OK-so I DO have a rat!

[chooniecat]

I have been extremely successful with keeping ALL predators away from my chicken shed and am very proud of my record because in 23 years have only had to kill 1 raccoon, RARELY have mice(set snap traps in small boxes 24/7) and everything else I have live trapped and scared the bee-jeebers out of and they do NOT come back. went out to chick shed this a.m. making lots of noise, as I always do, and opened main door and saw what looked like a furry baseball run through one of the unused small openings in shed. I ASSUME its a rat because it was LIGHTENING quick. I have noticed small holes around shed that initially I was packing my dogs poop in and the holes seemed to stop. well-I moved my babies recently and found the hole in their old area going under shed so....anyhow. I am against glue traps,drowning, poisons so this will be my first with having to snap trap something larger than a mouse. have only seen 2 dead mice in last 7 months. none live. so now its a rat(S).

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

if it's a rat, you might want to use a lg. rat trap and bait it real good....they are terrible for carrying diseases and lice.....get rid of him a.s.a.p

 

[95yj]

its unlikely that you have a rat, you almost definitely have rats, plural. I can understand how your against poison, so am i, but sometimes its the best option. rats are smart and will learn how to avoid snap traps, and before you know it you'll have an infestation. we had a rat problem a while ago and were forced to use poison in the end. just lock up all your chickens and walk the dogs on leash for a few weeks.

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

I had a rat that got through my patio screening to eat the cracked corn in the bag. When I opened the door at night it almost ran into my house! Some how it managed to get back out through the same hole it made. I bought a large classic rat-trap, baited with a smidge of peanut butter, and placed it right infront of the hole in the screen. Next morning, the trap was flipped over and activated. P-butter licked off, and another hole in the bag of corn. This happened maybe 3 more times. I bought poison, placed it in one of those rat bat boxes, where pets can't get it. And it was gone the next morning. 5 days later I found a 8+ inch rat, dead. In my front yard under the hose faucet. Most poisons cause them to get an insane thirst, so they can be found dead near water. I had another rat problem 2 weeks later, another piece of poison. 1 week later my neighbor found it in his pool...lol.

 

[Lumenos]

I saw some electrocution traps on YouTube. They are humane in that they probably kill instantly but they are more like rodent barbecues; these ones wouldn't shut off like they were supposed to. It could start a fire.

 

[Lumenos]

I've been researching this. I'm pretty concerned about rats since I feed the chickens scraps outdoors, etc.
Quote:
The danger of poisoning is that chickens may eat the dead rat. Multifeed poison is less harmful if rat or poison is eaten by pets. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3096841#p3096841

Somebody says cayenne pepper worked better than poison. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=425444#p425444

"They will "taste test" something to see if it makes them ill first. If it does, then they will not go back for more and they will warn their comrades not to go near it (with a special scent in their urine)." https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3325172#p3325172 "We only killed 3 out of the hundreds. They avoided the traps and the poison. [...] However, we got that house completely cleaned up and cleaned out, and the rats disappeared entirely. "

This might explain why poison works better than traps for many people: "Rats are suspicious of new objects and traps with only one entrance. If they see other rats have been trapped they may avoid the trap. Traps which do not address these issues are likely to catch only young, inexperienced rats, not the older ones.[1]" https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Rat_trap But this wouldn't explain why the bait was licked off the traps.

I looked at many videos from YouTube to see if rats or mice are smart enough to use something to spring a trap. I didn't find any evidence of this. Has anyone seen a rat do this? Maybe the traps are going off due to temperature changes?

 

[FireTigeris]

Quote:
The danger of poisoning is that chickens may eat the dead rat. Multifeed poison is less harmful if rat or poison is eaten by pets. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3096841#p3096841

Somebody says cayenne pepper worked better than poison. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=425444#p425444

"They will "taste test" something to see if it makes them ill first. If it does, then they will not go back for more and they will warn their comrades not to go near it (with a special scent in their urine)." https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3325172#p3325172 "We only killed 3 out of the hundreds. They avoided the traps and the poison. [...] However, we got that house completely cleaned up and cleaned out, and the rats disappeared entirely. "

This might explain why poison works better than traps for many people: "Rats are suspicious of new objects and traps with only one entrance. If they see other rats have been trapped they may avoid the trap. Traps which do not address these issues are likely to catch only young, inexperienced rats, not the older ones.[1]" https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Rat_trap But this wouldn't explain why the bait was licked off the traps.

I looked at many videos from YouTube to see if rats or mice are smart enough to use something to spring a trap. I didn't find any evidence of this. Has anyone seen a rat do this? Maybe the traps are going off due to temperature changes?

I put a live trap in the attack for black rats (Rattus rattus) and found the trap tripped but empty three times, I was frustrated so I put one of my domestic rats (Rattus norvegicus) into the trap (with food and water and bait) within four hours he had been helped out by one of the other rats - they came half way in he dragged the food out, they both ate...

rats can become trapwise...

Also rats have special secretions they release when injured or scared- this sent drives away others.

you may want to look into predator urine- its working in the attic along with citrus -

 

[Patty13637]

I use the bait stations at TSC and change bait each year . I have had my cats eat the dead rats and the cats are still alive .



Patty