chicken lover!!!!

[stonykill]

Quote:
kill them. It is the only way.

 

[itsy]

I'm not too happy to report that my landlord told me today that he thinks we should just "put some wood down" around the house, such as boards and rocks to "deter" them. He said "they've never been here before" and said it's because of the chickens. I highly doubt that, considering the holes are on the side of the house away from the chickens and the fact that they were in the walls the DAY we moved in! Not to mention, we lived on a large farm in NJ with tons of wood piles and the woods and we never once had any sort of rat issue.

He said that he's going to "plant lots of mint" because it wil deter them.

Yeah, no. I guess I'll have to take matters into my own hands and kill them myself. He said it's a pointless endeavor because we live in the woods. Um, no. I don't want them in the house and mint or a rain dance or praying to the rat gods isn't going to get rid of them! AND - I don't want them where my chickens are!! I don't even keep feed outside!

 

[Aria]

We have a small heart trap and this works. Aria

 

[Cass]

Quote:
Ok, I understand kind hearted people who don't want to kill anything that isn't threatening to kill them or their family. HOWEVER I raised mice for a friend to feed to his snakes. Yucky I guess, but someone has to do it, right? Let me tell you this: Rodents can had babies at 2 - 3 MONTHS of age. Not 6 months, not 12 months, but almost before they are old enough to be weaned. THEN they have litters of up to 18 babies, with 10 being an average for mice, not sure on rats. Rodents are not monogomous, so one male can impregnate mutiple females. The few litters I raised to adulthood had a 4:1 female to male ratio. I'm not going to do the math for you, but in 6 months you are gonna be hip deep in rodents if you let them live.

Someone said that rats are smart. Yes, and so are mice, actually. If you use a snap trap be sure to hide it so other rodents don't see it and know it means death and be sure to dispose of the bodies promptly....way away from your house. Personally I bag them and put them in my trash, cuz dead bodies can become a food source for other rodents. (but I go to the dump almost weekly so the smell doesn't get to bad, even in the summer)

I also, would like to see the soda can trap. Maybe I can trap them before my cat brings them to the house. LOL

 

[itsy]

After reading your post, Cass..... I'm going to re-state.... my landlord said that he'd "plant mint!!!!"

I bought all the clamp traps from Ace and am setting them up tonight, on top of the have a heart trap. I should have purchased a pellet gun while I was there. I'm putting the plastic clampers inside small cardboard boxed with a hole cut in them so that the neighbor's cat doesn't accidentally get to it. ::sigh::

 

[horsekeeper]

Would you consider getting a rodent killing dog? My daughter's min pin catches more rodents than the cats do.

 

[Cass]

Quote:
Yeah, I saw that. Why is he going to plant mint? I mean, I like mint and it smells so good when you run over it with the lawn mower, cuz it will overtake the lawn if you don't mow it down to keep it in check. But what does he think "mint" is going to do regarding rodents in the walls and ceiling of your house?

A pellet gun is a good idea, just be sure of what it behind what you are shooting at so you don't hit a chicken or cat if the rat is too fast and gets out of the way of the pellet.

 

[vmdanielsen]

Quote:
Ok, I understand kind hearted people who don't want to kill anything that isn't threatening to kill them or their family. HOWEVER I raised mice for a friend to feed to his snakes. Yucky I guess, but someone has to do it, right? Let me tell you this: Rodents can had babies at 2 - 3 MONTHS of age. Not 6 months, not 12 months, but almost before they are old enough to be weaned. THEN they have litters of up to 18 babies, with 10 being an average for mice, not sure on rats. Rodents are not monogomous, so one male can impregnate mutiple females. The few litters I raised to adulthood had a 4:1 female to male ratio. I'm not going to do the math for you, but in 6 months you are gonna be hip deep in rodents if you let them live.

Someone said that rats are smart. Yes, and so are mice, actually. If you use a snap trap be sure to hide it so other rodents don't see it and know it means death and be sure to dispose of the bodies promptly....way away from your house. Personally I bag them and put them in my trash, cuz dead bodies can become a food source for other rodents. (but I go to the dump almost weekly so the smell doesn't get to bad, even in the summer)

I also, would like to see the soda can trap. Maybe I can trap them before my cat brings them to the house. LOL

Oh Cass, I said I didn't like to kill them,I didn't say I don't kill them, because I do. I first tell them all to leave. Pretty funny. Then I tell them I will kill them if they don't leave. Then I kill them. I do poison them. Nothing else seems to work. Hate using poison. That is why I am really interested in the soda can......

 

[vmdanielsen]

Quote:
I do think about a rodent killing dog!!! I think of rat terriers regularly!!

 

[itsy]

You guys are funny!

I have a mini schnauzer and I believe they were bred to be ratters. I haven't seen him kill anything other than bugs in the house (which he's very good at), but he does bark sometimes out in the back yard at night and I wonder if he's barking at a critter. So long as he's not barking at a bear, he can keep it up.

I have all my traps set up and I'm so excited. I keep checking them to see if I got another one, but I should stop. All the checking is going to make them stay empty!

So - the mint is supposed to make it a place that rat's don't like to live. I told my BF that I should go to the pet store and buy a nice pet rat and grow some mint in his house to show my landlord. hehehehe.